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Max has arrived

Mindysmom

Mindysmom

Well-known member
We picked up our new Ruby pup Max yesterday. Right now Mindy is sleeping on the chair with me and Max is watching golf with hubbie! Mindy is actually terrified of Max - she's fine with big dogs but she has never had anything 1/3 her size chase her around the house. I think within a few days all will be well though. Yesterday she wouldn't let him near her - he of course wanted to play and/or nurse/ and or get in her bed with her. Mindy was having none of any of it. He's smart enough to back off when she growls but his memory is very short (or he just can't believe she won't play). Today she has stopped going upstairs when he chases her and has actually sniffed his butt a bit and let him climb over her head. She's not into bed sharing - she gets up and leaves when he hops in.

I've been moving him when he gets into her bed - yesterday when she growled he back off - today she lets him in but leaves. She also was going for a drink when he came up and she backed off and let him drink first. She would NEVER let our Retriever do that.

My question is do you think I should just let nature take it's course if she is going to allow him "first dibs" or should I be making sure that she gets top dog treatment at least for the settling in period? I read that it's confusing for dogs when people try and interfere with the natural pack order.

I feed them separately but pick up Max's water and both of their food dishes so technically he was drinking out of Mindy's dish. She always shared a water dish with our Retriever and she ALWAYS had first dibs on food (he had first dibs on toys - they worked that out themselves).
 
Don't have many good ones yet - he's quite the whirling dirvish -so mostly there are body parts cut off. I'll post some soon though.
 
Congrats! Can't wait for some photos.

I found using an xpen for Lizzie or putting them on opposite sides of the kitchen baby gate was helpful. They were getting accustomed to each other without either one being able to scare or hurt the other. Lizzie was the little one, and Bandit was the one wanting to play too rough at first. As she grew more used to him (which was quick, like a couple of days) she would play with him, but when she had had enough, I'd seperate them again. Now I don't have to seperate them except when I am doing their individual training time.
 
Mindy is starting to tolerate him. She can go places where Max can't (upstairs/downstairs and on the couch) if she wants to get away from him. He has a crate in the kitchen if he were ever to want to get away from her. He's getting it through his head that she isn't going to play or nurse him - but she will tolerate (briefly) him climbing all over her and sleeping in her bed (which she promptly leaves or else growls at him to stay out).
 
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GORGEOUS! I love that one of him peering around the door :D

Note to self: *no more puppies* *no more puppies* *no more puppies*
 
Congrats on your new puppy!

My question is do you think I should just let nature take it's course if she is going to allow him "first dibs" or should I be making sure that she gets top dog treatment at least for the settling in period? I read that it's confusing for dogs when people try and interfere with the natural pack order.
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There is NO pack order with puppies. There will also probably be no pack order in your house ever with just two dogs of opposite sex. Puppies get a certain amount of what Dr Ian Dunbar refers to as 'puppy license' -- adults let them generally get away with a lot until they hit about 5-ish months. Then the adults really start putting them in their place. The best discipline and training Max can have, to grow into a well behaved, well socialised, polite adult is to let them sort things out themselves and don;t interfere. Very rarely an adult will really pick on a pup and they will need separation but that's pretty rare. More likely is Max will become a total pest and your existing dog will appreciate having him put into an xpen or removed just to give her a break.

I'd recommend buying "Before and After you get your Puppy by Dr Ian Dunbar so you have a great guide and puppy manual as it will answer all these sorts of questions and be a real help. (y) Easily available online.\

Anytime you bring a new dog in the home it is wise to be sure your existing dog gets plenty of love and isn;t given less because of the new arrival. Puppies will not care that she is getting more attention than the pup. :)
 
Max is adorable. I know exactly what you mean as we have just bought Lois home yesterday and we already have 22 month old Sally. We are experiencing exactly the same so it's good to hear of others and then we reassure ourselves its all normal behaviour. Sally seems to be tolerating Lois but still seems to be ignoring her most of the time. Occasionally Sally will sniff Lois but then they soon go their separate ways. I think each day is getting better so hopefully they'll end up good friends. Good luck with max and let us know how you get on
 
Thanks Karlin - I more or less decided to let them sort it out themselves when Mindy threw up her hands and said "fine you can have my bed"! I'm not at all worried about her being too aggressive to him - more worried that he'll torment the life out of her. She has lots of places she can go to get away but of course that's not where we are. We've tried to keep Mindy's routine the same as much as possible but we also just had a major snowstorm so her walks aren't as varied as we aren't all plowed out yet. I have that book on order - I have a couple of puppy books but they don't really go too much into what to do when the pup traumatizes the existing dog. Last night she actually let Max lie down beside her for two or three seconds before she moved so we are making progress.

I hope I'll find picture of Lois, Snippers
 
Max is adorable. Congratulations on the new arrival :D
Hope he and Mindy get things sorted soon.
 
He is a cutie. We do some fostering and I usually feed everyone separate. I noticed they do a very good job of working out for themselves. I usually step in only if someone is really getting bugged by the other one.
 
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