We bought home a 8 week old puppy to our resident 3 yr old bitch, puppy is also a bitch, of a different breed.
anyway our bitch has always been great with other dogs, and readily accepts other dogs into the house.
We are a couple of weeks in now and have had no problems.
Yesterday my bitch was eating a toy when the pup who as yet has no manners...tried to take it, she growled a warning but the pup didnt listen so she went for her, lots of yelping from pup and is now feeling a bit sorry for herself..it wasnt a particulaly aggressive telling off just the usual snap. Im really after some advice as to how to now handle the relationship beetween them, they are still 'play fighting' as always. but my bitch dosnt seem very happy at the moment, like shes turned against the pup a bit. I want to help them settle as easily as possible but i wonder how much intervention i should be doing?
some people are saying let them fight it out (however i dont want my puppy seriously injured!) and some are saying dont let them play fight and get hyped up....Do i also tell the pup for 'attacking' my bitch to reinforce it or leave them to it? How do i help them settle down in the best possible way? I have tried to keep my bitch 'top dog' by feeding her first etc is this the right thing to do or shall i let them organise whos 'top dog'???

they will organise who is top dog anyway. i would supervise and watch to not allow blood shed but otherwise, let them sort it. it sounds like its going great so far

I bet your pup yelped the house down, but I also bet your bitch did not actually hurt her, noise and teeth can look and sound very scary and what may look like a bite is often not even brushed against the skin, your pup is being taught manners, in the only language she will understand, sometimes your bitch will give in and let the pup have things, sometimes she'll give her a swipe and teeth baring, you don't interfere unless the pup is stupid enough not to get the message.

If the pup just doesn't get it, then divert the pups attention onto yourself , you play with the pup you spend time with her and only allow play whilst your older bitch is happy to do so, you need to give more time to this pup and not leave your bitch to play mum. Yes, the pup may look sheepish at times and wary of her, but that is normal if the bitch is not one that is tolerant of a pups behaviour, some are some aren't, doesn't mean they won't be good pals when fully grown.

I really wouldn't worry, the pup will grow and learn, very normal behaviour, just pup being a pain and elder bitch putting her in her place and getting used to sharing her life with this little one, is what's happening, don't be upset by it. Just dog talk. :-)

Thanks, Yes she did yelp the house down! im aware she needs to be taught manners which is why i didnt intervene. But some people have said i am being irresponsible and putting the pup at risk!, but how else are they supposed to learn 'dog speak'? i cant teach her it!

My bitch is very tolerant of pups, she will happily play with them for ages.
I am just worried about doing things right as i have heard so many horror stories about bitches fighting.
i dont want to make a terrible mistake in bringing them up together and have a life of hell!
What are peoples opinions on spaying? again i am confused as some people say that it makes them worse with other dogs and some better!
my adult bitch is also in season at the moment so is probably a little grumpy..

I have dogs not bitches, but I found that everything started to change after 4 weeks of living together.  Until then my older dogs, and one in particular, found the puppy a bit alarming and a nuisance.  I would allow them supervised time together but at any time they looked too anxious I'd let them go into another room or the other side of a baby gate.

When the puppy was 12 weeks, almost to the day, my previously worried 3.5 yr old dog would start to encourage play - only in the morning, and only in one spot in the garden but still, it was progress!  Gradually he extended his timings, and his 'circular play area' until most things were ok.  The pup is now 7 months and I don't worry about either of them - I'm careful, but no longer paranoid! :)

I appreciate it's different with bitches but at the time I noticed that a few other posters reported a positive shift when their pups were 12 weeks too.  I suspect it's not a coincidence...

Yesterday my bitch was eating a toy when the pup who as yet has no manners...tried to take it, she growled a warning but the pup didnt listen so she went for her, lots of yelping from pup and is now feeling a bit sorry for herself..it wasnt a particulaly aggressive telling off just the usual snap. Im really after some advice as to how to now handle the relationship beetween them, they are still 'play fighting' as always. but my bitch dosnt seem very happy at the moment, like shes turned against the pup a bit. I want to help them settle as easily as possible but i wonder how much intervention i should be doing?

I wouldn't be right happy either if I was chomping on my favourite toy and some new whipper snapper came in and tried to join in, uninvited.

If your older bitch is of sound character, which from your post it sounds as she is, then she will tell the pup where to go but is unlikely to do any damage to her. The worst thing you can do is to tell your older girl off ... she's got to be allowed to have her own space and also to be able to educate the youngster. Pups will start making the most horrendous noise as the slightest thing ... I recall one of mine as a pup was frightened by a rather large, but friendly, greyhound ... at about 6' distance, pup started yelling the place down. It's natural, it's inbuilt it's how they survive. Make a noise and the cavalry normally appear ... Mum or you!

