We have a 14mth SBT bitch.  We picked up new puppy today - a 8wk old boy staff.  She has continuously nudged him about.  He hasn't been upset by this but eventually growled back.  She is still walking around panting and harrassing him at every opportunity and I have read that she is asserting her dominance over him and showing him she is top dog in this house.  We have a cage for him, but he hates it and although he is exhausted at the moment he is screaming the house down.  Reminds me of when the kids were little!  Should I take him out or am I starting off a bad habit?

As its his first day I'd perservere with the cage if thats where you would like him to sleep. He is still a little baby remember and the house and its occupants are all new to him .
It might take a few days to settle but he will in the end :) You could try all the old tried and tested methods of a covered alarm clock ( to simulate the mothers heart beat) , Wrapped hot water bottle, blankets or toys that smell of his mum or you, a low radio etc :)

She is not trying to dominant(god I hate that word)your puppy she is simply putting him in his place below her in your pecking order

Keep to want you have decided, feed him after her & in his crate, even if her food is just a biscuit & his a proper meal.  As lel says try popping a toy like a stuffed kong or similar in his crate to keep him occipied & rewarded whilst he is in there

I'd persevere with the cage (says she who's cage lasted 1/2 a day) theyboth need time out from each other. And your bitch needs time with you.
Don't worry about your bitch's reaction to the pup he's new to her and smells of his mom and litter mates, my bitch (who's SBT and 2) was the same with my pup who is now 20 weeks, following round the garden standing over her nudging her but she soon stopped by day 3 it was as if they had always been together and now they are fine, make a lot of noise playing but fine.

Karen

lel & kazz

Thanks for the reassurance.  They were exhausted last night and he actually climbed into her bed and fell asleep and she jumped in with him.  We put him in his bed in the cage, shut the door and didn't hear another sound - she slept in her bed next to the cage.  When I went down in the morning, I turned the light on and he started jumping up in the cage to be let out.  She went mad.  Growling and snarling at the cage like she was really angry.  When he came out she was fine, but she will not leave him alone.  She spends all her time panting, standing over him, nudging him  and he is not allowed to do anything on his own - not even sleep - she wakes him up by rattling on the cage. He has growled back at her when he's fed up which she's fine about - but still doesn't give up her mission - we're worried this is going to make him agressive to other dogs. Should we just let them get to know each other before trying to toilet train or get him into a routine?  We're trying to give her more time on her own - taking her out for walks and playing with her, but she doesn't want to be away from him.  She's in season (2nd week) so her hormones are raging as well.  Really would appreciate your advice.

Thanks
Charly

Hey, don't worry.
     I'll tell you a secret "by day 2 of my pups arrival I was going to take her back - really considered it" but didn't obviously. Sal plays with the pup for hours, and vice versa. And they fall asleep together on the sofa with one of the cats (the living room is out of bounds for running riot)
     But at the start Sal would not leave Tess alone standing over her,and trying to stop her walking etc, I recall asking Mitch (on here) if her two did the same to her new pup and she said she didn't remember, same with me really if I was asked in a year I'd more than likely say "no they were fine straight off"    
     Give it a week and you'll be fine, with your bitch being in season she may be all over the place anyhow mine goes a bit scattier than normal. But it will be fine trust me I'm a "doctor" No honestly it will work out and no the pup won't be aggresive to other dogs. I'd suggest as you already are treating your bitch to a bit more attention but nothing major.  I still walk my two seperately and as long as I have the time I think I always will, mostly because it gives each yime with you on their own.
     But set rules and stick to them it's different having two; ie you can't have two Staffs jumping up to greet you, so set rules you can live with, and don't let the pup get away with something your bitch doesn't - it can cause jealousy.
Oh I feed my two seperately too; pevention of disagreements is better than trying to cure them.

Take care and if you want to email me please do I've PM'd you my email (don't do that for everyone)

Sure Lel and others will be along shortly to help you.

Karen   

Thanks Karen.  She was a bit calmer yesterday.  Obviously she wants to be in charge of him and she plays with him as if she's the same size as he is, which looks a bit scary as she is so big in comparison, but I suppose that at 14mths she is still quite a pup herself. Had the most horrendous nights sleep last night.  They are in the kitchen, he in the cage, she on her bed next to the cage.  He hates the cage and howled when put to bed.  Went down to see if all was OK and it was - apart from the howling -  then came back upstairs.  Shut all the doors so I couldn't hear him but was woken at 4.30 by him howling again.  Hubby went down and we bought our girl upstairs with us, as she looked exhausted.  Put him back in the cage and he howled until morning.  Needless to say everybody is bleary eyed today, but we want to persevere with the cage.  Feel really horrible when he is howling in it, do you think he will get the message soon.
Charly

Yep. :)

Karen

Hi Charly,

Might be a silly question, but when he's howling do you try letting him out for a wee? He obviously can't hold it all night at that age, unless he has a super bladder! I use a crate for my pup, but it meant getting up 3 times a night to let her out when she started whining (didn't want to encourage her to wee in the cage). She soon learned that night time is quiet time, and if she wanted a wee then that was fine, but it was straight back in the crate with no fuss. It took about a month, but she's now sleeping all the way through without needing a toliet break.

I personally find my crates a godsend! Dylan wouldn't be without his, and is in in it 24-7 (unless the puppy decides it's time for him to play!), although the door is only shut at night to keep him off the sofa. The puppy is not so keen on it just yet, although if she has something nice to chew on she's quite happy to be left in hers if I'm not able to fully supervise what mischief she's getting up to!

Good luck with it all!

If it's any help, my dog took a good 6 weeks to get used to our new pup.  I would often despair that it would never work out but one day they were on the same bed and all's been fine since!

Perseverance is the key, oh! and keeping pup on the lead in the house to allow older dog some space.

They do learn to get along in the end, but definately make sure the older dog has plenty of puppy free time. I had the opposite problem to begin with, my older dog just ignored the puppy... not an easy thing to do when she was literally hanging off his ear! Now she's a little too big for that he's started playing with her to distract her (he has no choice really!) but they get on really well now, and can often be found sharing a crate.