# Agression with new Puppy



## alphadude (Jan 15, 2010)

Hi, looking for some advice or guidance with dealing with some potential aggression issues I am having with my 4.5 y/o male (altered) golden directed toward my new 7 week old male golden puppy. I have only had the new puppy for about 48 hours and my older guy seems to largely ignore him but when the puppy ventures close, Axl growls at him and on several occasions when the little guy playfully jumped on him when he was lying down, Axl leaped up and aggressively mouthed his head accompanied with loud snarling. I want to be clear, he did not bite the puppy but he did make it squeal from fright no doubt. I expected this because Axl is a very dominant male and I figured he would 'school' the new guy on the pecking order from the start, but I would like to hear from experienced golden owners who have been through something similar.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

The puppy is testing his boundaries with your older dog. If the adult dog is appropriately correcting the puppy and not causing any injury, let them work it out between themselves. The puppy will learn how far he can push the adult. Just supervise closely anytime they are together.

Don't discipline the adult dog, he is only doing what an adult dog should do with a puppy, but if puppy doesn't learn you need to remove him from the adult dog.

However, if it escalates or the puppy is injured do step in.


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## alphadude (Jan 15, 2010)

That's what's troubling. I fully expected that behavior if the puppy was jumping on him, but he has done it twice today when the puppy just walked near him. Poor little guy is hiding now. Last fall my sister got a cocker spaniel pup and Axl seemed infinitely more tolerant of it. It used to attack him (playing) and hang off his ears and he did not react. Of course, that pup was a female...


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## mooselips (Dec 4, 2011)

I was hesitant introducing my pup to older dogs........
now, I just keep a close eye, and she keeps her
boundaries with the ones who TELL her to.

I bet your two, will be best of buds within 6 months.

Dogs have to work these social issues out mainly by themselves...with us closeby......


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## alphadude (Jan 15, 2010)

That's what I'm hoping...that they will work it out themselves.


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## dezymond (May 3, 2012)

Sounds like your new pup is just testing boundaries. Maybe Axl could be a little jealous considering you've only had him for about 48hrs. Give both of them time.

What I've seen is use of a baby gate. Keep Axl in one room and the puppy in another, but have them be able to see one another. These aren't going to be two dogs that just see each other once in awhile, they live in the same house and need to sort things out. Hope all goes well!


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## eslucky (May 10, 2012)

I have the same issues with my new puppy and I received some great advice here. http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...lder-golden-bit-10-week-old-golden-puppy.html In fact it is what brought me to this great forum.

My older Golden has been sick with AIHA and on about the third day we had our new puppy Daisy (she was 10 weeks old) Lucky (8 years old) bit her. It put two little punctures on her face and it bled a tiny bit. It wasn't bad enough to take her to the vet. Daisy was not jumping or nipping at her when it happened.

We gated off our kitchen and that is basically where Daisy hangs out. They can see each other. Daisy has learned that she can't jump all over Lucky but still gets very excited to see her. When I let them together (not very often yet) I usually have Daisy on a leash. Lucky has been nice to her but is still not thrilled there is a puppy in the house.

It does get better but don't rush things. I would give it a few months and have constant supervision.

I just came inside and Lucky was in the pool standing on the second step. Daisy only likes to go on the first step so it is a great place to let them be together. Daisy has learned that licking Lucky's face when they are in the pool is OK.

I normally take them outside separately. There have been moments though when they are together and Daisy will calmly sit by her. 

You can see by my signature and my avatar that this is a work in progress.

Good luck. Take it slow and be patient.


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## alphadude (Jan 15, 2010)

When I got home from work today, I basically ignored the puppy until Axl had given my his accustomed manic greeting. I then took them both outside and very closely supervised their interaction, positioning myself casually between them. I used some subtle dog psycology by positioning myself higher than Axl on some deck stairs and the puppy on a lower level than Axl and maintained a very calm assertive demeanor while making quite a bit of direct eye contact with Axl until he averted his gaze. I did this repeatedly. I think Axl needed a little refresher on just who the real dominant male was around here. I then let them interact to whatever degree they wished and Axl showed zero aggression toward the pup for the remainder of the night. They even came nose to nose on several occasions, with both wagging their tails with no sign of hostility. I am certainly not under the misconception that the problem was completely solved but I do think that it was a significant step forward. The real proof will come tomorrow when I am not around. Even though Axl is a very dominant male, he is still a typically good natured golden and the pup seems to be very calm. I think this is going to work out fine. Apparently, all that was necessary was a review of the pecking order. I will update as necessary.


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## alphadude (Jan 15, 2010)

A picture is worth 1000 words...


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## Tailer'sFolks (Feb 27, 2007)

Aww...and look at these puppy nose wrinkles! Keep reaffirming the pecking order n I bet they will be inseperatable soon!


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## Jennifer1 (Mar 31, 2012)

Good luck!
I'm going through the same thing with my 12yr old lab and 8week old puppy.
I'm not going to try to force anything though, as I worry that might backfire.
What I've been doing is to keep the puppy from running/jumping on my lab and wait for my lab to make any and all advances towards the puppy. If they are going to be friends, it's going to be on the lab's terms! When the puppy is zooming around the yard, I try to play interference between her and the lab. When everyone is calm, I'll pet them right next to eachother with one on each side of me.
It's only been 72hrs so far, but my lab is starting to try to sniff the puppy when she is asleep, so that is progress!


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## Golden Babies (Jun 26, 2012)

precious, precious pic of puppy w/ older dog


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## alphadude (Jan 15, 2010)

Thanks for the advice and the kind words. Axl and Angus seem to be getting along fine. Only one incident this past weekend when I thought the pup was in his pen and I put a dish containing some scraps from a bbq down for Ax and the little guy decided he was going to share. I'm betting he won't do that again anytime soon. Ax didn't hurt him but he literally scared the poop out of him by snarling and mouthing his head. Otherwise, when the little guy takes liberties such as tail biting, Ax will warn him off with a low growl. Angus seems to really like play fighting with my sister's 10 month old playful cocker spaniel pup. They were rolling around beating the snot out of each other (play fighting with tails wagging) today for about an hour. Angus is totally wiped out, he'll sleep soundly tonight. He's a game little guy, he kept coming back for more. I have a feeling it'll be a more even match in about a month.


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## alphadude (Jan 15, 2010)

update:

The 'puppy' at this point is 36.5 lbs at 14 weeks but he looks very long and lean (especially when wet). Axl was 25 lbs at the same age. It seems like he grows perceptibly every day. The bones in his front paws are already thicker than Axl's. My vet said that he believes he's going to be around 100 lbs. His parents were both breed standard so I guess time will tell.

The boys are getting along famously, almost too well. There have been no further incidents of aggression beyond a bit of low growling on Axl's part and even they have been very infrequent. Actually, I am stunned at how tolerant Axl has been with the puppy. I have observed on two recent occasions, the puppy nosing his way in while Axl was eating or drinking with no reaction from Axl, not even a growl. He has also tolerated quite a bit of mouthing and tail biting from the pup with no reaction. Has anybody else experienced a similar situation where an obvious dominant adult becomes almost submissive to a puppy?


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## pandamonium (Apr 18, 2012)

What a great outcome.... I love that we all can help each other with a bit of advice.
...and especially that alphadude read the advice ... picked what seemed correct for the situation....tried it out,...and we get to see a photo with happy results!

It seems to me that this is what this forum is all about!


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