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Old April 6th, 2009, 12:21 AM
Zorro Zorro is offline
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A good dog bullying a puppy

Am new to this forum but need some advice. I have a 5 year old altered female that is very well behaved. We recently (2 months ago) introduced a female puppy into our mix, and we have the occasional "toy of the day tiff" they are blending quite well. Within the last week, when we meet a dog on our walks, the puppy will play with the newcomer. She is quite submissive and will go onto her back quite readily. Now the "old girl" will quite aggressively get involved in the play, ignore the newcomer, and pin the puppy to the ground by her throat.

Is this normal for this stage, they both do the 'rumbles and the tumbles' in the backyard and both get the upper hand, and no injuries have occurred.

We have never had two dogs before so we are unsure if this is something that will pass or should we seek a professional.
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Old April 6th, 2009, 03:25 PM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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It's so hard to tell what's going on without seeing it, so this sort of thing is notoriously difficult to assess over the internet. If there have been no injuries, it sounds like it could just be normal discipline. The older dog is likely just teaching the pup what constitutes good doggy manners.

If puppy isn't yelping in pain or getting injured, just keep an eye on the behavior. If it escalates or you get really uncomfortable with it, a session with an behaviorist may be enough to set your mind at ease.

We had an 11-year-old and an 11-week-old at the same time...the older one was always disciplining the youngster, to his benefit. She taught him some good manners.
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Old April 6th, 2009, 03:38 PM
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Marty11 Marty11 is offline
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Hi there, I have a 6 year old dog that still tells my now almost 2 year old how to behave. If I disipline the young one the older one will go over and kinda snap or say pin her down as if he is helping me. I agree that if it escalates seek a specialist, just so that the pup does not get traumatized. I feel that if puppy challenges the dog then fighting could become an issue. It is hard to introduce new dogs but in the long run years of friendship is worth having.
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Old April 7th, 2009, 02:58 PM
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Dog Dancer Dog Dancer is offline
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I have two females also, one is 11 and the other 8. Whenever we have guests over the older one will sort of harass the younger one and try to get her attention away from the guests. She's sort of pushing her out of the picture like she doesn't want the younger one to get any attention from the people. (We don't do dogs, the older one is not dog friendly) It sounds to me like your older dog may be jealous and not want the young one to interact so much with the other dogs that used to be her domain. I'd maybe try letting the older one interact with the passers by first so that her dominant position is still in tact. Now I could be right off base here, but that's what I see with my two. I wouldn't worry too much so long as the older one is not causing pain to the younger one. Of course if they're on leash you can correct the older one if she gets to hard on the puppy. But I wouldn't intervene unless I had to.
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Old April 8th, 2009, 08:04 AM
Zorro Zorro is offline
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Thanks for your input. What I have done is left the Zareena on a leash, allowing her to pull it with her. When the two are play fighting I leave them be, but as soon as the older one gets Mischa on her back and doesn't allow her to get up I intervene and pull the older girl off. ( I have always used 'Gentle' as a command to take food or play soft and it seems to work)

Their play seems to be less violent and now the bigger dog is on her back almost as often as the little one is, so, with a lot of attention and monitoring of their play we may have altered the dominance issues. Will keep you posted.
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Old April 8th, 2009, 08:03 PM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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It's always a good sign when the older, bigger dog lets herself be rolled by the puppy.
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