Hello.

Please, please can someone give me some advice. We have a 9 month old Lassa Apso who to be honest has been pretty spoilt since he arrived but through perseverance is quite well trained. About 3 weeks ago we decided to get another dog to keep him company while we are at work. We picked a 8 week old West highland white, and since he has arrived there has been nothing but squabbles. It starts as playful playfighting but neither knows when to stop until one gets annoyed and it can get nasty. They also both seem to want the same thing, give them something in equal measures (food, toys, attention...etc etc) and they will end up chasing each other. Also the westie has now become very possessive over things so much so that he will snarl and has actually bitten me.

Is this just them working out each others place? Do they need to be trained? Or is separation the key while the youngest puppy settles into his new home?

They are still both very young, and playfighting can sound pretty horrendous - has anyone been injured (apart from you that is) and needed vet treatment?  Westies are very much Terriers, and aren't normally inclined to give in gracefully, so i may be up to you to take measures to manage the situation to limit the opportunities for disagreements, and to distract them swiftly (shouting or dropping a saucepan lid may be what it takes) then splitting them up briefly to calm down..

If the Westie has been so wound up he's now resource gaurding from you, then maybe you need to look at what you are doing when he gets something you don't want him to have.  Again you may need to look at using distraction with a really tasty food treat, then asking him to sit and/or down if he knows these instructions while you remove his 'treasure' before giving him a reward - which in his mind should be for performing the behaviour, not letting you have the object.

Thanks for the good advice, I have tried distracting them both which works. I have trained them to come on my call with a clicker. Normally the main victim is me, especially if I just try to split it up physically as they think i'm joining in and start biting me instead. The only problem is the westie seems to want to spend all his waking hours chasing our older puppy, or trying to get what ever he has in his mouth. This is why he can turn nasty, and eventually the westie gets wound up too. Once the westie is wound up this is when he starts to snap, and BITE!!! Should I stay away if this happens?? Or intervene to calm the situation down?

No blood is spilt but it is exausting trying to monitor them all the time. Is this just a phase as the westie is only 9 weeks old? He hasn't had his second booster yet, but once he is old enough do you think socialisation classes would help? I just don't want either to grow up being aggressive to get what they want?

This is one reason most breeders will not sell two pups together and advise that you wait until a first dog is mature and well trained before adding a puppy.  Your older pup has not the mental maturity or authority to deal with theis youngster, so I am afraid it will be entirely up to you to supervise play, and give time out at regular intervals so that the baby one doesn't get overwrought and snappy.

When you are absent I wopuld crate the little one or both, where they can be together for company but not be able to play.  A 9 week old pup should spend a fair amount of time asleeep and play should be for short periods.  Use other awake time to train so that they are more focussed on you.

I am in your situation at the moment, I have a 9 month old Irish Setter and a now 12 week old of the same breed.  They get on really well and any time spent together is usually laying looking at eachother making the most awful noises, they do bite each other but not hard.  The older one ALWAYS wants what the younger one has and vice versa :rolleyes: it can be a real nightmare when they are playing as they make so much noise you cant even hear the tv I only ever let them play supervised, when I am out they are separated.  Because of the size difference between them they arent allowed to run around together because the older one could do some serious damage to the little one but luckily the older one seems to prefer laying down to play and is actually quite gentle.  I make sure each one gets quality time spent with me on his own and also time out in a crate is very important especially for my youngest as he doesnt know when to stop and would play all day :D :D

Good luck :)

I think as the owner you have got to be prepared to dive in and seperate them if necessary - using welding gloves to avoid injury, and don't bring the pup up close to your face either.....

Thanks for everyone's advice. I guess as you say they are still very young so will learn better social skills as they grow older!

They will only learn good social skills if there is an appropriate adult (canine or human) to help them learn - think of a load of kids who only interact with each other - they soon turn into little hooligans with no respect for anyone :(

I doubt an adult would interfere in the rough and tumble between youngsters...it doesn't usually work like that .What Brainless meant is that if one of your dogs were older then as soon as the other got out of hand it would discipline the pup but as it is they are bith still babies and neither has the experience or knowledge to do so.
Archer

You've got some great advice.  I don't know what terriers are like with water, but with mine when the play starts to turn nasty I use the 'all done' command or 'enough' and if it doesnt' stop they get a spray of water which usually distracts them enough that you can get a 'good dog' in and they're fine.  If you listen closely you'll learn the change in pitch of the growling/playing when it's just playing and when it turns nasty.  The second the pitch changes - stop it - this means it can't get out of control.  Or if you learn what it's like when it escalates before the change and can stop it that's even better.

Good luck.

Wendy

hey jimbob i had gotten a shish tzuh 8 month old intact male for a friend for my 1yr old collie mix .gizmo the tzuh hated my girl buffy from the start  my vet said give it time but gizmo kept threating buffy with growls and barks so they always fought buffy just wanted to play at first but gizmo was havining none of it so she started to attack him almost constant just to say i know where your coming from, my two just could not accept not being alhpa so i had to give little gizmo up becuase i was afraid buffy would eventually kill him thats how it turned out for me you should always bring your current dog to met any new dog before you bring the new one home it could save alot of stress on has to accept being the omega good luck jimbob!

I also have a similar situation and 8 month pup and then a 5 month which we rescued. The elder pup has always been quite dominant and has tried challenging both me and my partner and growling. I had started training her but unfortunately she broke her leg so her recovery has delayed it. I think she is going to need a lot of training as she is very willfull.

The two pups have to date got on really well and play mercelessly. Yesterday though the pitch did change and the elder pup was actually quite agressive. My natural reaction was to pull her off, she was very angry about this and went and got in her crate and sulked.

If this happens again I will leave them to it unless It looks as though it is out of hand. I was advised if household fights break out to throw and blanket over them and separate. or try the water or whistle.

The elder pup is showing signs that her leg is bothering her ( i think its the cold/damp)which is why she was grumpy yesterday. Is there anything I should do? So far I don't they have not fallen out completely but is there anything I can do to prevent things from getting worse?

Kaznumi,

Whatever you do please DO NOT throw a blanket over two dogs you think may be fighting.  One or both of the dogs could easily panic and you could end up with a real fight on your hands - that you then find it very hard to stop because you have two dogs screaming under a blanket.  

Stacey