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  1. #1
    Senior Dog sparky's Avatar
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    Training a puppy with an adult Lab

    We know we will have to spend alone time training the new puppy. Any suggestions from those of you have been down this road? We do know all the fun stuff, biting, chewing, nipping, shredding stuff!
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  2. #2
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    Mocha is a little younger than Sophie was when Bruce arrived. The one big mistake I feel I made was to let them have as much unrestricted play time as they wanted. This allowed Bruce to develop a strong bond with Sophie, and there were times he would look at her to see what she was doing when I told him to do something, and he would cue off of her. They would be playing bitey face and wrestling with each other, and wouldn't stop when I told them to. I had a heck of a time with that.

    Sophie will be 4 1/2 when the new pups gets here, and she is now what I consider a mature adult. I plan on restricting and controlling the play time right from the start. Although I do think it will be a much different dynamic between Sophie and this puppy.

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  4. #3
    Senior Dog Maxx&Emma's Avatar
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    Emma was 6 when Maxx came home and she was a very good influence on him. She had no problem playing with him and also correcting him when necessary. I would prefer a little less time in age between 2 dogs, like 4 years but I really can't complain at how good they were together once Emma decided he was ok and obviously staying! I can't think of one bad thing she taught him at all. She still likes to boss him and the cats around and never hesitates to tell on them if she thinks it is necessary!

    Mocha is a sweet, mature boy, I bet everything will be just fine and he will be a great big brother!
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  5. #4
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    I’ve had a 3 year old with a puppy (Scully & Mulder); a 14 year old and a 10 year old with a puppy (Chloe), and now a 6 year old with 2 puppies. I think that as long as the older dog is well mannered and has a good relationship with you, then they will be a good influence on the puppy. They do learn from the older dog.

    I’ve not had the experience Barry did where the puppy became more bonded to the adult (or even to the littermate) than to me. All I can say is I do spend plenty of time interacting with them both one on one and as part of a group, but I’ve never felt I had to limit the time they spend together. I have a friend who shows Golden’s in Obedience who does keep her adult and new puppy separated for 6 months to ensure the pup bonds with her - apparently she had something happen similar to Barry years ago. My guys were born wanting to work with me, which helps, too.
    Annette

    Cookie (HIT HC Jamrah's Legally Blonde, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015
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    Chloe (HIT HC OTCH Windsong's Femme Fatale, UDX4, OM6, RE) 6/7/2009

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    Scully (HC Coventry's Truth Is Out There, UD, TD, RN) 4/14/1996 - 6/30/2011
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  7. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Annette47 View Post
    I’ve had a 3 year old with a puppy (Scully & Mulder); a 14 year old and a 10 year old with a puppy (Chloe), and now a 6 year old with 2 puppies. I think that as long as the older dog is well mannered and has a good relationship with you, then they will be a good influence on the puppy. They do learn from the older dog.

    I’ve not had the experience Barry did where the puppy became more bonded to the adult (or even to the littermate) than to me. All I can say is I do spend plenty of time interacting with them both one on one and as part of a group, but I’ve never felt I had to limit the time they spend together. I have a friend who shows Golden’s in Obedience who does keep her adult and new puppy separated for 6 months to ensure the pup bonds with her - apparently she had something happen similar to Barry years ago. My guys were born wanting to work with me, which helps, too.
    I think it was more a matter of my inexperience in how I let them interact. By the time I realized I had a problem it was very hard to fix it. Despite having Labs for over 30 years, I fully admit I'm pretty much a complete noob when it comes to training. I've learned SO much over the last two years, and looking back to both Sophie and Bruce's puppyhood there are a lot of things I would have done differently. Hell, when Sophie arrived I still thought the whole dominance down thing was still good.

    The new puppy will benefit greatly from what I've learned, and will get a much better start. I know this puppy is going to compete in different dog sports and I will train towards that goal from day 1. I had no idea I would ever compete with Bruce, or Sophie for that matter.

    The new pup and Sophie will get plenty of play time, but I will do a much better job in controlling it. Plus I know now just how important having a dogs attention is to the overall training program. So that will be a priority from day 1.

    One of the biggest things I learned will haunt me for the rest of my days. When I realized Bruce's potential, and started to really focus on his training, I kinda let Sophie slip to the back ground. I did classes with Bruce, spent much more time working with him, and holding him to much higher standards than I did with Sophie. I figured she would never be able to anything as well as Bruce. Big failure on my part. It took Bruce's passing to show me just how good Sophie could be when I started working with her as I had with him. I will continue working just as hard with Sophie as I will with the new puppy. I'll never, ever make that mistake again.

