Introducing a puppy to a senior dog

[TarheelJD]

We have a 13 year old Weimaraner who is in good shape for her age, but is definitely slowing down. She has some weakness in her hind end from loss of muscle, but she still goes up and down stairs when she wants to (albeit slowly), and she has an issue with her larynx that makes her breathe a bit heavy. Both of these things my vet says are normal for her breed and age. She goes for walks every day, but shorter ones now, especially since it is getting hot in Georgia.

We are 99% sure we are going to get a Weimarner puppy in the fall. We have 2 friends who have had great results introducing a puppy to there 12+ senior dog - extending the health and life of the older dog and the older dog teaching the younger the “house rules” and whatnot.

Has anyone else done this, and do you have any tips on successfully integrating the puppy and senior dog. For instance, how do you deal with meal time? Feed the senior dog first since they have seniority? Who do you greet and pet first when you come in the door? Any experiences with those sorts of logistics, and other advice, would be much appreciated.

TIA!

[jetsmom]

Personally, I’ve heard of too many horror stories where the older dog is just pestered miserably by a puppy to ever want to do that. A young adult dog can add life/enthusiasm to an older dog, yet still has manners and isn’t just wanting to play nonstop.

[S1969]

Feed the puppy in his crate, and keep an eye on the dogs during play time. Introduce them outside where they can get away from each other (especially allow the old one to get away from the annoying puppy), and be prepared to put up gates in the house to give them their own “space”…But in general, if you feel that your old dog is a nice guy, I wouldn’t be too worried. Of course I don’t think that you should take chances and leave them unattended, especially at mealtime…for a long time. Make sure you give your old dogs some serious loving for a while, too, because everyone loves on the puppy and naturally they can feel a little neglected. Make sure they are happy and spoiled.

But my experience is that the old dog gets that you want the new puppy…so they are pretty gentle. That doesn’t mean they don’t establish their dominance and also resent the puppy a little, but my dogs seemed to tolerate much more than I thought that should. I think it was only because of us…not because they actually liked the little bastard.

ETA: my dogs were nearly 14 and 9 when we got an 8 week old puppy.

[bits619]

I’ve heard it happen both ways- the old dog is pestered and harassed by the new puppy, and unhappy… Or the new puppy peps up the old dog and gives him more energy. I think it depends on the demeanor of the old one. One of my dogs, resident troll-gremlin (I say it lovingly) has never been a playful, affectionate dog with others. Sure, he likes the company of one or two like-minded dogs, but when he becomes a genuine ‘old man’ (as opposed to faking it right now), a new puppy flopping about like a loon would be his own personal hell. However, most of our other dogs would probably enjoy the energy boost (though two of them specifically i know would be negatively affected by the reduction in attention they’d experience). It really depends on the dog.

Don’t be afraid to be your senior dog’s ‘‘backup’’ when the puppy is being obnoxious. I think a lot of people get worried that their old dog will be too mean on the young one, but really… puppy gotta learn! Usually puppies have a license for getting away with bull* for a few months, but that isn’t always the case with an elderly dog that might be experiencing joint pain or anxiety due to sensory loss. I think the best bet is to be more demanding than you might otherwise be for proper obedience and self-control/inhibition training at a young age.

What we do with feeding is always the calmest ones get fed first (ie, food-obsessed labrador, last). First is usually the oldest gal (and she takes longer to eat anyway), but they have their own places in the kitchen and living room where their bowls will be set down. Set down bowls one at a time with a ‘wait’ command, followed by and ‘ok’ or ‘take’ type command, one at a time (upon a semblance of self-control and paying attention to the human!)
Same with the greetings, it’s best to ignore the whackadoodle behavior upon arrival! But really those (feeding, greeting) are just a part of it- how you handle each dog’s behavior and interaction with each other (and how they interact with each other regarding you- guarding or being possesive/‘jealous’, or demanding attention) is probably more important overall.

eta- above poster is spot on with baby gates and timeouts so it isn’t like super bowl excitement, 24/7 for the puppy. Same with first feeding in the crate, it keeps it a lot easier when they’re just learning the routine (not to mention when they’re still working on obedience training. it’s a lot harder for an over-excited, hungry puppy to stop and listen to you instead of charging big brother’s bowl to get their ear chomped off)

[TarheelJD]

Thanks, everyone. My dog goes on walks every day with a two year old, small dog who lives next door, and she likes him, and she has been well socialized since she was a puppy, and likes other dogs. She has always been pretty chill - usually on the more submissive side when we went to the dog park when she was younger.

I know she will be somewhat aggravated about sharing attention though. I have read that it is best to create the puppy’s main area in a different room than her main area in our bedroom, so she can retreat to her usual napping/hang out spot when she doesn’t want to be bugged by the puppy. And then have common space where they spend time together, supervised, as long as my older dog wants to be in that common space. For night time I will have a crate in our room for the puppy and our dog will sleep on her bed in her usual spot.

