tracylacy

I have a 4mnth old and a 4 yr old, they pplay fight all the time, quite roughly, I separate them when they get too rough - and shout "enough" (I'm hoping that the pup will eventually learn what that means - my older dog already seems to) Even though the pup seems to be getting beaten up all the time, he is the first to jump straight back into it. From what I have read in other threads, you only really have to worry if there is blood. I also read that if one of the dogs runs away and doesn't want to come back, this is a sign that they have had enough.

Just another update - we tried a chicken frame today - it was extremely sucessful - I am looking forward to trying him on all sorts of new foods now

I know that these are a great idea, but I still worry about our older dog harrasing him while he's eating, I have tried kongs whilst supervising, but unfortunatley I can't do this all the time, there are times (like before work) when it's not possible to let him play with his food for 1/2 hour or so while I watch them.

Again, thanks to all of you for your help. I have been still feeding the dry food - just in smaller portions, which seems to be helping, I also think that he is beginning to realise that he doesn't have to eat it all in one mouthful! I'm going to try chicken carcasses next, now that I am a little less worried about the whole thing - I know that he'll love them because he loves the chicken offcuts and skin that I gove them when I am cooking. I have also had huge success with lamb flaps, I give them to him and he takes it straight to his crate and it takes him a good 15 min to get through it now, this morning he crunched the whole thing up, and took his time with it, it was only the last little bit - where he could almost swallow the whole thing - that he had a little bit of a gag. Hopefully this means that he is learning that no one is going to take it off oof him and he doesn't have to swallow it whole!

Haha Ghost used to do this all the time when we had our old couches - we used to have on right opposite the doorway and he would run back and forward, getting up un the couch and getting a push off from the back of the couch. We have a new lounge now, so no getting up on it anymore. Oh and just to add, Ghost is a 25kg sibe so definately not something you wanted to get in the way of!

Thanks guys - very helpful. I have just given both the dogs a lamb flap (and practically sat on top of Orion to supervise - I was so worried!) He began to try and gulp it down whole - then realised he couldn't when he started to gag. He slowed down a bit after that, then about 3/4 through I thought he was going to try and swallow it whole - I panicked a bit and try to take it off him, at which point he decided he should try and swallow it even quicker (which I understand he did because he knew I was going to try and take it) which then causeed him to gag again. He finished it eventually and seems fine. Whilst Ghost (our older dog) does tend to gulp down food - he doesn't actually try to swallow things that are too big whole! I have never seen a dog attempt to swallow everything, no matter the size, whole - I think this is what is worrying me! I think I will just have to supervise and hope that he learns how to eat properly Oh, and to answer Shell, I feed them twice a day. Up until Orion came along Ghost only got about a cup and a half of dry food to keep him going through the day, and he is good condition, so I understand that they don't need to eat much. We have started to feed them both twice a day, so that I can feed Ghost without leaving his food down and so that they both get food at the same time - I didn't want Ghost to think that Orion was getting fed and he wasn't. He still only gets about the same amount, I just halve the it and give it to him twice a day now. When I took Orion to the vet to get his last vaccination he told me that we could probably up his food as he thought he was a little bit skinny.

Ok, another problem! Our first dog was so much less trouble Orion is a 13 week old Sibe. I am looking to change his diet shortly - I want to try RAW or something along those lines. My problem at the moment is that he gulps down all his food. To the extent that there has been a few times that he cries because his tummy is hurting (I am suure that this is what it is - you know like when we eat somthing too quickly and it makes you do that really painful hiccup thing?) I have tried a number of things. After I worked out what was happening (after I stopped panicking and had a little bit of a giggle at him) I tried just letting him go for it - it was only dry kibble and some VIP dog roll so I wasn't that worried about him choking - I thought maybe he might learn to chew if I did this. This didn't seem to work , so I have begum standing over him while he eats and taking his bowl off him to give him a little time to swallow before giving it back to him - while this seems to help with the immediate problem, I don't want to have to do this for the rest of his life! The other thing that I'm worried about is when I want to introduce chicken frames, wings, lamb bones, etc, whether he is going to attempt to swallow them whole without chewing? Any thoughts?

