I have a 9yr old WSD who suffers from nervous aggression (he was attacked when younger) I have recently collected my new pup who is 8wks old, their first encounter was with pup in crate and older dog let in to house. Older dog proceeded to growl and bark at pup (who was not in the least bit bothered, thank god) and then older dog turned into quivering wreck shaking for at least half an hour. I separated them and older dog calmed dog, he is now at the stage where he will come in the same room, pup still in crate, he doesn't growl but also tries not to look at pup. I can sit next to crate and he will come to me and take treats from me (which I only give him, if he doesn't growl) and this morning I put the treat box on top of crate and he came up sniffed took a treat from me and didn't growl. I just wanted to know of I am dealing with this in the right way. they are currently being kept separate so both are getting time with me and free running. How long do you think I will need to do this before, I can safely have them together but still under my supervison, also will they become friends, or is this my life from now on. Any advice would be most welcome.
thanks

Hi - I think you're absolutely doing the right thing. 

The one thing I would say is - don't be in a rush.  It's better to go slowly and wait until they are PERFECTLY comfortable with each other at each stage, before you move onto the next.

Rome wasn't built in a day, consolidate the foundations, and all that.

So - keep them separated by the crate for now.  Perhaps you could buy a couple of toddler stair-gates and when they are REALLY comfortable being separated by the crate, you can use stairgates and try separating them in different ways/different rooms.  This will help generalise for your dog - wherever the pup is, he is not a threat.  It's not only when he's in the crate that he's not a threat - it's always.

Go slow.

Hello,
As a person who has introduced dogs to dogs and cats to dogs and cats within my household over the years, know that it has to be something to be thought out carefully before going ahead, i.e. the temperament of the exisiting dog and his overall willingness to accept other dogs even outside the home that he meets, all this gives an insight as to how much of a problem it could be.

As your dog is 9 years and has ruled the roost for a long time, it can be difficult to introduce another dog which he will consider is an intruder and one that maybe threatening the hierachy.  Is the other pup a male ?  Although the pup is young, your dog simply views it as a threat at the moment and feels that by not looking at it, it simply isnt there.

One of my own dogs would accept other dogs even in our garden but even her best friend dog, when it ventured into my dogs territory, her home, there was a bad reaction from my dog she meant business and she would not tolerate another dog, this was her home and no other dog was going to be allowed.  This particular dog, although she accepted the existing cats or newly introduced ones, clearly would never tolerate another dog as much as we would have liked one, we knew it would not work with this particular Doberman Bitch.

What is your dog like with the pup when outside in the garden, is he still as offhand with it, maybe start off this way, or even in no mans land where the dog is walked.,

I have though, on occasion had a good deal of success introducing dogs to dogs in my home and they have gone on to live happily, I have never had a bark or growl (well that I have heard anyway), and have usually tried to stick to male and female as this mix is usually better.

If I were you, and by your dog looking away he clearly doesnt want to accept the pup is even there.  Yes you are doing right by keeping them apart as it would be very unfair on the pup to be put in the possible aggressive situation of the older dog and that to introduce them gradually.   At the moment your older dog doesnt quite know what is happening, I presume he has always been an only dog, and he is aware that his position could be threatened by this younger dog as there can only be one Alpha.

Yes, at the moment the pup isnt phased at all by the growlings, it isnt old enough yet but you will find that the pup will probably start to stand up for itself when it too feels settled if your dog continues, either way, long term if they are both males, one of them will have to establish the hierachy, or just agree to get along.  Unfortunately the older dog has this nervous aggression to begin with, but I am sure that you feel that he will adapt to the pup for you to bring it home in the first place, it may just be a matter of time.

I wish you a lot of luck, and all I would say is take it very easily and very slowly and naturally dont leave them alone freely together unsupervised until you are sure.  The pup will soon want to play with the older dog and if it liked dogs more, then at this time is when the real acceptance and friendship could begin and the older one could have a real friend, did he but know it!.  The pup will adapt because its young, the one that needs a lot of TLC and reassurance is going to be your faithful old 9 years old.

I've had two dogs together i.e. as one dies I would soon get another friend for the remaining dog and so on,  and I cant say that I have had any real problems so it does and can work or there wouldn't be so many owners with more than one dog.

Good Luck, I swear by child gates and still have a couple up with my latest young Doberman (10 months) as there are times when I dont want her chasing all over the house and she plays endlessly with my 3 cats, but they need a break from her too at times.  I would go ahead and get a friend for her now, but dont think my nerves could stand 2 dogs especially if the new one turned out to be a bundle of energy like this one, which is a shame because she likes other dogs and is in fact a nuisance when out walking as she insists on bouncing around them inviting to play and she is now a quite large Doberman.  at her age I could easily introduce another dog, whereas this may not be the case when she gets older (they change), but she's almost driven me to Valium over the months without two of them.!!
Best Wishes.

My 9yr old has never been an only dog until about a month ago when I lost my 14yr old bitch due to kidney failure, and infact when I first got him up till about 4 mths of age he lived with another 3 dogs. He happily lived with her (don't think he was top thou) the only problems arose when food was involved. My new pup is a male. They still are not free together, and when the pup is loose either me or my husband is with the older dog, so that he doesn't feel left out or isolated. Due to the fact that I know he can be aggressive, we don't meet other dogs when walking (as give them a wide berth so as not to upset my dog) but I do compete in agility with him and he is happy to work for me with dogs around the ring and we have also down some obedience as well. We do not have other dogs visit our home. The situation has moved on from my first post and he now will look at pup when it is in it's crate and there is no growling, and a couple of time he has moved through the room while I have had hold of the pup and no growling, so I am hopeful with time they will be fine. the child gate does sound good so will investigate for when pup is older and won't be able to squeeze through.
Thanks for your comments I will bear them in mind.