Getting a pup to get along with an older dog

I initially started this in another discussion but it probably deserves its own thread.

My 3 months ago pup Matty (yellow lab) and my parents' dog Toby (9 years old beagle) just can't get along with each other.

Everytime we bring Matty to my parents' home, we had to eventually separate the 2 dogs

Right now, as soon as Toby sees Matty, he runs away. That's even if I get Matty to sit, or down, and calms him down so he's not hyper anymore.

If I let both run freely in the backyard, Toby will just keep running away from Matty, and Matty will keep chasing him (until he's tired).

When I force them together, Toby would begin barking and start getting aggressive, Matty will keep trying to 'play' with Toby, like jumping on him, nipping his ears and tail and such.

We tried getting Matty to play in a less annoying manner, and he's sorta responded, but Toby still keeps running away.

When I keep both inside the house, Toby would avoid Matty and as long as they're not together, they'd be peaceful. Once Matty sees Toby inside the house, he'll start chasing him again, and Toby will runaway.

When Matty finally fell asleep, Toby would come over very cautiously, and then sniff him a little bit, then go away.

So what should I do to try to get them to get along?

Toby's never been good at gettling along with other dogs though, and the fact Matty's a pup only makes it worse.

thanks in advance,

We`ve been dealing with this since we brought our puppy home in March. Our older dog is 13, blind, arthritic, and somewhat deaf. She`s always got along well with other dogs, but lost tolerance for puppies as she aged.

Since Toby hasn`t ever got along much with other dogs, I would say the best you can hope for is to get them to tolerate each other. It would help if you can teach Matty a good 'Leave it' command to get him to leave the older dog alone. Maybe keep him leashed (but loose) so you can stop him chasing Toby. We haven`t ever had a real fight here, but a lot of snarling snap-fests when Lola (the pup) kept trying to get Maggie (senior) to play. These days Lola (7 months now) has pretty much learned to leave Maggie alone, but they still argue at times about food & who gets through the door first. We have taken Lola to puppy class and try to make opportunities for her to play with younger dogs so she learns better doggie manners. We also keep my parents` dog (14+ years) at times. She too doesn`t care for puppies and can be a bit dog-aggressive if she`s annoyed, so its really important that Lola learns to back off and leave her alone.

Sorry if this isn`t the advice you hoped for, but it is realistic based on what I`m dealing with.
Good luck to you!

Pam

Thanks Pam ... it's actually been helpful. At least I know I'm not the only one.

Toby can tolerate Matty as long as Matty will leave him alone. Matty likes to play though, and he can annoy Toby pretty quickly. I guess I'll try to put a leash on Matty for now until he learns when to backoff.