# Older Golden bit 10 week old Golden Puppy



## eslucky (May 10, 2012)

I have an 8 year old Golden and a week ago got a new Golden puppy who is now 10 weeks old. Our older dog has been sick but doing much better now. We did not realize how sick she was till after we got the new puppy. Her meds have made her improve dramatically.

Lucky, the 8 year old, snapped at Daisy, the puppy, the second day and barely bit her face. Today she bit her much harder on the face. It punctured near her eye and on her snout. Not bad enough to need to take her to the vet but it did bleed and make the puppy cry.

I am really wondering if we should try to find the new puppy a new home. I would hate for her to get hurt. Lucky has always been a great tempered and obedient dog but I know she gets annoyed by her puppy antics. 

Does anyone have any advice? Do you think the best and safest thing to do would be to find Daisy, the puppy, a new home? She is so adorable and I love her already but I would feel so terrible if Lucky would bite her again and even worse than this time.

Thank you so much for any help.


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## My Big Kahuna (Dec 14, 2011)

First off, welcome! I'm sorry you're dealing with this.. What were your pups doin when your 8 yo snapped at the puppy both times?


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## Max's Dad (Apr 23, 2012)

There is a thread in here that addresses this exact issue, including a link to an article about it. If you do a search, you may be able to find it. I remember that introducing a new dog with an existing one can lead to problems. You may also find info if you google. Good luck.


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## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

Welcome to the forum. If your older dog was sick it probably just shortened his temper a bit. Older dogs often have to have some alone time away from the puppy antics. You might consider some baby gates to give them each some space with in your home. Keep their meetings short and if possible outside. Then as the puppy grows you can lengthen their time together.


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## eslucky (May 10, 2012)

Thanks so much for the welcomes! This seems like a great forum.

The first time she snapped at her the puppy was playing right next to her but not biting on her. This time I did not see exactly what happened even though I was in the same room. They were laying close to each other and I don't know what really happened.

There have been a couple other times when the puppy was doing her crazy puppy stuff and jumping on her when she growled. I thought this was OK and did not correct the older dog. I thought she was just telling her to stop.

I'm just so worried about the puppy getting hurt badly.


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## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

When my 6.5 year old corrects my 5 year old golden I do not correct either. Of course he never has drawn blood. It usually happens when my older dog is tired or is resource guarding. I hope you find a solution so you can keep both dogs.


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

I'm sure no expert but I think you need to keep the pup separated for a while with only limited interaction. You will need to keep the puppy on a leash in the house when the two are together. You need to be supervising closely.

And you need to make sure your older dog is feeling up to being patient with the puppy. 

I think if you separate them and step back a little, things will go more smoothly. It's going to take longer than you might have thought but have heart. A lot of best friend Goldens got off to a rough start.


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## pipermvh (Apr 9, 2012)

My Golden girl, Echo is 10 months old now, but when we brought her home, she was 8 weeks old and my boy, Nikko, was almost 9. He HATED her for about 3 days - so much so that he bit her three times (each time when either myself or my husband was right there and thought we had it under control) and each time was for no reason that we could determine. Jealousy, maybe? 

Well, what we did was separate them and let them outside apart from each other for about a week. That meant the pup had to be in a crate, secured, while Nikko played and then he would get confined outside or downstairs for her playtime. We set up a baby gate and let them sniff and get to know each other through that for a while each day, too. And when Nikko stopped getting so upset when he saw her, we slowly and carefully re-introduced them. About a week after that re-introduction, we could relax a little and let them play, but still supervising and never leaving the puppy alone with him. If we had to leave, she had to be crated. Period.

By the time Echo was about 4 months old, Nikko was in LOVE with her, and he still is 

It was extra tricky, too, because my RottieX was 2 and a half at the time and he just loved the pup and didn't understand why Nick was so mean...but I swear Nikko was just jealous and once he realized Echo was here to stay, he took her under his feathers and it's been a tight trio ever since...

It will happen. Just be patient. Good luck.


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## Macretriever (Sep 9, 2009)

we had 3 goldens Macintosh the dad Dakota the mom and Evan the son. It took Mac some time to get used to him but we kept them apart for a while just let them sniff but wait till Evan was a little bigger. It took a couple weeks but Mac had to correct him twice and that was it Evan knew to keep some space and also not try to eat his food while he was eating. No biting or blood drawn just a good growl. They even play outside when Mac thought nobody was watching but Macs nose started to get bad from the nose cancer so they didn't get to play much. Once the figure out the pecking order when the puppy is a little older and understands it will get better. Now it's just Dakota and Evan they play well together.


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## eslucky (May 10, 2012)

WOW! These are some great replies. Thank you to everyone for chiming in. I'm so glad to hear that Echo and Nikko are now buddies. I'm feeling pretty encouraged now. We've already gated off the kitchen and put Daisy, the puppy, in there. She can see us from there when we are in our family room (where we most always are). She has been sleeping in a crate so we are OK there for at night.

I sure hope this works!


