am hoping for some help, my mum has recently got a new puppy to accompany the dog she already had. The new puppy is a shih tzu and the orignal dog is a lhasa Apso (about 12 months). The main problem is that the Lhasa Apso will not leave the new puppy alone, she constantly bites at it, pulls its ears and stands with it between her legs. We have been told this is a dominance thing but we need help on how to stop it as the puppy is harrassed all the time. Also now and again the Lhasa will be extremely nasty to the puppy (about once a day) and they have to be seperated. Any help would be appreciated as we are worrying about the puppys quality of life as it isw constantly being picked on

Thank you
Sam

How long have you had the new puppy? It will help us give you the right advice if we know this.

Could it be over excited puppy play? I note the original dog is 12 months old so really still young, do you think it is deliberatly being nasty or just too rough in play?

Sounds like the Lhasa is still very much a puppy at the moment.  Don't think it's being nasty but this is what can happen when you have two fairly young dogs together, that's why many say wait 2 years, rather than 1.

I agree, don't think my Myka who will be 1 on Friday would know how to play gently and would need a lot of supervision not to frighten a baby pup.

Also how much socialisation with other dogs and pups has the older pup had?

the new puppy has been with my mum for about a month, both my mum and dad say they think it is more than playing as they do that but then it seems to go on to a whole level. The original dog is used to a cat and greets other dogs ok. They are hoping that as the puppy gets bigger he will sort of fight back and then they will sort of have a truce???

do you mean the older dog is still only fairly new to it's home?  It may not yet feel securely established. 

Also how much do they know about how dogs play,  Normal dog play can appear extremely rough.  do they both seem to be enjoying the interaction or is the younger one trying to get away?  If it keeps coming back for more then it is play.

It may need to be interrupted so the baby gets enough rest and the older pup won't have the sense of an adult yet.

i hav 2 puppys....1 8 months (logan) n 1 4 months (tia)...i laff at how the logan is wiv tia, he just lets the baby know he was here first n hes bigga n older n thts the way its guna stay, i luv the way dogs hav almost human personalitys....if we buy a new toy 4 tia , logan wil play wiv it n not let her hav it till hes finishd......i was told by the breeder 2 let them work it out themselves which i do



nicky

I think to a degree that you should let dogs work it out themselves but you must also know when to step in and in the case of a small puppy they can't fight their corner so you must protect them.

Hi,
Is the new puppy female or male? Can I ask the orignal dog is a female Lhasa Apso approximatly 12 months old. Is she spayed? At about 12 months she is due for her second session. This could be just two young dogs playing, it could be dominance, or it could be strong flurting!!!
Before you can change behavour, you have to understand behavour.
Chrisy

Is the puppy yelping during play? She probably would if the older dog was hurting her.

I have my first litter at the moment and Mum would never hurt them, but some visitors are horrified at first when Mum plays with them, and think she is being nasty to them. She isn't, she is just playing, she has excellent bite inhibition and knows not to hurt them. It is how they learn to play with other dogs, not just their litter mates. The play includes their whole heads, legs, ears etc in her mouth at times, and it does look very rough, as I said.

Also, if you have two dogs, one of them has to be dominant, they need to find their pecking order. At first that will probably be the older dog, but they may swap over when the pup gets older.

if your parents fel the pup cannot get any sleep or rest because of the older dogs play, they could crate train her, so when pup is asleep, she can go in the crate with the door shut and the older dog won't be able to wake her.

Maisie (who is a true matriach alpha bitch) is often 'mean' to the younger Billy, always putting him in his place.  She has grown to love him in a grudging older sister sort of way.  The result:  he absolutely adores her and will follow her to the ends of the earth!  As long as you supervise them in these early stages I think that this is just the doggy way.  Just make sure no true fights break out as the younger one begins to assert independence as this will be a habit that is tough to break!

We have the same situation in our household as does maisiemum and it can look quite horrific when the Dobe wraps her jaws around the Whippets head We now have the toughest and bravest guard Whippet in the country

my first thoughts are puppy playing, they should find their place soon and one will be more dominant than the other once they have sorted it out. Mine are 4 and 14months and they still do it. only get involved if they start fighting properly.

I woudl agree if the older one was an adult, but at only 12 months it probably is not mature enough to have unrestricted interaction with a young puppy as she won't know how to limit her behaviour so as nto to hurth they younger one or tire it too much.