Hi I have just bought a 8 week old staffordshire bull terrier, Jazz, she is very playful.
There is another dog in the family she is about 6 years old and not used to interaction with other dogs. I brought the pup to see the other dog in order to get used to her so I can maybe take them both out and not worry about them fighting. All the puppy wants to do is play with the other dog but she didn't like it. The pup was jumping up at her face and play fighting with her paws. The older dog flew at the pup growling and had to be pulled away, but is very curious when the pup is just walking around. Was the older dog just warning her off? Can I trust her not to hurt the pup if somebody isn't looking?

Any advice would be appreciated.

We got a puppy begining of october she was 9 weeks my westie is 9 years old. it took 2 weeks for the westie to play with the puppy. I think she was scared becuse the pup was so small. Now they are the best of friends.Give it time . I stayed in the same area as the dogs till i knew the older dog would not hurt puppy. Best buy i made was puppy pen for when i had to leave them

Jean

Hi,
I had the same worries when I introduced my bullmastiff pup to my 3 yr old bullmastiff.
I bought a cage and left it and the pup in the middle of the room so my older dog could gradually get used to the new addition. I put a baby gate across the kitchen door so that the pup could run around safely and only let the two dogs together for a few minutes several times a day and gradually increased times spent together.

I was (and still am) very careful to always put the older dog first, (feeding, petting, walks etc). I never let them eat together (although they can see each other eating), or leave toys, bones or chews lying about. Even so, we have still had a few incidents and on one occasion blood was drawn (all of them were my fault when I feel I relaxed my guard).

No matter what (and it is hard sometimes), I back the older dog up and never shout at her, as I know she is teaching the pup his place, after any telling off I put the pup in the kitchen for a short time so that they can see who is top dog. When they play rough I call time out after a short time and seperate them.
The pup has been with us 3 mths now and gradually both have accepted each other. He is deferential to the older dog although he still chances his luck occasionally, this will increase I suppose as he gets older and testosterone kicks in. Even now I don't leave them alone together for any length of time.

Hope all goes well for you
Jan