Older dog and new puppy - dominance

Hi all. So the transition of our new puppy (chubbs) has been interesting for our 6.5 year old (charger). He has gone through a lot of phases from detachment and acting dejected (ended up going to the vet for this due to dehydration), to liking us again but completely ignoring chubbs, than onto allowing chubbs to be near him and occasionally playing keep away with him with a toy. But the last 2 days I noticed he is getting riskier and getting closet to chubbs and sniffing at him a lot more but my concern is he is starting to show dominance. Last night my husband had chubbs in his lap and charger watched them while lightly growling. He was also running around and throwing his bed around with his head like he was showing his control. Today i went home over lunch and Charger has pooped in his pen, right beside his kennel!

I do have to add that charger has never attacked chubbs, gave warning nips a few times when chubbs jumps at him(which we are constantly watching and telling chubbs no and down when he tries this) or just low warning growls. Nothing aggressive.

Now I know this will take time for him to adjust as I get it, it is really hard for Charger to have gone from 6 years as the only child to having a new puppy in the house. But does anyone have any suggestions to help us with this transition either to promote their getting along (chubbs loves him and wants to play it's really charger we have to convince) and the dominance that charger is starting to show??? I know this sounds silly but I want them to be friends! ha! Thank you!!!

Nothing you are describing sounds like dominance. It sounds like a normal adult dog adjusting to the new addition. Until they work out the relationship, which they need to do on there own, you need to intervene, separate and make sure Charger is still getting the same amount of attention and affection from you. I have yet to see an adut dog who welcomes new puppies with open arms, all of my girls snarl, growl and warn puppies to back off. It takes time and a lot of supervision.

I have a 9 year old lab and a now 2 year old and occasionally the older one still raises her lip at the younger one, she is annoying, full of energy and she bugs her. They are not best doggie friends, never will be but they co-exist peacefully and I still pull the younger one away if she is determined to really bug my older one. I also have a corgi who is more like my younger lab in terms of energy and playfulness so that distracts her most of the time away from my older lab.

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Originally Posted by ZoeysMommy

Nothing you are describing sounds like dominance. It sounds like a normal adult dog adjusting to the new addition. Until they work out the relationship, which they need to do on there own, you need to intervene, separate and make sure Charger is still getting the same amount of attention and affection from you. I have yet to see an adut dog who welcomes new puppies with open arms

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I agree, let them adjust without your intervention except under special circumstances. Make sure both are getting attention. I went through the same thing 4 years ago. Boundaries are just being tested, and roles being established. Seems like pretty normal behavior to me. HTH

Oh wow, Sounds like my situation with Samson and Asher. It's just me and the fur kids. Samson has been the only pup in the house. Brought baby Asher in January. Samson was just a little over 4 yrs. Samson wanted nothing to do with Asher at first. He acted similar to what you are describing. Right now, all Samson will do is play bitey fact. He won't let Asher lay near him or anything like that. But when I get home from work, Samson has his toy and is at Asher's crate hopping in anticipation of his locked up brother finally escaping. I let them play for 10-15 mins and then shut it down. So I know Samson loves Asher and it is a positive relationship. If Samson is on the couch and Asher jumps up to lay beside him (not touching), Samson will move. If I am between them on the couch, it's all good. Throughout all this, Samson has never shown aggression to Asher. I can think of 3 times where Samson really put Asher in his place but nothing that had me worried. The bitey face is cute but drives me nuts because that's ALL they want to do.

I make sure to give Samson a lot of attention and when Asher is out of line, correct him ....and Samson can tell when that happens. Oh, and Samson just can't wait to correct Asher. He typically beats me to it. Asher will get too close to a kitty and Samson is all up in his face barking (it's sort of cute). Asher get the point too. If Asher starts to chew on something he shouldn't, Samson is all over by him barking. Very funny. Samson does show Asher who is in charge but again, he's never been aggressive, ever.

This is not how I envisioned their relationship but it's the one they have developed. My hope is one day Asher will walk over to Samson and lay beside him and Samson will be OK with it. I know that Asher has been a positive addition to Samson's life. I'm still holding out hope that they will be BFF's that cuddle! :-)

Good luck!

Edited to add: This one makes me smile every time. Sometimes, Asher will catch Samson off guard. Like, Samson laying on the couch and Asher walks up and actually touches Samson with his nose ---- Samson will literally gasp. Samson is awake as Asher walks up but I don't think he thinks Asher is actually going to touch him! lol

Here is my duo doing their favorite thing ever:

Attachment 6867

I'd be worried if the "lightly growling" and "low warning growls" were unprovoked as opposed to being corrections.

none of that is dominance and the dominance theory as it was thought to apply to wolves (and dogs) was disproven by the very person who first wrote it. Dominance is not a personality trait but refers to possession.

Lots of great advice. Puppies are super annoying and the extra attention they get off putting to the resident dog. Make sure Charger gets some one on one attention away from puppy daily. Stuff like his normal walk or outing. Or even just one of you outside with the puppy and the other with Charger indoors (or vice versa).