[Libby&Jofi]

I haven't posted for a while - it's been so hectic the last week - we've had painters working in the house. Doodles and wet paint don't go so well together!!!

Anyway, yesterday Tenzin arrived. We collected him from the airport. He's a very confident playful puppy. Very different in personality from Jofi, who was quite a reserved puppy and still is. Tenzin is bursting with confidence - he's even tried to mount my leg and tried to mount Jofi, which she wasn't too impressed by! And Tenzin is a 9 week old puppy!!

So, we get him home and the first thing that happens is Jofi growls, barks and lunges at poor Tenzin. I was so shocked I just cried. Jofi has never been like this to a dog before. So we took them both outside, figured it would be better to let them get to know one another on common ground.

Jofi isn't growling at Tenzin now but there's clearly a lot of jealousy there. She's rough with him and goes for him - mostly the ears and neck. It's hard to tell how hard she is being - there are no marks on Tenzin, so I hope it's just more an act of dominance than actual intended harm. Tenzin is so hardy that he growls back and tries to bite Jofi, which probably makes matters worse. It's hard to tell when playfulness stops and jealousy and dominance begin. I'm really worried though and want things to work out between these two. I know it's early days and they need time to get used to one another but I have to say I didn't expect this. Tenzin is much smaller than Jofi was at that age - he's just over 10 pounds (Jofi was nearer to 15 pounds at 9 weeks).

Jofi gets especially upset when Tenzin comes to me or my partner. We're doing our best to give Jofi extra attention. She gets fed first, gets to go out first and comes before Tenzin, but we need to give Tenzin attention too - he's just left his litter and his mother.

At what point do I really need to worry? What should I be doing to protect the puppy and help ease things for Jofi? Should I be very worried at this point or is this kind of reaction 'normal'? We've had friends visit before with their dogs and Jofi's been fine - playful.

I'll post pictures soon under 'stories' - at the moment I'm just trying to take in what's going on between the two. Apart from this, things are going well - Tenzin is doing good with his potty training, and used to his crate already - he slept peacefully the whole night.

Libby

 

[Lucee&Rusty]

I was just thinking about you a couple of days ago wondering if Tenzin had arrived. I guess at this early stage all you can do is wait and see if things will settle down. My two adore each other and their playing gets really rough. I step in and get them to chill out for a minute or two. Rusty the little one adored Lucee nearly from day one but Lucee wasn't so sure about the arrangement. It took her a little while to adjust. We were lucky Rusty was a sleepy puppy so she still got her quality time with mum. Lucee is shy and timid but with Rusty she had no problems putting him in his place. Joffi is just showing Tenzin who's boss at the moment

Hopefully things will settle. We walk our two together but sometimes we will separate them by going down different pathways and when they see each other they literally do a doodle dance and lick each other like if they haven't seen each other for weeks and not the minute they were apart. I am sure that your two will be like this very soon too.

I am told that having a male/female combination works the best, especially if the youngest one is the male. You will find soon no matter which dog you give attention to the other won't be far behind wanting their share. The toy one dog is playing with is always the best toy to play with. The other dog's dinner has got to be better than their own dinner....
Give it time. Things will get better.

 

[Libby&Jofi]

Hiya,

Thank you sooo much for posting this. It's given me the reassurance I need. Since this morning, things have been going much better. They had a good romp in the garden and got very muddy and walked lots of mud into the house! Tenzin got stuck climbing over the door step, so Jofi nudged him over with her nose. They had a nap earlier, lying touching one another. I think there will be more and more of these 'awwww' moments. The aggression/jealousy seems to be more playfulness today - mostly it's fine but sometimes Jofi is a bit rough - Tenzin stands up for himself though. They're playing together with toys now - Jofi dangles it in front of Tenzin, gets his attention by squeaking it and then runs off to her crate. I feel much better now than I did early about the situation. I was having to pull Jofi off of him yesterday - and that upset me as it's not how I normally handle Jofi. Today a firm 'No' seems to stop her in her tracks. I'll get round to taking some photos today and will post them.

Thanks again,
Libby, Jofi & Tenzin

I just had to vacuum the kitchen - Jofi is terrified of the vacuum cleaner, always has been - Tenzin on the other hand, chased after it!

 

[lmtoth2]

I think you just need to give them some time to settle down. Since you have a new puppy, I would limit the time they are together right now. Let them play for a bit and then crate the puppy and let him have some quiet time. He needs a lot of sleep because he is so young.

I can't wait to see photos

 

[sdrudge]

I don't know how much this will help. But Cacao loves Beau. But when we got them home the next morning Cacao wasn't so sure of this other dog being in her home. She started a fight and she got crate time for a bit. And she learned that if she takes it too far she gets crate time. Beau also has brought of a fight and been too rough. It has only happen two maybe three times. But they don't want to have a time out. So try that maybe. But after time out we do play fetch and brush them to have some one on one time.

