I adopted a 12-13 month old resuce dog - Molly who was in pup, she had 6 healthy pups 5 of which have been found good homes and I kept her first born-Max.  Molly had been a very good Mum up to this point and Max is nearly 8 weeks old now.  Molly now seems to have reverted to being a puppy herself, she's playing with all the toys and with Max most of the time (apart from when they sleep for a while!), he seems to be enjoying it even though she is really boistrous with him, although she can't be hurting him, because he doesn't cry out or anything.  I'm just a bit worried that this is over the top and they could both end up being a bit unruly.  Me telling them to calm down, or steady doesn't seem to have much effect. What do you think, is this normal and she's just teaching him, or should I make more of an effort to calm them down?

Molly herself is still a pup enjoying herself I think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The pup will soon let her know when enough is enough, then her maternal instincts of mothering will take over.

She is obviously very happy and enjoying life.

Thanks, that's very reassuring. Molly is picking things up really well (she came to me with no training) and Max seems quite clever too - he already sits and 'takes things nicely' and if the door is open will go out to wee.  I think Molly has flashbacks sometimes and she occasionally runs after people carrying bags or rucksacks and barks, not good, but she does come back when I call her, I'm doing loads of work on the recall to try and get her over this - any more suggestions?

Maybe she has had a bad experience in her life before you got her :-) just give her lots of reassurance.....as for her playing with her son, thats normal :-) i'm sure that he will let her know when he's had enough and vice versa :-) i bet there really fun to watch :-D

She's having fun. :)

Just remember though that you are the "boss" & if you decide enough is enough & ask them to stop & calm down, then they must do so. - As long as they understand you are in control then all should be ok. :)

It would be good to get Molly out and about - dogs are sometimes nervous of people with strange outlines ie people carrying bags, umbrellas, rucksacks, wearing big raincoats etc.  Before you had her, she may have missed out a bit on socialisation so it would be good to get her used to all these things and you really don't want her to pass on these fears to the pup.

You will also need to make sure that Molly and pup each bond as well with you as they clearly have with each other.   Are they spending time with you individually?  When the pup is old enough, do you plan to take them out separately sometimes?

It is to your credit that you took Molly on and found good homes for those 5 pups.

Good luck with your two pups! (Molly and Max)

Thanks everyone, it's lovely having such great support out there.  Molly LOVES going for a walk, when we are on fields close to roads I keep her on a rover lead, just in case she gets the urge to chase something, but when we are on the golf course or the fields close by I let her run free, she usually comes back when I call her and she also has learnt to retrieve a ball, we have such fun and it's keeping me fit!  At night, I tend to sit on the floor with the dogs, playing with and fussing them, I also groom Molly after her last walk and have started to get Max used to the comb. Max has had his first injection, and I thought I would start putting a collar on him and having a little walk up and down on the garden, next injection iso at 10 weeks and then after that I thought I would probably have to take Max for a little walk first, bring him back and then take Molly for a longer one; eventually I will be able to take them both together. - does this sound OK?
When you say 'spending time with them individually', I am with Molly, when we go walking, but not really with Max, sometimes Molly is resting in her basket and there's just me and Max having a play with his toys - does this count?  He seems to be taking notice of me and responds to his name, the word NO, and sits for his dinner!

I was thinking that as it's so easy for dogs to understand each other, the temptation will be for Max to bond more with Molly than with you.  So I was thinking that you need to make a special effort to play with and train Max on his own, so that he gets good at human/canine communication too.

Sounds like you're doing a marvellous job to me.

Thanks, good advice, I will make sure I spend quality time with Max. Just had a really good walk with Molly, she came every time I called her, retrieved the ball, did what she needed to do and got really mucky by running through a little brook!  Early days, but it's really rewarding when hard work starts to pay off.