Dog Psychologists help needed

easyrider

easyrider

easyrider

Caporegime
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OK we have a 7 year old Collie dog Oscar and recently we just got another collie puppy Male that is now 18 weeks old.

The puppy is fine with the older dog and just wants to play but does not hassle him in anyway..In fact I was quite surprised by this. The problem is with the older dog. He is just not into him. He will run away, he sulks when the pup is around and on a few occasions growled and been anti social with him.

At first I thought it would just take a few weeks for them both to adapt and get to know each other but its not happening.Oscar refuses to accept the new arrival. What can I do? Is it just an age thing? Will Oscar be better when the pup is fully grown? Oscar is not at all aggressive but this is starting to annoy me some what.

He must realise now that the pup is staying and is part of the family after this amount of time? He needs to get over it right?
 
Give Oscar much more attention than the pup & he should come around.
 
It's been a while since I've had to introduce an older dog to a new one but it might be worth putting the new pup into an old bed/blanket/dog towel/something that smells of Oscar as if he smells his own scent on the new arrival that may ease the transition process.

//edit and as FortyFive says you should ensure the hierarchy is observed - you eat first, then give food to Oscar then to the puppy etc. In everything you do Oscar should have his position reaffirmed.
 
Oscar is top dog and has to stay that way. Any treats get given to him first, any attention to him first, any commands to him first etc etc.

We've introduced very young dogs to an older dog 3 times now and its not been too bad. In fact I have my parents Spaniels on my bed and my Lab on the floor behind me!

You just have to be persistent and firm, if the pup buts in to attention just ignore it as best you can until its the pups turn. It might take a week, it might take months but if you get yourself into that routine it's best for all the family and makes dog ownership much easier.
 
Should I tell Oscar off when he's anti social? I'm unsure if this is the correct thing to do?

I'm the boss and I should let him know that his behaviour is unacceptable right?

Or is this tight?
 
Some friends of mine have had the same problem with a Rhodesian Ridgeback pup and an older one.

It took time but the older one did eventually accept it. As has been posted above, give the older dog more affection than usual so he knows he is higher up in the pack.
 
Dup said:
Oscar is top dog and has to stay that way. Any treats get given to him first, any attention to him first, any commands to him first etc etc.
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I have been doing this and I have been lashing out loads of praise and love to Oscar. And any treats go his way first. But I'm not sure if this is enough

We've introduced very young dogs to an older dog 3 times now and its not been too bad. In fact I have my parents Spaniels on my bed and my Lab on the floor behind me!
.
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I have strict rules...The dogs are not allowed upstairs or on any furniture in the house. What was interesting was that the other day The pup was asleep in Oscars bed and Oscar just sat there letting it happen. I moved the pup and told Oscar it was his bed but he refused to get in it for a couple of hours.
 
The fact that these Spaniels are not trying to savage the postman or charge about relentlessly is enough for me to let them on the bed. They don't furr it up like my Lab so I'm not bothered!

You should encourage Oscar, telling him off will just put more negative on the situation. I myself would have picked him up and put him in his bed when he wouldn't get back in then made a big fuss of him.

The problem you have is that neither dog is being assertive. The pup hasn't a clue about hierarchy yet and Oscar doesn't know where he stands. We've been lucky in that the older dog would stand their ground and after a few snaps and snarls they know where they are in the household. Plus we have two cats, that show the dogs who's really boss :D
 
easyrider said:
Should I tell Oscar off when he's anti social? I'm unsure if this is the correct thing to do?

I'm the boss and I should let him know that his behaviour is unacceptable right?

Or is this tight?
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Do people just buy puppies without doing any kind of research what so ever these days?
 
Energize said:
Do people just buy puppies without doing any kind of research what so ever these days?
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That's a genuine question not many experienced dog owners could answer in my opinion, everyone has their own way and relationship with their dog and anything you read isn't necessarily "correct". It's all opinion. You should try getting advice on horses from people, then it really gets confusing, everyone thinks they know best and it's all different.


Learning to own and understand one dog is pretty easy, but when they get older its common to get a younger dog to keep the older dog company and helps reduce boredom. With one dog you're the boss, with two dogs you still are of course, but they need to work out their own order. Not something you might realise at first.

In this case you need to make them see the order themselves. One idea might be to give them their own space and only be together when someone is there to supervise and play with them together. Everything from sleeping and feeding in different rooms might help. That way Oscar isn't overwhelmed but still knows the pup is around so he gets used to the idea more slowly.
 
Dup said:
You should try getting advice on horses from people, then it really gets confusing, everyone thinks they know best and it's all different.
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Don't even go there. Horses are fine animals for the most part, not very clever at avoiding damage to themselves partly due to the flight instinct but pleasant enough. Horse owners though are frequently worse than parents in terms of what care they expect taken over their horses, they're often irrational and well simply, a bit mad. This is experience from around 8 years living next to a livery stables, I like a lot of horse owners but they're not completely sane many of them.
 
Older dog is just asserting his 'Pack' position, let them get on with it, the less you interfere the better, if you show preference to one over the other it may make things worse. Nature knows best, been doing it longer than us.
 
doofer said:
Older dog is just asserting his 'Pack' position, let them get on with it, the less you interfere the better, if you show preference to one over the other it may make things worse. Nature knows best, been doing it longer than us.
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Dogs are a human creation though. :p Wolf packs in nature are merely families, no specific rank system.
 
Energize said:
Is there a video where a guy screams ignorant over and over again?


Mech, L. David 2008
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Mech is one man with one opinion. There's plenty more who've studied and lived with wolves in the wild and concluded that wolves have a very complex hierarchal structure. Like the Dutchers.
 
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