Helping the first dog to get along with the new puppy?

[Heather Cub Find all posts View Profile Close Heather]

We just got a beautiful full blooded dalmation (she even has papers) but Justice our 8 month old rottie is not so sure about her. Justice gets very protective and in an attack stance (my hubby tries saying she just wants to play but he is just in denial. Justice's hair on the back of her neck and above her tail (stub) sticks straight up and she has even barked a few times, she makes me kinda nervous...! Although the dalmation definitely holds her own...when Justice gets near her acting crazy the little baby (we named her Miranda, we figure that fits well with Justice..lol) starts growling and barking so it is good that she hold her own...because our cat that holds his own never gets messed with by Justice but the other one that doesn't protect himself gets messed with all the time!
How can I introduce them a little more gently? If anyone has any help or suggestions you can offer please let me know!

[kerryclair Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kerryclair]

Congratulations on Miranda! The naming conventions are GREAT!!
How did she come to be with you? Do tell!

Actually, preferrable to holding her own, it would be MUCH better if she did NOT and if she immediately submitted to the older dog, by rolling over and exposing her belly, or lowering her gaze. To bark back is accepting and challenging and is not good for two dogs to both be challenging. Ideally one would immediately submit thereby insuring you of a stress free home in the future! What this is pointing to is potential issues as they get older, so very, very hopefully they will resolve this between them in the coming weeks and there will never be any trouble. Before I give you some ideas of what you can do, for others out there I would just like to make a couple of suggestions about bringing home a new dog...

When you bring a new dog home if at all possible, bring something OF that dogs home first for your dog to get used to the scent. Best bet would be a blanket or a collar or something else covered with his/her scent.

Then when bringing home your new dog, bring your CURRENT dogs to a NEUTRAL place - such a park, playground or a neighbors yard! Introduce them there. Dogs are MUCh more agressive, protective and "worried" at home. In a neutral place they do not have anything they feel the need to protect, nor need to exhibit signs of jealousy or protectiveness. Throw a ball, let them play together and then take them home TOGETHER. This is a major aid in introducing a new dog to your home!

Since Miranda and Justice are already mildly annoyed with each other one of the things you can do is completely DISCOURAGE their behavior. YOU are the pack leader and as such, whenever Justice expresses hostility (OR when the puppy is being annoying to the older dog) you need to step in and reprimand them. Snap at them sharply with your voice and stare them down until they look away. They should look away and want to wander away from you. Let them know that any time they express themselves in this manner, the "lead dog" will not be happy about it.

Also, the WORST punishment you can provide to a dog is to isolate it away from the pack. If Justice is growling and being negative for no reason (i.e. the puppy was not bothering him at all and was minding her own business) then you should take him and put him in a room where he can hear you, but not join you. Leave him for 15 minutes and repeat whenever he expresses any hostility (and you are right, it is not macho, it IS aggression). Likewise, the puppy - if he is annoying the older dog, stealing from his bowl, etc, do not tolerate it. Verbally reprimand him. ..and isolate if the behavior is particularly rude.

Once they have decided between themselves who is alpha (and unfortunately, as much as you might want to you can not pick this, they really need to decide for themselves) you can also treat that dog as alpha to the other one. I.E. pet that one first when you come home, feed that one first etc. If the dalmatian winds up being alpha and you pet or feed the other one first, YOU will be causing the problems between them, so be sure to watch for alpha signs and follow through once it has been determined.

Keep us posted!!!

[Heather Cub Find all posts View Profile Close Heather]

Doggie and new pup

Thank you for the great advice. They both hold there own and actually now the pup barks when she has had enough and I tell you what she gets straight up mean with Justice when she gets irratated with her. We know that it is probably good that she holds her own (at least hubby thinks so) but I am not so sure I like the aggression because Justice may play rough (she is 20x the size of the pup) but she does not get mean or bark at Miranda. When Justice does get a little too aggressive playing we do send her to her kennel but she just comes out more excited than ever wanting to play so we have some work and oh boy some serious exercise ahead of us but I am sure they will do just fine. I will keep everyone posted in the next week on how it goes! When I say a loud blunt no they both listen for the moment, Miranda learned quickly what no meant in this house! More than anything they just run aound like nuts chasing each other and wrestling around...it is the craziest thing. Obviously Justice knows how far she can go because her jaws could crush Miranda but she does not even latch down at all so I guess besides the extreme activity of the two together we are off to a some what good start!
P.S. We got her in the strangest place...we went to the flea market to get another kitty and there were two Dalmations. The lady was selling them for 100...my hubby offered her 50.00 just seeing what she would say and she said since it was late in the day she would do it for us. We never expected papers for her so when we got home and actually read all the papers we were pleasantly surprised!
Heather