I have got a very good 2 year old (intact) bc who has a fantastic temperament, he would not hurt a fly, he will do anything to avoid bad situations so will let any dog take his toys his food or come into his house. He is not dominant at all. He has never really learnt how to play with other dogs as he was our only dog and althogh he is well socialised with other dogs he never plays much with them. He has always loved puppies (he cleans them alot )
So we have just got a new puppy (bc, 7 weeks old, male). We got the new puppy on Sunday and introduced the two gradually. At first they ignored each other except for little sniffs. The puppy kept trying to see the adult but he just kept moving to higher ground out of the way. Sunday night we had a perfect night, no crying, no "accidents". :-D
On Monday they started to play together but for short periods of time and the adult stayed around him much more. During the night I heard puppy crying in his cage and I heard the adult dog get out of his bed and go and see puppy who then shut up all night - I was quite impressed. :-D :-D
On Tuesday OH went back to work. Disaster! Adult went into depressive mode and hid upstairs all day long and only came down briefly when we had guests which is really not like him!!! He would not even play with just me. He also started with the runs (he alays gets the runs if he is stressed and he gets stressed very easily). When OH came home I told him that I was realy worried but he could not see the problem, adult dog came down and started playing like normal. Adult dog has always been a daddy's boy but takes me as boss and does not play as well with me. By evening puppy and adult were playing extremely well together so I thought that all would be OK :-).
It came to bed time and I was showing OH how to lift puppy into his cage without waking him and when adult dog would not go to his bed from his sofa I joked around that I would have to lift him into bed in the same way like I used to do. I went to craddle his head expecting him just to get up and walk to bed himself but he layed there and growled at me . I held his mouth and he kept growling at me so I was shouting no!! OH came in and was shouting no at him too and he continued growling!! He suddenly stopped growling and then ran to bed very cowardly. I could not leave him like that overnight so I waited a few minutes then asked him to come to me which he did very sheepishly and we made up. :)
This morning I was woken up by adult as he had runs and needed to go out, puppy was quiet all night :-D. They have been playing together fine this monring for a while and he played with me fine but adult has now retreated to his higher ground away from puppy.

I understand that he needs time and that he does need his space. He can at times be jealous so we have been giving him extra attention. Should I be worried about him? Both his behaviour when OH is not here and his growling towards me?? Is there anything that I can do to help him?

GG

Although the temptation to shout back at a dog vocalising unhappiness, it's an easy way to make a situation escalate into something neither party (human or dog) wants. :( A lot of trust can be lost doing this.

As far as I can see your adult is being extremely good and tolerant of the usurper - this may change as he stops being on his 'best behaviour' when the 'visitor' appears not to be going home! The best thing you can do to help him accept the interloper - the one invading his space - is to treat make sure he has plenty of time out from the puppy, with escape places where the puppy can't reach him (upstairs is good because it'll be a long time before the puppy is allowed up there) and also when you shut the puppy away and spend one-to-one time with the adult. It's very very early days yet.

Good luck!

Thanks!!
I think that we both panicked at him growling at us as he has never done that before, he is usually such a happy chappie :-D
Yes he has got plenty of space. Puppy is sleeping for at least an hour then awake for an hour so I am taking adult out and playing with him when pup is asleep. Adult can also go upstairs or if he wants to stay with us then he has go his own sofa (spoilt dog!!) which he goes on and puppy cannot reach him.

Should I encourage him to play with puppy?? If he goes near the puppy then I have been telling him that he is a good boy.

GG

Let him take it at his own pace - if he wants to pretend the puppy isn't there, then fine, let him. Established dogs can sometimes get the hump with a puppy, just as we would if our husbands came home with a new wife on the basis that they love us so much they thought they'd get another to keep us company!

I feel his growling was a combination of unhappiness and stress at the new puppy on his territory (have you had dogs and puppies staying in your house before, or has he only met them outside?) and pain from his upset tummy. The fierce reaction from you (though understandable) scared him more and by then he was mentally backed into a corner with no clear way out, adding to his stress. Sometimes the next stage is the dog snaps or bites to get away (I very much doubt if he's been 'ganged up on' by both you and your OH turning on him before) - then there are big problems.

A sensitive dog like this is going to need careful, gentle handling. :)

We have had an elderly male in our house when he was younger and he was fine. We have had an adult entire male malamute in our house and eating his bones and he was fine with that.
Thanks

How many days did they stay?

They never stayed overnight, just during the day.
GG

So it's loads of whole new experiences for him; a puppy with a yappy voice and needle-teeth, in his house, not going home in the evening, getting attention from 'his' people ... ;)

The general advice is to not leave them alone together for at least two weeks and make sure the adult's routine changes as little as possible. When the puppy has his meals (he's no doubt being fed 4 times a day) give the adult a little of his daily ration at the same time, and make sure that you spend some time in the evenings with the adult dog with you as before but with the puppy in another room out of the way. It'll come right, but give it plenty of time. :)

I totally agree with JG - lots of space for the adult dog, and try to spend quality time with him each day.  Let him dictate the speed.

I agree too, be easy on your adult dog and give him time on his own without the pup. Him going upstairs is good - however, he may also feel upset he has to do this as he is leaving his "family" behind when normally he may not want to.

I'd suggest putting the pup away at times and making sure there is plenty of time for the adult dog to share with you both :)

Lindsay
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