I wonder if you can help me.  I am taking delivery of a golden retriever puppy on the 8th October but have recently had a very bad experience with a German Shepherd puppy and want to do everything that I can to prevent it happening again.

I have an older dog (11 years) who is quite timid.  Unfortunately the new GS puppy terrorised the older dog.  For the first few days my older dog would not stay in the same room.  The new puppy constantly ran after the older dog, attempting to bite his back legs and his neck.  He did this every single minute that he was awake. On more than one occasion he made the older dog yelp.  The puppy was also very territorial and wanted everything that the older dog had, even preventing the older dog from drinking water.  Sadly, the GS puppy had to be returned to the breeder on the 10th day after it became very aggressive towards the older dog and us.

It was a situation that made the joy of having a new puppy very traumatic and stressful for us all and I'd like to learn all that I can to stop it happening again.

I'd be very interested to know how common this is and the best way of handling it.

Thank you

but thats a pup you have to teach it how to behave its like a toddler and an oap you teach if you gave a pup back after 10days why get another cause you obviously dont no how to look after a pup

Firstly, I have had dogs all my life and have never experienced this.  The puppy attacked and with all that I've learned since, this was defintely not usual behaviour (from the vet) and would not make a suitable pet.

You have no idea how hard a decision it was to make.

Secondly, thank you so much for your helpful advice and assistance (not).  I thought this was a site where someone could go for help and support but with posters like yourself I was obviously wrong.

If there is anyone else that could offer HELPFUL support I would appreciate it.

Hi was the puppy you got a male, if so you might be better getting a female.  Every breeder knows each puppies individual personalities so if you tell them that you have an older dog who's timid they should be able to pick which puppy has the best personality to mix with your older boy and not clash.   Hope this helps you abit.  German sherphards do have alot of energy.  Also if you get another puppy who does the same thing to your older dog, you might have to teach it not to, by saying no and if thats not enough stick it out side away from everyone so it's on it's own and say a firm no as it's in the act or even just try distracting it with a teddy and you play with until it's got rid of some of it's energy.

Susan

HI, my older dog did not like having a puppy around neither. And 18 months on still doesn't :( But what I did do, was give the older one 'time out' in another room. In fact she has full freedom of the house, something the other two do not. Most of the time they ignore the older one, but every now and again they see her as a 'game', who can chase her the most. Its not pleasant and its upsetting for her (she's 12y) but the majority of the time they ignore her now. Oh almost forgot, every single night they curl up together in the dining room when its time for bed, like they are the best of friends :) The youngest sleeps in the kitchen but thats because she is untrustworthy with the dining room furniture! Sorry you had a bad experience with your gsd puppy :( 

In all fairness it does sound quite typical of a very confident pup.  Normally an adult woudl call a halt when it had enough and the pup would learn the boundaries, yoru dog unfortunately due to it's temperament/age/inexpereince did not do so.

I have a 9 week old pup her who thinks it great fun annoying his great great granma who is 13 1/2, but knows not to go too far as she will deck him, she can also get away from him at any time.

You are likely to have the same problems with a new puppy, even if to a lesser extent if it is a more placid pup.  The only way around it is to back up the older dog in disciplining the pup, and giving the old boy time away from the pup unless you can supervise.

Thank you all very much for your advice.  The new pup is a female and I have spoken to the breeder about our recent incident.  We have bought kiddy gates so that time out can be introduced.  We are also buying lots of toys to distract the new pup and introducing the two dogs in stages at an unfamiliar place. 

It is unfortunate that the older dog couldn't stand up for himself and we now realise that maybe a GSD wasn't the best choice of puppy with an older dog.  I've read that Golden Retrievers have one of the best temperaments.

Again, thank you all for your time.