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  9. #6
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Annette47 View Post
    I’ve not had the experience Barry did where the puppy became more bonded to the adult (or even to the littermate) than to me. All I can say is I do spend plenty of time interacting with them both one on one and as part of a group, but I’ve never felt I had to limit the time they spend together. I have a friend who shows Golden’s in Obedience who does keep her adult and new puppy separated for 6 months to ensure the pup bonds with her - apparently she had something happen similar to Barry years ago. My guys were born wanting to work with me, which helps, too.
    I have not have this issue either. I think there is a trainer who recommends that puppies be separated from all other dogs and family members who are not the handlers for months or the first year or something (Annette might know who this is) but that is more for obedience type stuff, not pet stuff. I do not know anyone who subscribes to this method, even at the highest levels of obedience. That said, most people find more success in controlling a dog's environment if they really want the dog to value work or making the right choice, and for some dogs, I suppose this includes limiting play time with other dogs.

    Because I have two big dogs, I often make them take turns doing stuff with me outside of the house. Hiking and walks in the neighborhood and beach trips, I can do with them together, but I typically will take them on outings -- friends' houses, restaurants, any type of non-competitive event, Home Depot, etc. -- separately. I used to feel bad about it, but my dogs love food, so the one that stays behind typically gets a frozen Kong and is happy enough. Eventually you just have to accept that, especially if you have two young, big dogs and just one person, you won't be able to include both dogs all the time. Or when you take the puppy to a class. They do get over it.

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  11. #7
    Senior Dog doubledip1's Avatar
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    Comet is very protective of Luna and always wants to be around her. Luna loves Comet, and likes him, and does love playing with him, but she was less disturbed when Comet was gone for his treatments than I thought she would be. I agree on making sure you take them out separately. You want them to bond, but not unable to leave each other's sides without freaking out.
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  12. #8
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    Never had a problem. Jack, Jed, and Grizz were all born at the house, and they just grew up learning how to be in the house from the adults (Hudler, Maddy and Grace). Bringing Tickle and Wrigley in last year, they just learned from the adults. I don't feel that the pups bonded with the dogs or the people in an inordinate way.

  13. #9
    Senior Dog Meeps83's Avatar
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    This is one of the concerns we have as well. I think what we decided was to keep a dragging leash on both dogs to separate quickly if play got to out of control. We also plan on doing separate training sessions with each dog and us and also doing separate classes so that each dog gets special time. I'm thinking Maverick will adore our puppy, and Mocha will probably adore yours as well. It's just a weird unknown situation...

  14. #10
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Meeps83 View Post
    This is one of the concerns we have as well. I think what we decided was to keep a dragging leash on both dogs to separate quickly if play got to out of control. We also plan on doing separate training sessions with each dog and us and also doing separate classes so that each dog gets special time. I'm thinking Maverick will adore our puppy, and Mocha will probably adore yours as well. It's just a weird unknown situation...
    Does the older dog have a "that's enough" or "take a break" cue? If not, maybe you could borrow a friend's dog and teach it. If the dog is food motivated, lure the dog away with a treat on his nose BEFORE things get out of control (this is the key to success, really) and slowly getting further and further away until you can give the command and the dog is breaking out of play and coming to you for the treat (again, BEFORE things get out of control). Then send them back in to play or do a time out with a Kong or petting or something they like. Sometimes physically pulling two dogs apart when they are over-stimulated causes them to dig in further (opposition reflex) and actually increases stimulation even more. I would not bring home a puppy until the adult dog has this training and the maturity and self control required to be safe and a good role model for a puppy.

    I don't have collars on my dogs in the house ESPECIALLY if they wrestle. It can be dangerous. Choking hazard. Also, some dogs will use the collar on the other dog to pull them around or hold them down and some dogs sort of spin around as they have the collar in their mouths, tightening the other dog's collar as they go. It's not on purpose, but the collar is easier to grab than, say, the neck. I had the nicest, most passive dog do this to other dogs while playing and I have seen issues involving collars with adult dogs and puppies when I worked at the E-vet. Not to mention, puppies sometimes chew collars off of the adult dogs (been there done that) and a puppy would probably chew on the other dog's drag leash.

 



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