 

[emilee]

hi there -- i think we are in a similar situation. we have two male doodles, kumo who is 2, and ursus who is about 6.5 months now. when we brought ursus home in january, it was obvious he is a lot more outgoing and adventurous than kumo ever was. i like to think about it as the dog "shyness" scale -- kumo is a LOT more reserved and uncomfortable in new situations than ursus is. we didn't have any growling or barking from kumo when ursus first arrived, but ursus started humping kumo immediately (and hasn't really stopped). the funny thing is, ursus only humps kumo -- no humping at the dog park whatsoever -- so we just let it go. we figure if kumo wanted to he could put a stop to it.

our doodles also play very rough. like, as in sometimes scares other owners at the dog park rough. lots of chewing on the ears and neck, growling, and laying on top of each other. things are a bit more even now that ursus is approaching 50 pounds (kumo is about 65 pounds), but initially it really did look scary. the thing about puppies is most like to play rough, and it is actually through play with other dogs that they learn how NOT to bite too hard, etc., so playtime is really important. if tenzin is hurt, you'll know -- they make this kindof high pitched yipe sound, and jofi should stop when she hears it. if she doesn't, then you'll have to separate them and discipline her.

one thing we did to lessen the dog play madness was restrict them to a small area of the house when they were together, so they couldn't start running around full speed ahead. this seemed to help tone down the intensity level. we also kept them separated for most of the day, except during supervised play sessions. during these play sessions, we practiced getting their attention and making them both sit for a "time out". this was REALLY HARD at first, we had to physically grab them and give them treats for paying attention to us. but now, a few months later, the work has really paid off because all i have to do is say "boys, sit!" and they stop what they're doing. and start drooling!

it's only been in the past couple of weeks that we're letting them spend most of their time in the same room (when they're not crated), and we've also just started one person walking both dogs. kumo and ursus had been SO focused on playing that we couldn't even walk them next to each other. it was crazy for a little while. we definitely did separate training time, so, one would go in the crate while we worked with the other. sometimes one of us would take kumo for a nice long walk by himself while the other worked with the puppy. that way they both got useful attention. i don't know how i would have done it by myself, it really helped that there are two of us.

oh yeah -- and don't underestimate the saying "a tired dog is a good dog". seriously.

regarding the jealousy thing, be careful not to reward jofi for unwanted behaviors, like getting upset when tenzin gets attention. you do NOT have to feel guilty for paying more attention to tenzin -- he's a little puppy, he needs it! and i don't think dogs have the same concept of fairness as people do. i don't think jofi is jealous the same way a child would be -- but she might feel like another dog in the house is usurping her position in the pack order. we started doing "time outs" with kumo after ursus came along, whenever he got to barking too much or acting out in other ways. we say "time out!" and shut him in the bathroom for 5 min, in the dark. it really works, as long as you do it *immediately* when you see the undesired behavior, so you the dog makes the connection. it's kindof like housebreaking -- by the time the puddle is on the floor, the teaching moment has passed. we're at the point now where all we have to do is say "time out!" and kumo walks into the bathroom himself!

phew. this is a long post. try not to worry too much, they will get used to each other and grow out of the puppy phase and you will have two great dogs! there were times over the past couple months where i felt like "what have we done, getting a second one!" but i haven't had one of those moments in a while, and lately it has been more like "i love having two dogs!"

hang in there,
-em

 

[lmtoth2]

during these play sessions, we practiced getting their attention and making them both sit for a "time out". this was REALLY HARD at first, we had to physically grab them and give them treats for paying attention to us. but now, a few months later, the work has really paid off because all i have to do is say "boys, sit!" and they stop what they're doing. and start drooling!

This is a very good idea. I'm going to start doing this with our doodles. They also play very very rough and for long durations - I would like to have a good way to get them to stop when we want them to

 

[MaxandMe]

all great advice/info

they just need to bond which takes time and figure things out a bit more.
eventually it will work out.
I have found at times a NAP midday in the crate or at my feet works wonders :wink:
so do lie downs for 15 to 30min or sit by mom for 10min or so to settle

in past if any doodle started a disagreement that wasn't being solved, the wrong doer would get a short time out in the crate IF the settle or lie down didn't cure the "issue" first

 

[Libby&Jofi]

Thanks for all the good advice. Things seem to be going better now after a day and a half. I'm making sure Jofi gets enough one on one time and Tenzin too - time apart seems to be helping with the jealousy. I've posted some photos on the 'stories' part of the forum.

Thanks again,
Libby