New puppy and intense pug puppy

[koty]

Hello, I recently acquired a now 10 week old springer spaniel puppy after my 13 year old springer passed this November. My question is I also have a 10 month old pug who seems to be so intense now that I have a new puppy in the household. I understand the whole establishing dominance thing but she does not seem to relax anymore. She is demonstrating some dominance establishing behavior which is appropriate and ok but I question how much to allow her to show. She is just so intense and persistant but loves to play.

The question is, what play is normal and what may make my new puppy insecure? My new puppy is so mellow and calm I don't want him to get bad habits of not being able to relax and playing rough. I also see that the new puppy has made my pug question my dominance with her, which I have now been working on. Any advice on making this transition as smooth as possible? I just want to do everything right.

[Giselle]

Dominance is a hefty word. I recommend one use it with caution. Can you describe the specific behaviors that are causing you concern? That would give us more insight and allow us to make more specific suggestions

In the meantime, do you use a set of rules, i.e. NILIF? If not, I would implement that now.

Also, I would not worry too much about your Pug teaching your Springer puppy bad habits. Dogs, like every living being, is born with an inherent temperament, or emotional excitability. Thus, temperament is relatively stable. If the dog is naturally mellow and calm as a puppy and it is obviously inherent, then chances are high that he will be a relatively calmer adult.

[koty]

Daisy the pug generally will not leave the puppy Riley alone. I have combated this by giving each of them some time in their kennels so that the puppy can learn to relax. She wrestles with him like a puppy does but bites very hard at his legs and does not stop when he yelps. She also often shoulder bumps him when running together, causing him to tumble and steals all of his bones even when she has the exact same one. She also has stopped some of the things I have taught her related to dominance. Such as she will not wait until I put the food dish down to come into the room, she is on the couch without my permission first, she is really in my face when I have food etc. and will not go to kennel when I say it. I guess my real question is what is normal puppy play and when do I need to intervene?

Also, the day before we got the puppy she started to nip at fingers when people would arrive and she was very excited, running around with her tail tucked or when my son gets her riled up and she is running around. In my other dog I owned I would grab a snout but she has no snout. I think I am a little paranoid because my last dog had a lot of agression and quirky problems that I think were due a lot to his temperment but also because of things I did or did not do when he was little.

I also worry a little about bonding with Riley given that he right now prefers to play with Daisy instead of me. It is nice as they wear each other out playing and I know she is socializing him somewhat, but I am wondering how to balance this with interaction with me. I sort of "rescued" Daisy from a breeder whose pugs were sort of weird, beautiful but odd as they sat and stared at you and were very intense and stared at you right in your face, nose to nose. That said, I don't know if the socialization she is giving Riley is normal. I don't know how to describe her except as INTENSE which is different than what I see other people describe pugs as.

Thank you for your patience with all of my questions and concerns. I look forward to responses.

Koty

[Giselle]

Sounds pretty normal for a 10-month-old puppy Puppies are intense, regardless of breed. Some puppies are more intense than others (i.e. high energy breeds like Border Collies and Vizsla), but puppies in general are very intense - pugs, included!

What it sounds like is that the process of adding Riley into the household allowed Daisy to take advantage of the increasingly lax rules. The rules that you'd stipulated before (waiting before dinner, permission to get onto furniture, etc) were good. But Daisy won't follow the rules if there aren't repercussions or if you don't enforce them. It's a bit like our judicial system. The court can ENACT law, but it's up to the authorities to ENFORCE law. You have to both enact and enforce. And if Daisy doesn't follow the rules, there are repercussions. Daisy won't wait? Oh well, Daisy will not receive dinner. Daisy won't wait for your permission to jump onto the furniture? Oh well, put her on the floor. You follow the rules, or you don't get what you want (this is, in psychological jargon, negative punishment). That, again, ties into NILIF, which you've already touched upon: http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm

Daisy has placed herself above the puppy. That's okay. Dogs need a hierarchal structure within themselves, so let them sort it out. If, however, you notice Daisy starting to hurt Riley and continuing to do so despite his obvious discomfort, step in and stop it. A clap of the hands and a VOG "NO!!!" will end it. If she pauses but then continues to harass him, put her into a time out but do NOT crate her. Never use the crate as punishment. You can tether her to a table or just completely ignore her.

You absolutely need not worry about Riley's relationship with you. Dogs love being with their own species, but YOU are their owner, their human. You are another entity altogether, and they know that. You are the giver of food, of love, of leadership. Maintain that role well, and you need not worry about your relationship with Riley. You're "Mom"! Siblings are lovely, but moms are irreplaceable. Dogs, of all beings, know this best.

Also, it has become increasingly accepted within the psychological and dog training community that physical punishment should be used with caution. Muzzle grabbing has more or less joined the list of "outdated" methods that are either ineffective in the long run or detrimental altogether. If you have an example of when you'd normally use a muzzle grab, you can post it here so that we can help you find a healthier alternative Positive reinforcement and negative punishment work wonders. Positive punishment (aversives) can and will be used in your training, but I would hesitate to implement physical corrections. Let us know how it goes!

[boomersooner]

Well, I don't have any answers, but I would like to see some pictures of your new pup! We have a springer who will be a year old on Feb. 7. He's a hoot!!