Angela

In all honesty I think it is very unlikely that a young puppy would truly be aggressive. I have two "sets" of dogs -big and little, and the two don't mix for safety reasons. I currently have one pup in each set. My Papillon puppy is forever hanging off my old cavalier's ears and tail, even to the extent of being pulled along the floor when the Cav moves, he growls and snarls and sounds viscious, literally leaps at him, throws himself at him, but in reality he is just playing -and my cavalier isn't the sort of dog to tell a puppy off.  (Note: I have to add the cavalier doesn't actually MIND! In fact he's had a new lease of life thanks to the pup.) Likewise my Malinois puppy hangs on to my youngest Golden's neck and to anyone not knowing them it would probably look like an attack, and sound like it too,a lot of growling and snarling and teeth showing, but it is just play- and the Golden doesn't tell him off. (They're best friends.) The OTHER big dogs DO tell him off and so he doesn't bother them in the same way as he knows he can't get away with it.

I think the important thing here is that you make sure your older dog gets a chance to have some peace and quiet away from the pup a few times a day, and at night possibly as well. Pups can be hard work for older dogs, especially when they are like this, too kind to tell them off. :)

>The puppy attacked and with all that I've learned since, this was defintely not usual behaviour (from the vet) and would not make a suitable pet.<

:rolleyes:

Sounds like a typical vet with no real knowledge of how adults & puppies interact. Your GSD puppy sounds like a typical active self assured puppy & just the way my BC puppy plays with my 10 year old GSD bitch(who has never had puppies BTW)

My Late BC dogs used to literally run away from puppies including the cavaliers who used to grab & rag anything they could get their teeth into. The disciplining all came from the GSD bitch. The BC's would play with the puppies after they had stopped teething & the nipping & grabbing ceased

My puppy gets time outs in his crate to allow the GSD to have some peace & quiet & if he does go OTT she very firmly puts him in his place without ever hurting him. Puppies do on the whole nip & mouth humans too & it is a case of doing what the adult dog would do ie move away(out of the room) & ignore when the behaviour is no longer acceptable

When all the dogs play it does get noisy even the cavaliers sound as if they are ripping each others throats out but in fact they rarely even make contact

My Cav puppy hangs on my older Cav's ears too - wish I could stop it as she's destroying the top layer of rich brown feathering!! But I have tried EVERYTHING and nothing stops her!!

Hi there

It is a pity about the GSD puppy, I put a similar thread on here a few weeks ago when I got my puppy (Then 9 weeks) and introduced him to my 7 yr old GSD bitch. She has never had puppies and has been "An only child" for that length of time, the puppy behaved exactly in the same way that yours did, I got some helpful advice from the people in the forum.  My eldest bitch is very very laid back and the puppy was a complete shock to her system!!! She behaved like yours running away from him etc., He was jumping all over her when he had the opportunity biting her ears etc.,  The eldest one would look at me almost saying "Get this brat off me" and that exactly what I did, separate them for a while.  He is now 4 months and although he is still rough with her she now tolerates it to a point, when she has had enough she lets him know and he backs off.  You have no guarantee that your new puppy will be any different to the GSD as it seems typical puppy behaviour

To be honest though years ago when i was a child we had a german shephard called Rocky who was my mums and then i went and got a Dobermann puppy, and he never ever left Rocky alone or shep my dads cross it was really sad to watch and i think you have done the right thing returning your puppy because i can tell you now once Prince got to adult hood bullying the older dog wasn't enough he had to take it that little bit further and have a full blown fight, it was really sad get a female you'll have far less problems and it's not just a confident puppy some of them can be little buggers and they know there pushing the boundarys ask  the breeder the puppies personality and see if they match you dont wont your older dog to go through that and i admire you coming on here asking for help.  Good luck.

susan

To be honest though years ago when i was a child we had a german shephard called Rocky who was my mums and then i went and got a Dobermann puppy, and he never ever left Rocky alone or shep my dads cross it was really sad to watch and i think you have done the right thing returning your puppy because i can tell you now once Prince got to adult hood bullying the older dog wasn't enough he had to take it that little bit further and have a full blown fight, it was really sad get a female you'll have far less problems and it's not just a confident puppy some of them can be little buggers and they know there pushing the boundarys ask  the breeder the puppies personality and see if they match you dont wont your older dog to go through that and i admire you coming on here asking for help, some people would just turf the old one out for the new one i've seen it done and it's disgusting  Good luck.

susan