I also plan to hire a trainer to help prepare for the transition and guide me through the process, as well as training the puppy.

I understand the differing opinions here, and why some feel it is best not to get a puppy. But for each negative experience I’ve heard, I hear 3 or 4 good experiences. So, I think I am making the right decision, but I guess there are never any guarantees. I just want to be as prepared as possible, and take all possible steps, to make this a success.

[Roxyllsk]

Limiting play time together is really important - this way the older dog doesn’t get too overwhelmed. Some will put the puppy in its place and tell the pup to mind his manners. Others will just put up with the harrassment or get too nasty to the pup. The key is to slowly allow them to interact supervised and when the adult dog starts saying ‘enough’ to split them up again (ie, puppy goes in the playpen or crate or on the other side of the baby gate).

I still feed my now 1 year old pup in his crate. Neither of my guys are food aggressive, but the older dog who is dieting is a chow hound and the younger dog will happily share his bowl. So, I put the older dogs bowl on the kitchen floor first, then the youngster in his crate. Actually, now that they know the routine, the youngster actually puts himself in his crate at mealtimes.

It can be done, but you have to just keep an eye on them and be ready to intervene if needed.

[hastyreply]

Can you just get a puppy and put it with an older dog and let it be, probably not. Like so many have said, with management and your support of the older dog and the younger dog is need be it can work well.

I like to have an older dog, a middle aged dog and a younger dog. My most recent younger I got before I really wanted to because my favorite breeder said this was going to be the last litter. At the time I had 3 dogs, one who was older, while not ancient, and had health issues from an injury that was significantly shortening her life. Pup learned to leave older dog alone. She told him get lost and I reenforced it enough that there weren’t problems. The main thing was she was slow and he was always in a hurry and didn’t like to wait until she had gone before he dashed by. They lived together for 15 months without incidence. Now, I had other dogs who were more interested in socializing with him and playing. She’d never been a dog who played with others (only one she’d known since she was a pup) so they didn’t play together.

You know your old dog. Pick a mellow temperament in your pup. Manage them, watch the elder to see how involved he wants to be. I like having another dog when an older one passes. It makes it easier for me and my family and (I’m probably just projecting this) it seems easier for the older dog to pull away in preparation for their final departure. By that I mean they don’t feel so forced to go with all the time. You have your hands full with the younger dog and don’t miss them quite as much.

[Canaqua]

I think it depends on the social skills and temperment of each dog. We got a three month old Border Collie Mix last summer, when our ACD Mix was about to turn 14. Older dog has issues similar to yours…some arthritis and hind end weakness.

ACD Mix is NOT afraid to speak up for herself. She is quite no nonsense and has never played. She enforces polite behavior in any dog that comes around, but she does not attack them. BC Mix came out of a hoarder’s yard and was loose with 20 something other dogs, of all ages, in a big yard, for those first three months. She came with pretty good doggie social skills.

So, for us it was easy. We just brought puppy in and went on as usual with old dog. The puppy wanted to play with the old dog, but a few growls set her straight. She’s bigger than old dog now, but she still treats her with considerable respect and really loves her. She’ll try to lie against or lick the older dog, who very rarely tolerates it, only once in a while when she’s in a particularly magnanimous mood. There have been no problems between them at all. We all know who the boss is in this house ;).

[TarheelJD]

Thanks to all for the replies. We had a play date tonight - my dog and my friend’s 16 week old puppy. My dog did really well. Wagged her tail and played a while, then basically ignored the puppy when she was done playing. She let the puppy know she was done, but was not aggressive or mean.

I think as long as they both have their own space, and they both get equal attention, individually and when playing with us together, all will be well. But I have no delusions that there won’t be some stressed moments and a lot of work at first.

[TarheelJD]

Picking up the puppy tomorrow – I’ll let everyone know how it goes, and likely be asking for more advice!

[wendy]

For instance, how do you deal with meal time? Feed the senior dog first since they have seniority? Who do you greet and pet first when you come in the door? Any experiences with those sorts of logistics, and other advice, would be much appreciated.

Dogs really don’t care about this kind of stuff- all they care about is whether you are consistent or not with your “house rules”. It’s always wise to feed dogs in individual crates to avoid any possible conflict. And when coming in the door, it’s best to pet the calmest dog first, unless you enjoy being bowled over (some people do), in which case, pet the wildest dog first. Your house, your rules.

A good way to get useful one-on-one attention time with your older dog is to use the older dog to teach the younger one- put the young dog in a crate where the young dog can watch, and you spend a few minutes running the old dog through a few tricks and obedience exercises, reward well, then put the old dog up to rest, then pull out the young dog and do the same exercises. The young dog will learn from observation, and the old dog will get lots of attention in the presence of the young dog and won’t feel left out as you work on training your young dog.