Hi Pulga, you have several issues so let's try to take them one at a time. Realize that you have a puppy and training can never start to young. I believe in the Nothing is free in life attitude so I make my dogs learn from a early age that I am Alpha and the giver of all great things. This being said let's look at your issues.

1. Growling and wife thinking the older dog will kill the pup. Conflicts arise between household dogs when there is instability in the hierarchy, that is, when the ranking or social position of each dog is not clear or is in contention. The older dog is trying to tell the pup through snarls, growls or snaps that it is boss and leave me alone. This is normal canine behavior and usually works itself out without injury. Problems can occur however if you interfer with this process. You can do this if:

You attempt to treat both dogs equally, rather than supporting the dominant dog’s position. In this case the older dog.

You interrupt or interfere with the dominant dog's ability to control the preferred items (food, toys, beds, attention) in his environment by giving preferential treatment to the subordinate dog.

You prevent the dogs from expressing the signals and ritualized behaviors that establish dominance. Never punish the older dog for the growling or console the younger dog because he was put in his place. You need to reward the older dog or show it you understand what it is doing.

You cannot choose which dog you want to be dominant. The dogs will establish this among themselves, and any attempt to interfere may result in increased conflict. Where each dog ranks in the dominance hierarchy is determined by the outcomes of interactions between the dogs themselves.


How YOU handle this situation will determine if it intensifies or not. When a new animal is introduced into the house it is common for the heirarchy to be established which is what your older dog is trying to do. Support the dominance hierarchy. You need to support whatever dominance hierarchy or "pecking order" your dogs establish for themselves. Don't undermine their hierarchy by attempting to treat them equally or by preventing the dominant dog from asserting his position. Dominant dogs can, and should, be allowed to take toys away from subordinate dogs, to push in to receive attention and petting from the owner, to control favorite sleeping places, toys and other valuable resources (from the dogs’ point of view). Support the dominant dog's status by allowing this to occur.

2. Puppy chewing. Puppies explore their world by putting things in their mouths. In addition, puppies are teething until they’re about six months old, which usually creates some discomfort. Chewing not only facilitates teething, but also makes sore gums feel better. Although it's perfectly normal for a puppy to chew on furniture, shoes, and such, realize a puppy won’t magically "outgrow" these behaviors as he matures. Instead, you must shape your puppy's behaviors and teach him which ones are acceptable and which aren’t.

Minimize chewing problems by puppy-proofing your house. Put the trash out of reach, inside a cabinet or outside on a porch, or buy containers with locking lids. Encourage children to pick up their toys and don’t leave socks, shoes, eyeglasses, briefcases or TV remote controls lying around within your puppy’s reach.

If, and only if, you catch your puppy chewing on something he shouldn't, interrupt the behavior with a loud noise, then offer him an acceptable chew toy instead and praise him lavishly when he takes the toy in his mouth.

Make unacceptable chew items unpleasant to your puppy. Furniture and other items can be coated with "Bitter Apple" to make them unappealing.

Don't give your puppy objects to play with such as old socks, old shoes or old children's toys that closely resemble items that are off-limits. Puppies can't tell the difference!

Closely supervise your puppy. Don’t give him the chance to go off by himself and get into trouble. Use baby gates, close doors or tether him to you with a six-foot leash so you can keep an eye on him. When you must be gone from the house, confine your puppy to a small, safe area such as a crate. You may also begin to crate train your puppy. Puppies under five months of age shouldn’t be crated for longer than four hours at a time, as they may not be able to control their bladder and bowels longer than that.

Make sure your puppy is getting adequate physical activity. Puppies left alone in a yard don’t play by themselves. Take your puppy for walks and/or play a game of fetch with him as often as possible. Give your puppy plenty of "people time." He can only learn the rules of your house when he’s with you.

Never discipline or punish your puppy after the fact. If you discover a chewed item even minutes after he’s chewed it, you’re too late to administer a correction. Animals associate punishment with what they’re doing at the time they’re being punished. A puppy can’t reason that, "I tore up those shoes an hour ago and that's why I'm being scolded now." Punishment after-the-fact will not only fail to eliminate the undesirable behavior, but could provoke other undesirable behaviors, as well.

Provide your puppy with lots of appropriate toys.

Experiment with different kinds of toys. When you introduce a new toy to your puppy, watch him to make sure he won’t tear it up and ingest the pieces. Consider the various types of toys that can be stuffed with food. Putting tidbits of food inside chew toys focuses your puppy’s chewing activities on those toys instead of on unacceptable objects. If your puppy is teething, try giving him ice cubes to chew or freezing a washcloth and letting him chew on that. I prefer the ice cubes and my dogs love them.

2b. Nipping or mouthing. When puppies play with each other, they use their mouths. Therefore, puppies usually want to bite or "mouth" hands during play or when being petted. With puppies, this is rarely aggressive behavior in which the intent is to do harm.

You must teach your puppy that nipping results in unpleasant consequences for him. Teach your puppy that nipping "turns off" any attention and social interaction with you. After a nip, look your puppy right in the eye, and yell "OUCH" as though you’ve been mortally wounded, then ignore her. Leave the room if you must, but ignore him until he’s calm, then try giving the puppy a chew bone or petting him again. It may take many repetitions for him to understand what’s expected.

3. Housetraining. I suggest you use a crate to limit his access to the house until he learns all the house rules – like what he can and can’t chew on and where he can and can’t eliminate. If you properly train your pup to use the crate, he’ll think of it as his safe place and will be happy to spend time there when needed.

When you’re unable to watch your puppy at all times, he should be crated. The crate should be just big enough for him to comfortably stand, lie down and turn around in. If your crate is bigger for expected growth of the puppy then partition the crate with boxes or whatever is available to make the size you need.

Puppies do best on a regular schedule. Take your puppy outside frequently, at least every two hours, and immediately after he wakes up from a nap, after playing and after eating. Praise your puppy lavishly every time he eliminates outdoors. You can even give him a treat. You must praise him and give him a treat immediately after he’s finished eliminating, not after he comes back inside the house. This step is vital, because rewarding your dog for eliminating outdoors is the only way he’ll know that’s what you want him to do.

Choose a location not too far from the door to be the bathroom spot. Always take your puppy, on a leash, directly to the bathroom spot. Take him for a walk or play with him only after he has eliminated. If you clean up an accident in the house, take the soiled rags or paper towels and leave them in the bathroom spot. The smell will help your puppy recognize the area as the place he is supposed to eliminate. While your puppy is eliminating, use a word or phrase, like "go potty," that you can eventually use before he eliminates to remind him of what he’s supposed to be doing.

If possible, put your puppy on a regular feeding schedule. Depending on their age, puppies usually need to be fed three or four times a day. Feeding your puppy at the same times each day will make it more likely that he’ll eliminate at consistent times as well. This makes housetraining easier for both of you. Supervise the pup in the house at all times when he is not crated. Once he is housebroken then you can reduce his crate time to prevent other unwanted behaviors such as chewing when he can not be supervised. Eventually (usually around 1 year old) the pup should be able to live without the crate.

I apologize for the length of this post but there was a lot of information to cover. I hope some of it helps you with your new pup!