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## Macretriever (Sep 9, 2009)

I talked to my wife remembering how we did it for sure. But we did let evan get a little older before they were all together in one room. Him and his mommy always played well together. My wife believes he was 3 months a few days old before he was together with his dad. Once he was scolded by dad two or 3 times all was good. But it did help that his dad already had to get used to Dakota so he was used to sharing his people. It depends on the dog how long it takes but they will be great friends soon.


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## eslucky (May 10, 2012)

*Update on Lucky biting Daisy*

Thanks so much for everyone's great comments and advice. Things are going much better now. Baby gates are our new best friends. We've let the two of them together for short times - mostly outside and we were right there by them.

Lucky is still not loving Daisy but she is tolerant. Lucky's blood count was way better and feeling better but dropping again so I know she is not feeling well...that's a whole other story.

Here is a pic of the two together. Notice Daisy is all happy and Lucky is looking away from Daisy but at least she let her sit by her.


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## GoldensGirl (Aug 2, 2010)

*Sibling rivalry?*

Welcome to the Forum!

When I first faced the issue of an older dog being aggressive towards a puppy, I thought disaster was imminent. It took a day or two for me to realize that this was exactly like sibling rivalry in children, probably caused by the same parental behaviors. Like new parents do, I was paying way more attention to the puppy than to the older dogs and sometimes failed to give my seniors their due strokes. When I realized that might be the problem, I began paying special attention to the grumpy elders, even if that meant crating the puppy for a while so I could have some special time with my adult dogs. That solved the problem and soon my older dogs were much friendlier towards the puppy.

I hope you find solutions that are equally simple and that restore peace to your furry household. :wavey:


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## eslucky (May 10, 2012)

Thanks GoldensGirl! You are so right and it reminded me of my own kids. Two of my sons are only one year apart in age. When I brought the younger home from the hospital the one year old promptly went up to the new baby and bit him on the hand! We never had any other problems and they have been best friends ever since (they are in their 30s now). So...now I'm assuming my problem here was inherited and they will be best friends.


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## MercyMom (Dec 19, 2011)

eslucky said:


> Thanks so much for everyone's great comments and advice. Things are going much better now. Baby gates are our new best friends. We've let the two of them together for short times - mostly outside and we were right there by them.
> 
> Lucky is still not loving Daisy but she is tolerant. Lucky's blood count was way better and feeling better but dropping again so I know she is not feeling well...that's a whole other story.
> 
> Here is a pic of the two together. Notice Daisy is all happy and Lucky is looking away from Daisy but at least she let her sit by her.


I am so glad things are getting better for daisy and Lucky. Daisy is so cute! I just want to hug her!


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## Braccarius (Sep 8, 2008)

How was your dog with other dogs prior to you introducing a puppy to the family?


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

Glad things are going better! I had a similar experience when bringing Beamer home last spring. Sadie (black lab) hated him for about 2 weeks (and even bit him once) but now they are best buddies. It did take her a good two weeks to warm up to him, though.


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## eslucky (May 10, 2012)

Lucky has always been great with other dogs. When she was about one and a half we got another Golden puppy and they were very close although Lucky was always top dog in her mind. Our other dog passed away last year. I do think it has a lot to do with her being sick. She has autoimmune hemolytic anemia. We didn't find that out till the day after we got the new puppy. Her red blood count got better (she is on prednisone) the first week and is now dropping again.


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## eslucky (May 10, 2012)

Here are some pics of Lucky with our Penny and other dogs!


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## Otter (Feb 23, 2011)

Glad things are looking better. Don't let your guard down though.
We are going thru a similar thing right now.
We even hired a couple behaviorists to help us.
In the past, we've had several Goldens living together without issues. These last two have been our 'problem' children though. Well, just the 3 year old, not so much the puppy. The 3 year old is male, and the puppy female.

I've heard/read in the past that 2 bitches can be trickier living together than 2 males. IDK if that's true or not.

A few things we learned:
1 - Relax. They key off you.
2 - Put short loose leads on both so you can quickly get ahold and correct if needed. We bought a couple cheapo leads and cut them short 2-3 feet maybe. That way the loop/handle is gone and won't catch on anything.
3 - When the older dog growls or nips at the puppy, correct the puppy, not the older dog. It is likely the older dog gave a warning to the puppy you did not see and the puppy ignored. The older dog likely didn't do anything wrong so don't correct it. The puppy may have been wrong by ignoring the older dogs warning. The puppy needs to learn.
4 - Watch the older dog carefully for warnings. Looking away, breathing/panting stops, mouth closes - she might be getting ready to 'correct' the puppy.
5 - Do the baby-gate thing like you are doing. Let them play together for short periods, and again, watch the older dog for signs of "I've had enough".

Lastly, give your older dog lots of credit. When she bit before, she only corrected. She refrained from doing much worse.


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## eslucky (May 10, 2012)

Otter, thank you so much. Those are all excellent points. Lucky is almost always looking away from the puppy and I wondered what that meant...besides "I don't really like you". Glad to know there is a deeper meaning and she is thinking about or getting ready to correct her.


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