# Acceptable behavior in older dog interacting with a puppy?



## Montana

What is acceptable for dogs interacting with puppies? Montana plays great with other dogs, and even older puppies, but I took her over to a friends house where he was dogsitting a very young puppy (not sure how old).
Montana didn't like the thing one bit. Didn't even give him the time of day, basically just tried to ignore him. Puppy was trying to play, Montana started off with growling, then growling and snarling, then eventually snapped and nipped the puppy, where I then put her in a time out. It escalated pretty quickly... Biting a puppy is not okay in my eyes. The puppy WAS being quite harassing to her, but what would you have done? Where would you cross the line? Was she just trying to teach the puppy some boundaries, or just being a... for lack of a better word, a jerk?


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## Tobi

Well... ask your grandma how she'd like it if you bounced all over her! :lol:
can't remember how old Montana is...but seriously i think she was probably just saying woah, relax i don't like you gtfo! If you're worried about her around younger dogs just keep introducing them but maybe keep it short and controlled have the pup on a lead so that way it can't just romp all over Montana


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## MollyWoppy

Bet cha that when Montana snapped at the pup, she didn't draw blood or anything, right? 
I'd relax because I've been through this a couple of times, my older dog with a young puppy and it sounds so much worse than it really is. 
With the first pup, my dog taught me to simply trust her. The 2nd pup, a 3lb poodle puppy and nervous owners against my 40lber, I tell you, I put a hell of a lot of faith in my dog. She would tell the pup off, sounded like she was killing it, she would grab the pup or snap at her, but would never bite down,. Just told the pup in dog language that it had over stepped it's boundaries, and, believe you me, that pup understood and respected her for it. Until the next time. 
I'd just let them sort it out, I know its hard, but there is another language going on down there, under our knees. 
I think too, if you take away the older dogs natural means of telling the pup they are pushing their limits, eventually the older dog will have no other option than to really lay into the pup. Then you'd have a problem.


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## SpooOwner

Not sure if this applies in your case, but dogs are hardwired to stay away from young puppies. Dams are very protective of their puppies, so dogs are wired to ignore puppies and thus avoid the dam's wrath. Sounds like puppy wasn't playing by the rules.


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## Mollygirl

She didn't know this dog and she didn't want to play. She was putting the puppy in her place, telling her no. I know Molly likes to play with the 2 puppies when she wants to and they really leave her alone and play with each other, when she feels like playing she jumps in and she plays so gentle with those 2 little girls. I have heard her a few times telling them to leave her alone.


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## SerenityFL

I'm gonna go with what was said earlier about your dog and the snapping...did she draw blood? Did she actually bite? Dogs don't miss. A nip is not a bite...it's a warning, "leave me alone".

When my hoodlums were puppies, a few older dogs did this to them, as well. The older dogs were teaching these hoodlums how to behave themselves. Seriously. It sounds horrible, can look horrible but again, dogs do not miss. If your dog didn't bite down and lay that puppy out, it was your dog teaching the pup some manners.

It's hard to stand back and trust that, I KNOW!

Edit: I want to add to this to make it really clear what I mean. Where I used to live, a neighbor had two doxies. One doxie loved everything. The other was a grumpy old man. Naturally, girl hoodlum would make a beeline for Mr. Grumpy Pants and Mr. Grumpy Pants would snarl, show his teeth, pin Sakari down, chomp on her neck...obviously not drawing blood...

And do you know how Sakari reacted?

SHE LOVED IT! 

She would go in to submissive mode, allow it to happen and when Mr. Grumpy Pants would step back, she'd dance around him and have it happen all over again. It looked and sounded like the doxie was trying to kill my girl. Nope. He was just telling her, "Hey, kid! Get offa my lawn, you whipper snapper! Kids these days! Harumph!"


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## Scarlett_O'

I just took Leo(4) over to the inlaw's for the 1st time tonight, he plays VERY well with our boys, but they have a minpin/x who is a NASTY little 8 month old!! Husband and inlaws were very on edge at how he was reacting (laying at my feet but showing his teath when she would jump on him or bite him. I let him be and scolded her(which, btw, she needs WAY more of!!). He did throw her about 8" using her harness....but that was only after she bit his lip 6 times in a row after having me say no and remove her! I had to jump down the throat of my 20 year old BIL to not yell at Leo, as IMO he did NOTHING wrong!


