hi guys - can you help.
As bella (westie) loves other dogs so much we decided to get her a mate - little max is lovely but on meeting him she hates him - we introduced them outside the house and he is sooo small compared to her she had a deep throaty growl and went for him - not sure if she has actually bitten him but he has been pushed around and squeeked which seems to make her do it more - if we pick him up she goes mad - as the afternoon has progressed we are in the house and they can sit together on the floor but if he moves she is stood over him .....will this all sort out ? she`s just woken up from a sleep and remembering he is here .. shes gone back to growling at him ... we are praising her for good behaviour and telling her off when she growls - poor max is scared too which doesnt help i suppose.
advise very welcome
susie

Bella's reaction to Max is slightly unusual from such a young dog, but perfectly normal, considering that she had no say in whether she wanted another dog in her home! Lots of dogs enjoy the company of others outside their home but don't want to be with them fulltime. All Bells is doing is making sure that Max knows it's her house and that he must behave himself; she needs you to help her feel secure in this, so make sure you spend lots of time with her when he's not around.

Has she been in season yet?

she had her first season 4th june .... will that make a difference ...?.
how long do you think till she accepts him .. he is very placid and not pushy at all.

If she was in season in June then she's at the right time for a phantom pregnancy, so she could be feeling hormonal and upset,which won't be helping.

It took about two weeks for my old dog to feel more confident with our new puppy, and a further two weeks before we trusted him to be alone with her for short times. We made sure that he knew he was still our Special Dog and that the horrid little needle-toothed upstart wasn't stealing our affection from him!

Also of course Bella is still a puppy herself so her canine skills are probably not as refined as a real adult.  It's like a child with a new brother and sister you may need to intervene to keep harmony as she won't understand puppies like and older bitch might be expected to do.

by late afternoon - although she still goes mad when we pick him up they can tolerate each other on the ground - share toys & even the waterbowl (although they have their own) no more squeeking from Max and Bella is `putting up with things` - hopefully this is a good sign.

hi ive just done the same thing Gwen is 8months and ive just brought River, 8weeks, home.Ive also got Jess who is 2years.This is the third  day,  things are settling down a bit now but the older dogs acted almost scared of the pup and a bit growly at first.I catch Gwen looking accusingly at me as if shes saying "I was the baby!" Im sure theyll be fine after a while,and Im sure yours will be,too,good luck!

> although she still goes mad when we pick him up

Is there really any need to pick him up?  I know it's easy with smaller dogs and puppies but it's better to train and encourage a puppy to come when called, go to bed etc without resorting to picking him up and putting him there :)

Many people recommend waiting for at least two years before adding another pup to the household - it's great to have an older one nicely trained and sensible before adding a hooligan and of course it means that they are better spaced out in old age.  However now he's there it'll be worth reading about how you can raise puppies together as your younger one is still very much a baby and you'll find they soon learn to play together and ignore you!

Give them a bit of space using baby gates, when needed, and train them separately and you'll find that things will settle down a bit in a few weeks.  Give it time - my pup was 12 weeks before my older dogs started to relax and interact with him