Any advice is welcome/old dog vs. pup

Old dog/new pup help

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In hindsight, we should have gotten our second dog when Cassie, our 14 year old dalmatian was much younger. She just seems to hate Boomer, our 5 month old springer. When we first brought him home, he was so little, he would just follow her around, and Cassie never sat down or stopped because she didn't want him around her. We let her snarl and stuff at him to let him know she was the "big dog", but being the rude little obnoxious puppy he is, he just doesn't realize she means business. Her back legs are getting weaker, and I don't think she could tolerate him jumping on her (even if she would let him). They sleep in the kitchen together...he in his crate and she on the floor right in front of the crate. We have been taking introducing them slowly and always have Boomer on his leash so he doesn't rush her, but I really don't know what to do. Tonight, she was in the house. He had gone with me in the car. When we got home, I let him try to touch noses with her.....she almost took his face off.... or at least that is what it seemed like. I don't want him bit....he is still 20 pounds lighter and much shorter than she is, and a bite could really hurt him. A lot of the times she will wag her tail when we come around.....or maybe she is directing that to me. When she has tolerated him being close to her, we brag on her and are careful to keep him under control, but then she'll have enough and really snap at him. At this point, I don't know if they will ever be able to be in the backyard or house together off lead. It is just really frustrating because I want them to be friends. Boomer definately wants to be her friend.


Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. Heck, they may never be able to get along.....Like taking great great grandma to Chuck E. Cheese and expecting her to want to play in the balls with the 2 year olds.......

Are they warning snaps or are they "I'm-going-to-kill-you" bites? There's a huuuge difference between the two, and I let my dogs dole out their warning snaps all they want. That's how Giselle lets Ivy know whatever she's doing is not okay. Once Giselle does a warning snap, though, I redirect Ivy and give her something else to do.

Older females usually know how to deal with puppies. They will ignore the annoying puppy as much as they can, but they will growl and grab the puppy with their mouths if they're *really* annoyed. It's not a tight snap, though. It's a big, soft mouth around the puppy's head/neck. It's more like a hand on the shoulder, like, "HEY. That's not okay." So watch Cassie next time. Is it a tight snap or is it a soft mouth "bite"?

I really don't know, I'll watch....it is just so unlike Cassie to get that mad at anything....plus, another thing that sort of worries me is that I know her eyesight isn't what it once was so I don't know how good her judgement is about how far away Boomer actually is. I'll watch and make a point to see next time....it just sounds so viscous (that's not how you spell that word, but I can't think right now!) Thanks a lot for the advice!!

While I do not have any advice on this subject, I can certainly relate. I just brought home a 2 1/2 month old kitten and my 13 year old cat is not a happy camper about it. But it's only been about 4 or 5 days, so I must still give it time.
I hope you can help work things out between Cassie and Boomer. :) Good luck!

I too am having a bit of a problem with my 9 month old puppy Jake and two other dogs. Lacey is almost 8 and Layla is 2. They are so much bigger than Jake and it seems Jake doesn't heed their warnings when they don't want to play. They are always supervised and I'm sure you already do that. I too find myself getting nervous when one of them warns the puppy, like "is she going to bite him?" We are trying to train Jake to leave the girls alone when they warn and the girls are told "don't you dare" while I get him away from them. Lacey is very good at the "don't you dare" command, Layla is getting there.
My best advice is to wear the puppy out as much as you can and teach Boomer to respect Cassie's warnings. Hopefully, in time, when Boomer settles down a bit, they'll get to be friends. :)

It just is nice to know that others have or are experiencing the same problem. I just don't want him bit the way I think she would bite him...I guess it is just going to take more time and patience. Boomer's increasing (yeah, right....) maturity will help also. Thanks!!! Good luck with your kitten/cat and jake and his siblings!!

My old lab, maggie was the same exact way. She hated puppies in her old age.
luckily our pups got the idea when she would snap at them so we didnt have any real problems.

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Originally Posted by chocolatepuppy

My best advice is to wear the puppy out as much as you can and teach Boomer to respect Cassie's warnings. Hopefully, in time, when Boomer settles down a bit, they'll get to be friends. :)

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I agree.Older dogs often have aches & pains that aren't really noticed
much & she's just not in the mood for a "crazy" puppy.:)

You could devote extra time just training the pup & wear him out some.
I'm sure Cassie would appreciate it.:D

Thank you very much for all of the advice and kind words! I really appreciate it.....I think I just have to be patient, and Boomer needs to grow up a bit. Thanks again!!!

Her waning sight is definitely a factor. For that and many other age-related reasons, I definitely would supervise them at all times. Whenever you hear Cassie give a warning snap, re-direct Boomer and give him something else to do. It's just like regular training: whenever you give a correction, like Cassie's warning snap, you have to give the dog a positive alternative behavior, like giving Boomer a toy or playing fetch with him.

Oh, yes, they are definately supervised at all times..in fact, when they are together, Boomer is always on his lead so we can control how close and friendly he gets.....we sort of take Cassie's lead...if she snaps immediately, we know she wants no part of him at the moment. There are some times when she will tolerate him standing next to her or even sniffing her. She has actually wagged her tail, so in these instances we try to really encourage her and brag on her behavior while at the same time telling Boomer to "be nice".Thanks again for everyone's help!

Awww Shannon...I'm sorry that things aren't going perfectly smooth for y'all. You are such a dog lover and I wish things could be nice and smooth for you and Boomer and Cassie but...reality stinks :) I'm sure it's RARE for people to bring home a puppy to an older dog (especially a dalmation) and have it go well at first. Moon and Bean are still hissing and slapping at Sunny but we're getting there...slowly. Here's my thought and Sunny is my first puppy so this is purely just a hunch: I think you need to find some older dogs who ARE good with puppies (maybe talk to people at petsmart; are you going to stay in touch with any of the people from Boomer's puppy kindergarten class...do they have older dogs too who are now used to a puppy?) put up a notice in petsmart "looking for puppy/dog playdates" or try to find a dog park) etc... Maybe if Boomer gets used to playing with other older dogs, he will learn how to heed their warnings and may get better at "playing" with Cassie. I can imagine how hard it must be for Cassie that Boomer is taking out all of his puppy energy on poor Cassie. You have to give him an outlet for that somewhere else.
Good luck/ it WILL all work out :)

That's a good idea....We are actually going to take Boomer to a place called Dallas Dog Sports for his next round of obedience training. His instructor would be the lady who trained Cassie. We weren't real pleased with Petsmart this go around...it just wasn't all it could be....anyway, Boomer is going to be in like a pre agility class where he will learn some more obedience but some agility stuff, too. So, long story short, I'm sure there will be some older dogs there as well as some instructors with dogs they could hook us up with, maybe. Thanks again for the great advice....I'm really glad things are working out with Sunny and Moon and Bean.....