You guys (and gals) may remember my earlier posts about my puppy (Sensei) not eating. He is now doing very well and eating well on his own. :) I recently purchased a second pup from a very reputable breeder in Canada. Toto is 16 weeks old, very healthy, and arrived yesterday by plane. He took to me immediately, but is resistant to play with Sensei (lots of growling and barking). I am pretty much content to let them work out their issues as long as Sensei does not get hurt in the process. Toto weighs 7 pounds. Sensei after all of his health problems and difficulty eating only now weighs 2# 7oz. (if the birth date was accurate for Sensei, the boys are only three weeks apart in age) Toto is occasionally taking a dominant stance, especially when I play with both pups at the same time (standing between me and the puppy when on the floor, and trying to take up my whole lap when we are playing on the couch).

Is there any way to facilitate the two becoming friends and playmates? Should I just let them work out their own issues or continue to scold Toto when he growls or snips at the baby? Neither of the boys have yet been neutered due to their young age. I want to let Toto get settled into his new house for a few days first, but then he is old enough and healthy enough to go ahead and neuter him. Would this help in the getting along issues?

Thanks for all advice.

Regards,
LoneStar

Hi Lonestar,
I'm probably being stupid, but I'm not certain which ofthe puppies is the older? Not that it matters really, because superiority doesn't automatically go hand-in-hand with age. Often the youngest is the more dominant dog.

As long as they both perceive you to be superior to both of them there will be few problems, and at their young age scraps will be minor. Am I right in assuming they are both Pekes? (I remember the first pup was.)

You're right in not wanting to neuter too soon - dogs (both male and female) which are neutered before maturity can suffer several problems when they are older, which many veterinarians won't tell you about - they don't have to live with the results! When you do decide to neuter one of them, to avoid seniority squabbles, it is considered best to neuter the less dominant animal (whether the older or the younger) to make the difference between them more marked - this in itself will reduce tension.

Hope this helps a bit.
:)

Thanks Jean,

Yes they are both pekes (I'm just a fan of the little smoosh faces I think). :) Toto (the one that I got yesterday) is the older and the bigger of the two. I am probably just sensitive to the play issues because I worked so hard to keep Sensei alive (we ended up having to do 5-6 dropper feeds a day after his weight dropped to 1# 11oz). He took a major downturn after completing his first course of antibiotics and I didn't see the weight loss over the next week until he was very puny. Now that he's doing so much better, I find myself still being very protective of him because even so much better, he's still much smaller than the other animals in my household.

You mentioned neutering the less dominant one first... so should I wait until Sensei is ready to be neutered? (I will probably wait until he is 6-7 months old to neuter him due to his small size.) Would there be any harm in neutering both of them at the same time? (I plan to have them both neutered) If I should neuter Sensei first, how long after should I wait to neuter Toto? (Toto was sold as a companion with a contract stating that he would be neutered. He has a beautiful pedigree with many champions in his immediate family.)

Thanks,
LoneStar

Hi,
I'm really glad Sensei made it - he had such a rough start to his life he must be a terrific character! One of the first dogs I remember from when I was a little girl was a Peke, and she was gorgeous! I've always had a soft spot for them. Pugs too.

Re the neutering - personally I would wait until they are about 8 months, or maybe 9 or 10 months. My vet books say that early neutering in dogs as well as bitches can lead to incontinence problems in adulthood, so certainly wait until they are mature. Until the new one has properly settled in (it will take at least a month) you won't know which is likely to be the dominant one - Toto is completely out of his depth and insecure at the moment, so may be pushing himself forward more than he would in his 'old' home.

Give them time. Neither is likely to hurt the other. All pups have squabbles, just like human siblings - it's generally all noise and is insignificant. Just keep an eye out to stop things if they look like they may get out of hand, which is extremely unlikely. Make sure both pups have their own space they can retire to and sulk!

What will Sensei eat now? And how is Toto eating?

Thanks Jean for all of the info. Very helpful. Sensei's eating has been funny. What finally got him to start eating on his own was a mixture of Prescriptive AD puppy food thinned down enough to use the dropper to feed with human breast milk. (After trying cow's milk, goat milk, puppy milk replacement, and canned milk, I finally got desperate enough to try my closest friend's suggestion which was the breast milk. She is breast feeding my godson and had a few ounces frozen as a just in case the baby needed it.) I know it sounds weird. He loved it. Instead of the fight to feed with he and I wearing 3/4 of a feed, he would sit up in my arms and munch on the end of the dropper as I squeezed the food into his mouth. He started gaining an ounce and a half to two ounces a day. He then also started eating some on his own though he prefers cat food to puppy food.

Since Toto came home, he and Sensei have been eating Nutro puppy food reasonably well. I started him on that in the afternoon making a bowl of soaked dry with some canned Nutro as well. Toto eats a half of a scrambled egg each morning so of course, Sensei ate a few bites of egg this morning also. Competition can be a very good thing. I've been still giving Sensei one dropper feed a day at night (weaned down slowly over the past couple of weeks) because he likes them so much. Last night I gave Toto a treat at the same time of a small amount of ground sirloin. Unfortunately he finished his meat before Sensei was done with his feed and screamed at my feet though the end of Sensei's feed. To keep peace, I may have to stop the dropper feed at bedtime.

Toto eats great. On arrival to the house yesterday the first thing he did was run around the kitchen devouring all of the plates of food that were out from breakfast for Sensei. (Toto hadn't eaten in 16 hours due to the long flight.)

Heh! Character is an understatement. I don't think I have ever had a puppy that was more rotten than this one. I have only just started to tell him no-no mostly for biting, and after being told no, he steps back and barks, much like a rebellious child. I am just now starting the war against the puppy store with my vet fully onboard. If I have my way, I will shut them down before I'm done. Sensei didn't deserve to have to go through all of that at such a young age. I have no regrets about getting him though; I'm just glad he survived it all.

Regards,
LoneStar

I am so releived that the little one made it!!! :D:D

I would concur with the others about only neutering one of them. As they are almost the smae age it would be well for there to be a more distinct gap dominance wise, as when fully mature they might have Issues over this. I would wait until well past puberty to assess who is likely to be most dominant. If the difference is quite obvious then neitering them both will keep the staus quo, but if there is little difference and they are being more competitive, then I would only neuter the one destined to be reduced in Rank, which bearing in mind he is likely to stay smaller would probqbly be Sensei.

I would contact Toto's breeder explaining the situation, so as they aren't too put out about Toto staying entire. I am sure with you shoing such a responsible attitude that they won't mind, and will trust you not to use him for irresponsible breeding (which is after all what the spay/neuter contracts are for).

Thanks again for all of the help and the well wishes for the baby boy. Sensei weighed 2# 14oz today and the boys are getting along very well now. They played together today all afternoon. The only issue now is that Toto has much more energy than Sensei and they play to the point that Sensei collapses for a couple of hours. :) (He still seems happy to have a buddy, even if it exhausts him).

Regards-