Hi there, This sounds so much like our recent situation. We just got a new Husky puppy and we already had a nearly 4 year old Husky. Unfortunely we thought everything was coming along fine, whilst the older dog was tolerating the new pup he was acting very much like you say your housemate's husky is doing. Everything was not alright and we ended up with a pup with a broken jaw. We later realised thagt our older dog was extremly jealous - we worked it our from his behavour towards the puppy when we were near, compared with their behavour when we stayed back and watched. So, about 5 weeks later, here we are. They are getting on great, they play fight all the time and are very relaxed together most of the time. Occcassionally the older dog uses his weight and size to let the pup know that he is in charge, but since the incident that caused the broken jaw our older dog has been much more tolerant. We now leave them together alone all the time (when we go to work, at night time they sleep outside together). They have also prgressed to cuddling up to each other when they think that we won't catch their cuteness on camera (and we try, really we do!) So, in response to your worries. I think that the older husky is clearly trying to show signs of dominance by mouthing at your pup - our older dog was doing this all the time and occassionally still does. I wouldn't worry too much about the mouthing and tipping over - this is normal dog play - I would keep a very lose eye on the way that the older dog uses his mouth, is it being gentle or does it look like he really wants to bite him. I can tell by my older dogs body language when he is playing and when he is starting to get a bit nasty - at which point I stop the game and make them have time out. If you think that your pup is getting scared the best thing to do I would think is to separate them but not molly coddle the pup. The pup will have to get used to the older dog and vice versa eventually. As for leaving them alone when you go to work - I think it would be a good idea to rig up a temp fence to give them space and for piece of mind when you are not there. You will know when they are ready to be left together. If your situation is anything like mine, they probably get on better when you're not right there than when you are (my older dog sometimes really plays up to the fact that I am near, almost like he is saying 'look, I'm the most important, the pup doesn't matter!' I think my best bot of advice would be to keep an eye on them and try to learn what their behavour means by way of observation. OUr mistake was that we didn't realise there was a problem really, it was only when something bad happened that we managed to work out that there was a problem and that that problem was our older dogs jelousy. Hope that I have helped :D

We don't have stairs but reading this reminds me somewhat of Orion running back and forth from our bedroom to the lounge. He just gets up and bolts to the lounge - then we hear him jump in his beanbag - then a little while later he comes bounding back to the bedroom - this goes on and on all morning till we finally decide it's time to get up.

Hi there, just wondering what your thoughts are on this. We have been sleeping our new pup (11 weeks) in his crate in our bedroom. We have been using a combination of newspaper in the corner of his crate as well as taking him out for toilet breaks during the night. I am pretty sure that in the morning he complains to get out both because he wants to get out and play and because he wants to go to the tiolet. I don't expect his little bladder to hold out for too many hours, but was just wondering what other people's experiences have been with this. Our older dog slept outside from the day we got him so I don't really have anything to compare with.

Well guys, first I want to say thank you all so much for your help! I have been taking on board what you have all had to say about this. I would like to tell you all that the boys are now getting along swimmingly. Orion is pretty much healed now and they have been allowed to spend a bit of supervised time together. I really think that Ghost is learning to play gently (Orion doesn't want to stop playing with Ghost!) Ghost is using his body to play rather than his mouth alot more now - which makes me feel a lot more comfortable. I really think they are going to be great friends! We are still keeping them separated during the day when we are not here. And Orion is still sleeping in his crate in our room (without Ghost now). I think it is nearly time for us to think about moving Orion's crate outside (I think it might work better than the laundry because Ghost is outside and I think that he is more likely to be quiet if he can see Ghost than if he is left by himself in the laundry) Thanks again for all your help - I'm sure I will be back sooner rather than later with another question!

This is something that I worry about too. We have just got a new pup, he is only 10 weeks. We have another dog who is about 3 1/2. Ourr older dog loves to play rough - which to me is ok because he understands when it is time to stop with us - we just say 'enough, gentle' and he calms down. One of the problems that we have experienced with out new pup is that he wants to pay with our older dog all the time - we are worried that our older dog will be too rough and there may be problems. I look forward to seeing what other people have to say about this.

I'm no expert either, but I remember going through this with our first Sibe, he has always been an outside dog and although he always went in the one spot (mostly). We tried moving his droppings to a new spot and it seemed to work. When you are home you can make sure that he goes where you want. He will eventually go in the new place I would think. Like I said I am no expert - just my eperience with my own dog.

We are going through this exact thing at the moment. Our dogs are almost exactly the same age as yours. I look forward to seeing some comments about this.

I patted Ghost when I first came home and realised that he hadn't actually killed Orion - I think I did that soon enough so that he associated that with being a good dog all day (maybe?/hopefully?). I have never had a problem with Ghost an other dogs, he has always been friendly and wanted to play with them. Orion is gettting used to his crate very well - we have had 2 nights of sleeping the whole night and I have also had him sitting in during the day without too much drama. Thanks for all your help - we will definately be raising these issues with the vbet when we take Orion back on Tuesday - I feel like I need all the help I can get, I would die if something worse happened. I think for the moment I will separate them if I feel like there is potential for problems (this id what I have been doing so far)