I cannot believe how much stuff I am having to learn now that we have a second dog in the house!  I thought that I was fairly well prepared but nope.

We have noticed that when we take Ebony (14 weeks old) out by herself she is fine, obviously a bit of puppy pulling and wonder at the big wide world but basically no problems on the lead, pays attention and is generally coming along well.

When we take Os (nearly 3 years) and her out together all hell breaks loose.  She completely ignores us and whines and barks to get at him, pulling on the lead and generally being a little monster.  As soon as he is out of sight she is fine again but then when he comes back into sight or is nearby she reverts back. 

We are expecting to take them out apart for the majority of the time at the moment so that they both get the quality time that they need but obviously sometimes it just isn't practical and they need to be able to walk together without too many problems.  Does anyone have any bright ideas how to tackle this?

On a side note they are together a lot when we are with them but separated when we aren't there to supervise.  Morning and evening they have free access to each other - I suspect that she is bonding with Os more than us and that we need to separate them and give her (and Os) more one on one play time with me and the other half to make sure she sees us as fun too.  Does anyone think that this might be it?

Thanks
Jayne

Bump!

Come on board experts ... please respond!  I'd also like to see the reply to this. :)

Jo

<<<On a side note they are together a lot when we are with them but separated when we aren't there to supervise.  Morning and evening they have free access to each other - I suspect that she is bonding with Os more than us >>>

Being a newbie two -dog owner myself , I have found that when pup arrived she seemed to bond very quickly with my older dog too. She is starting to bond well with us now but I did find that all she was interested in upon her arrival was playing with Gus.
Mine are also seperated when we arent there but although we walk them together we are also going to have to train and walk pup seperately too so that she learns to take notice of us rather than just wanting to play and chase Gus.

havent really answered any of your questions ( sorry :rolleyes:) but just wanted you to know you're not alone in this type of situation :)

Yes, it is perfectly normal for a new pup to be more interested in a fellow canine than any other species. Other dogs communicate to the pup in its own language - much easier than having to learn the foreign language of people-speak.

The more time spent one-to-one with the pup will bond it closer to you. You seem to be doing all the right things, taking them out separately as well as together (which will help prevent feelings of jealousy from Os), so I'd say carry on, and have patience! Ebony is still very young, and must only just have started out on lead walks anyway, which at about 15 minutes will not be enough for Os.

Good luck!
:)

Thanks Jeangenie, it's always good to get some feedback.

It's just a nightmare when we do have to take them out together like to town etc as I am sure that people think that we are mudering the poor thing!  I never knew that such a tiny pup could have such big lungs on her ;)

<<<I never knew that such a tiny pup could have such big lungs on her >>>

Please-
meet Libby first before you say that :) :)

LOL.  Everyone comments on what an even natured and calm pup she is!

Little monster.

Perhaps you could try making this a specific training exercise, rather than waiting until you HAVE to take them out together. I would guess that at the moment they are going out together when you are pushed for time and less able to make it a proper training session? It may even be worth driving your dogs to a place where you can do this training with them in a quiet location rather than just trying to cope straight from your house on the roads.

It really helps if the older dog is pretty 'bomb-proof' in his obedience, that way you can put virtually all of your attention towards the pup. If not, you're going to have your work cut-out especially if the older dog is a bit of a handful ;-)

I do quite a lot of this kind of training as I tend to work three or four dogs at the same time on shoots, so failure in this aspect would mean that we would have quite a short relationship. I've never had any problems so far, but that has always been based on having an obedient older dog to train with.

Best of luck!

I have the same problem when we visit my sister and her labs. All the training goes out of the window, Sparky just becomes totally fixated with the 3 boys, pulling like mad, whining, jumping about until they've all had a good run around together.  It's practically impossible to go walking together. Strangers' dogs don't have the same effect - he's fine when we meet up with someone and walk alongside for a bit - it's as though he and the boys are long lost cousins! And he's 14 months now!

I agree with Havoc in that organised training sessions with both dogs Is the way to go. I always work both dogs on the same side.

When training a singleton I make use of both hands. I normally use the right hand on the lead with a very young puppy although as the puppy gets better at heelwork I change to holding the lead in my left hand. This has the advantage that I have become ambidextrous as far as leads are concerned so when a puppy arrives, I walk the puppy between the older dog and myself. I can hold the puppy's lead in my right hand and the adult's lead in my left. This gives me independent control over both dogs and I find that very quickly the puppy cottons on to the idea.

Treating it as a training session then I can devote my whole mind to the task in hand rather than worrying about being late and not getting to the intended destination on time.

As I've said on here before, "Everything is a training opportunity" Train for everything you want them to do. Train tight heelwork individually, train the looser, easy going walking as a brace.

Years ago I brought a brace lead, one which branches into two leads at the bottom end, but quite frankly I never got on with it, preferring to use two separate leads. Other people swear by them so as in so many cases, "You pays yer money and takes yer choice."

Best wishes, John