All that being said it really does depend on both the adult and puppy!! Ginger is nasty and was removed from her mom at 6 weeks old, and hasnt had any good training at all and Leo is very good with the boys and so I trust him, at least to an extent!:smile:


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## Khan

I'm chiming in also; but with pretty much the same things as everyone else. When we were first going to puppy kindergarten, one of the trainers has a Westie that is the Class Monitor. Tilly is 8'ish. and during puppy class when it was social time if the puppies didn't "respect" Tilly's "space" they got, a growl, bark, nip, or snap. Believe me Tilly could hold her own no matter how BIG the puppy was in comparison to her. They did this because puppies do not understand that it's rude, to be all crazy and in everyone's face. 
To this day Khan knows better and always gives Tilly that "bubble" and if he doesn't she is very quick to remind him! 
Obviously if there was more aggression or any blood drawn that may be cause for alarm; but from what you've said, I believe it's just manners being taught to the younger pup. That is something they need to learn and better learn from Montana in a controlled situation then at the park where it could get out of control very quickly!


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## monkeys23

I wouldn't take her over there if she doesn't like the puppy.

Lily is very kind with all puppies (up to 1 year old or thereabouts) and will gently correct if they get out of line. She knows exactly what level of play each one needs for its size, etc. She has freakishly good social skills though, so maybe she isn't the norm.


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## magicre

my malia, who is the sweetest dog in the whole world.....will warn with teeth snarly, then a growl, then another growl, and then a snap and a growl..and i bet if i don't remove said dog, it will be a nip and a growl....

and i don't blame her and i tell people that if she reacts that way to a puppy who has the energy of a football team, then she's too old for that puppy to bother....and it's dog behaviour. remove your puppy from my old lady.

i do not give my dog time outs for this behaviour...this is between the dogs..and i only intervene if i see blood.


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## Liz

I trust my girls implicity. They scold poor puppy behavior swiftly and effectively. I have watched them with their own pups and never intervene. My male I watch as I don't believe boys are always as tolerant. He is very patient with little ones though. He will correct with a growl, snap and roll when necessary. If the little monster needs discipline another good dog is the perfect way for him to learn.


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## Montana

Thanks for all your replies! I didn't see any blood no, but it looked pretty aggressive and the puppy let out a blood curdling scream, which is why I thought Montana had injured it. I took her out of time-out as soon as I saw he was okay though, but silly thing didn't learn and tried to continue to bug her, so I put her up on a comfy chair by us where the puppy couldn't reach her. Thanks for the reassurance, I thought she was just being a weenie because she has never shown any DA, even towards younger more playful dogs.



SpooOwner said:


> Not sure if this applies in your case, but dogs are hardwired to stay away from young puppies. Dams are very protective of their puppies, so dogs are wired to ignore puppies and thus avoid the dam's wrath. Sounds like puppy wasn't playing by the rules.


This would make sense as well. She grew up as a stray, along with many other strays I assume as I know there are many in Mexico, so she's very in-tune to dog language I've found. She just gets it. She's gentle with smaller dogs, and respectful of fearful or dogs who don't want to play.

Thanks again everyone! I understand it a bit better now. I'm oblivious when it comes to dealing with puppies, I've never had one myself.


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## magicre

puppies are an adorable pain in the arse, somewhat like a two year who needs a nap.


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## Scarlett_O'

magicre said:


> puppies are an adorable pain in the arse, somewhat like a two year who needs a nap.


Agreed!! Even our 18 month old looks at Rhett like he wishes he wasnt around some times!HAHAH


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## Montana

magicre said:


> puppies are an adorable pain in the arse, somewhat like a two year who needs a nap.


:lol:! Which is why I don't think I'll ever get a puppy!


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## 3Musketeers

Sounds like she was just correcting the pup, make sure she isn't actually biting the pup hard, it might sound pretty bad, but if she really wanted to hurt the pup, then trust me, she probably would have.
My Patchie is a grumpy-pants with most puppies, especially the big ones, and she will snarl and snap (but not actually bite), and it does sound pretty nasty, but she's basically telling them "knock it off, that's enough", she's generally fine with calmer dogs who don't jump all over her, so if that's the case with your dog too, then it's definitely not DA. Just not so willing to tolerate annoying/pushy pups.


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## FL Cracker

You should have seen our pup CoCo after 2 weeks of getting used to her new home...and our 10 Y/O Corgi - Bart. She looked like a junk yard dog. She would jump on Bart while he was in a stone cold snooze...he would turn around and promptly snap her...and she would run away screaming. We would get a look at the "damage" and find nothing most of the time...it was just a "hey...knock it off...I'm trying to sleep here". Once and a while (after CoCo got a bit older) she would come back for more...then Bart would turn up the heat. Never drew blood, but there was a few spot's where she had hair missing. Now CoCo "get's it"...when Bart has had enough...she stops and finds something else to do.


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