I'd ensure that the older girl has plenty of time and space where she's not subject to puppy boisterousness. Even now I always feed my dogs in their own crates - doors open, but no one is allowed to enter someone else's crate if they're eating, chewing, etc.

Don't even worry about who's top dog, it's unlikely to be an issue at this stage and at any stage the worst thing you can do is intervene. If there's going to be a pecking order then the dogs are much better at sorting it out than we are, and in truth, you'll find the pecking order will change for different situations anyway. I do feed my dogs in order, but it's just age order ... why should my oldest girly who's had her dinner first not expect it first. I honestly don't believe the others are sitting watching thinking "ah, ha, she's top dog 'cause she's getting her dinner before us" :-)

If your girl growled ... she's issued a warning ... you say pup paid no notice, so your girl snapped ... she had to take the next step to make her point. Pup didn't listen so the next level was needed. Exactly as she should be allowed to do. Hopefully the pup will now know a few more manners.

Give your older girl space and time to be allowed to be on her own, and don't give pup too much freedom, she also needs space and quiet time.

Just chill out, relax (you know your girl ... do you really believe she's aggressive?) let your older girl continue the doggy education of the young upstart and enjoy :-)

Edited - we're all posting at the same time :-)

But some people have said i am being irresponsible and putting the pup at risk!

I would very much like to see how their dogs react with other dogs. I strongly suspect that the people who are saying this (if dog owners) do not have dogs with good dog language :-(

Yes, agree, if older girl is in season she might be slightly grumpier ... my girls don't get grumpy, just silly, but I know some do.

I have 3 bitches living very happily together ... no fighting. Why would there be? I certainly wouldn't expect there to be.  Litter sisters brought up together, then that might be a different matter.  I have many friends who have bitches very happily living together too.

Spaying if you're not breeding is sensible for the long term health of the bitch.

I think the additional info about the season may be a huge factor in this- hormones! Supervised interaction is the key, good luck I am sure it will settle. Your older girl is probably a bit miffed at the interloper and to have a season thrown in the mix too!!

Very useful post. I hope to be in a similar situation in a few weeks ie new pup and 3 year 4old bitch plus 4 year old dog ( both neutered)
I had no probelms introducing the other two to each other but useful to know how to handle things if different particulaly this time I will have a resident bitch and the pup is also a bitch but different breeds and also very different sizes the resident being a toy breed new pup is an fcr

> But some people have said i am being irresponsible and putting the pup at risk!, but how else are they supposed to learn 'dog speak'? i cant teach her it!

Exactly :)

When I brought my pup home i had a resident male oldie. Oldie was disgusted with pup, so much so that he would yelp and run off if pup even tried to sniff him in the first few weeks :(
With supervised interactions - so oldie would not be overwhelmed - they soon became great playmates.
However, being a rough& tumble male, the oldie (once he had accepted the pup) would welcome and tollerate an awfull lot of rough play before he 'said' anything about it - when pup did overstep the mark oldie would look like a fierce wild animal, teeth snapping all over the place and an awfull sound coming form him, but he never hurt pup.
My pup had limited contact with other dogs in his early life due to being crippled with elbow displasia so learned the 'boundries' of dog:dog interaction from his old house mate. Now I have a dog that thinks it's perfectly fine to be rough with other dogs in the name of play or even greet - he doesn't know that he shouldn't be cramming his nose up other dogs rear ends to the point of taking them off the floor so I have to be sooooo carefull and I'm constantly trying to teach him otherwise.

What all my waffling is getting as is - I sooooooo wish I had a mature bitch that would take no nonsense from him when younger!!!!!

Your pup will have great doggy-manners if she learns the lessons your bitch is teaching her :)

Thanks everyone, yes my older bitch has got fantastic doggie manners, she is a great all rounder and her temperament is outstanding, i even think shes too soft sometimes...! All the posts have been really helpful and im going to be taking it all into account, All i have been worried about is the pup being accidentally badly injured as shes so slight compared to my huge bitch! i know my bitch would not take a warning too far shes very good. The pup needs to be taught but i was confused as to how much I should be intervening.
I will be giving my adult bitch more time away from the puppys madness, I think the puppy has learnt something from yesterday, i hope so, so not too many more snaps are needed!! She was a bit quiet and feeling sorry for herself last night!
I can only hope she does learn from my bitch and turns out even half as well mannered as her i'll be happy!