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It's been long time sense I have posted on this board but I am needing some advise. I have had 2 wonderful rescued border collies for 13 years now. One I had to put down last week because of a brain tumor that effected her sight, hearing and back legs. As far as I could tell she was about 15 years old. She was the love of my life. It broke my heart. My home felt so lonely afterwards even though I still have another BC. Taffy my surviving BC is wonderful also. I decide to get a BC puppy. I brought her home 2 days ago at 7 weeks old. My puppy, which I have not named yet, has her own crate to sleep in and to keep her safe. My problem is Taffy seems like she wants to kill my new puppy. Wow that was a surprise to me. Taffy went after the puppy the first time and bloody her nose and put a small cut by it. The second time after scolding Taffy she nipped at her again but not so bad. Taffy seems to dislike the BC puppy and shows her teeth and growls at him. I don't know what to do and could use some advice from people that have had this problem on this board. I could use help naming him also. I was thinking of Tucker, but it doesn't seem to doggie.

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OMG what a doll!  Congrats on your new pup, and so sorry for the loss of your oldster. The cycle of life and death....but I digress.

Lots of adult dogs will not tolerate a pup's brashness and will put some force behind their corrections.  We've had that happen over and over.  Taffy is clearly not going to put up with puppy nonsense, which usually involves face-play, mouth-licking, tail-tugging and general mischief.  If she taught your pup by her first hard correction that a curled lip and bared teeth mean "stay back!" then you have a smart pup.  He needs to learn to speak Dog.  Having said that, it is your job to protect him from getting seriously hurt, so you must supervise their interactions REALLY closely - observe the pup's reactions to Taffy.  If he starts to pester her and doesn't back off when she warns him, take him out of the action.  I predict that this will be a non-issue in a few weeks, but you need to be very vigilant early on.  Besides, you want to establish your relationship with the pup apart from Taffy so 'alone time' with just you and him will be beneficial.  Of course, don't forget to give Taffy plenty of your love and attention too - she won't want to feel displaced.

Some dogs just don't like puppies period.  I've had a few like that, and I just kept them separated until the pup got older and stopped with the silliness that the adults couldn't stand.

Many of us name our dogs 'people' names - our current pack is Jill, Roy, Clio, Nan and Davy. Our rescue terrier x is Wally.  I'm sure you'll choose the perfect name for your cutie!

Good luck, and enjoy the wealth of knowledge offered here on these Boards!

 

Amy

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Please don't scold your older dog for setting boundaries with the puppy. It may set up a situation wherein your older dog associates the puppy with being hassled, then being scolded for saying "no" to the puppy, and the result is that she may never like the puppy.

It is your responsibility to set things up so that the older dog is never hassled to the point of having to get angry with the puppy. The advice above is sound: monitor interactions closely and prevent the puppy from pestering her. Give the older dog space and never leave the two alone (as I am sure you already know). Give your older dog extra love and special time with you. In time things will be likely to settle down.

Just a story to encourage you: I had a foster puppy that my  adult male snarled at and my adult female wanted to kill. Seriously. I couldn't turn my back on them for a minute. I took the puppy with me to work every day because I was afraid even to leave her in a crate in the house with the older dog. One day about two weeks after I got the foster puppy, I brought the pup into the house one evening and somehow everything had changed miraculously during the day.  Suddenly my male dog was kindly-uncle-with-patience-of-Job, and the female adult was Mamma Dog. She looked after the puppy constantly, washed her, let her take her food, and protected her from all real and imagined threats or dangers. It was amazing. Not saying this will happen with yours, but be patient and manage the situation and most likely it will end up OK.

Best of luck with that cute puppy!

 

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All puppies are cute.  Yours is extra super duper cute!   I agree with advice given above and want to emphasize that Taffy isn't being bad to defend herself from puppy antics.  You don't say how old Taffy is, but apparently she's at least 13?   That's sort of equivalent to a person in his/her late 70's.  Even if she loves kids you wouldn't expect great Grammie to put up with a rambunctious 2 year old tearing around.  That's not to say they can't interact, but as others have said, Taffy needs you to protect her from overly physical interactions with a baby that doesn't know any better yet. 

Some dogs are absolute saints with puppies and will put up with a lot of silliness but also give clear but harmless corrections when the puppy crosses a line.  If you know someone who has a dog like this, let your puppy interact with this dog to learn some normal doggy manners without putting Taffy in a position of having to do the all the teaching.

But remember that neither of your dogs is being bad.  They are both just acting their age, and as long as you protect them both from each other and give your pup a chance to learn doggy manners with other dogs, within a few months they will be fine with each other.

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Thank you everyone for your advice. I have started protecting both of them. I didn't know. This was my first puppy and I thought Taffy was out of line to attack the puppy like that. I guess I need to learn a little bit about how dogs think. I am not sure I was ready for a puppy. What a hand full. He howled and wined the first two nights. Last night he was great. Slept all the way through till morning but, he sure is and active crazy little thing when he is awake!

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