New 8 Wk Puppy With Our 2 Yr Lab

[Chokito]

Hi all

We recently bought out new male lab puppy (Choco) home - he's 8 weeks and I just can't get enough of him! (pics to come soon)

We already have a 2 year old female lab (Kit) who is finally out of her puppy stage and really starting to settle down. Kit is excellently trained and I'm hoping that little Choco will learn a lot from her (he follows her around incessently!).

My question is this - After a few days Kit has decided that giving us withering looks when she has a puppy hanging on to the end of her tail is not going to get rid of him and she's slowing accepting the new addition to our family. In doing this, she has really started reacting to him and they now play together for hours (after which Choco will pass out for a good long sleep which is great). But I'm wondering if subjecting him to rough play (mouthing necks, nipping ears and jumping at Kits face) will hinder, more than help his training. If Choco bites too hard, Kit will react - he bit her ear with his needle teeth last night and she snapped at him, turned and did the same to him - the look on his face was pretty priceless!

I'd love some advice on how far to let them go when they're playing. Is it too much for an 8 wk pup to be chasing her around the backyard or should I just let him be - and let Kit teach him the rules of dog play.

Any other advice on bringing a pup into an environment with another dog would be great!

Thanks!

[Sandra777]

I would be concerned about them playing together unsupervised for long periods of time, if they were left alone together all day for example, but normally playing together when you're home should be fine.

Discourage them from playing on or near steps or a deck or anything like that the pup could fall off - they're very good at doing sudden dashes away from the other dog while playing and not looking where they're going.

If playing outside and Kit starts doing mad 'zoomies' - running around at full speed as if with a bee up her butt - then I would remove the pup from the way, maybe she doesn't do this, if she does you'll know what I mean When adults get in this state they don't do well at looking where they're going either!

She should be fine with the pup until he's about 4 or 5 months old, perhaps a bit older, then you may well notice her getting quite a lot more short with him and this is normal - until their puppy license runs out most normal dogs will let a puppy do virtually anything to them.

Make sure she has time on her own to do her own stuff with you without the pup hanging off her every second as no matter how patient they are this must be very annoying.

The pup also has to learn to be alone, so don't be tempted to treat Kit as a permanent babysitter even though it is easier - pup needs to learn that pup can be alone just as if he was the only dog.

[Oscar (AmBull)]

If playing outside and Kit starts doing mad 'zoomies' - running around at full speed as if with a bee up her butt - then I would remove the pup from the way, maybe she doesn't do this, if she does you'll know what I mean When adults get in this state they don't do well at looking where they're going either!

I know the 'zoomies' you are refering to. My dad has a 3 year old lab retriever and he is a very big boy, who is still a puppy at heart and loves his zoomies. Oscar is the only dog we have so I take him down to my Dads to play with the lab, Oscar knows when Zoomies is happening and more often than not gets out the way himself. I think it is extremely important that if your older dog does do 'zoomies' to either watch closely or remove the pup, as like sandra said they often don't look or even realise where they are at, so an accident may occur without them even realising. They work themselves up into such an excited state that they could simply nudge the pup and it would be enough to hurt it.

[kitty]

She should be fine with the pup until he's about 4 or 5 months old, perhaps a bit older, then you may well notice her getting quite a lot more short with him and this is normal - until their puppy license runs out most normal dogs will let a puppy do virtually anything to them.

i didn't realise that about the 4-5 month thing. No wonder Eva is getting more snappy at Molly this last week. Is that the time when older dogs start to have less tolerance for the pups, and start putting them in their place? I've never heard that before!

oh, and to the OP, when we brought Molly home, we never left her and Eva (our 3 yr old Rotty) together unsupervised. Now that Molly is getting bigger, and they know each other, a little unsupervised time is ok.

[mrs tornsocks]

until their puppy license runs out .....

I love this idea ....

Is it okay for them to play in terms of puppy's joints etc ? I ask because I am about to mind my brother's family's two labradoodles for a few days while they're on hols - we have a 13 week old lab puppy. I took our boy Archie over to the 'cousins' yesterday to meet them (altho they'll be staying at our house), he was a little taken aback at first because they hassled him a bit - just chasing after him and I think their sheer size was a little confronting, plus Arch was taking his time to get used to those surroudnings, sniffing around their yard etc. But he kept coming back for more (we had the bigger dogs on leashes initially). After about 10 minutes my boy was having a great old time, playing really nicely, especially with the younger of the two doodles - he even had him 'pinned' down on his back, the doodle was so sweet letting Archie win - however there was alot of jumping etc. and I wonder about lab bones ?? All friendly, no teeth bared or even warning nips, it's just that the doodles are fully grown and quite big.

Sorry chokito, not meaning to hijack the thread, hoping with similar situations (albeit mine is short term) you don't mind !

Edited July 2, 2009 by mrs tornsocks

[luvsdogs]

I've always been concerned for puppy safety when they're little with the older dog. But once the pup starts growing & they become used to each other I can relax a little. I think if you supervise for the 1st couple of days & see how they get on.

[Chokito]

Thanks to everyone for your replies!

Kit is very gentle with Choco generally but I understand that I need to keep an eye on them - especially as the dogs spend most of their time on the porch and outside (and there's steep steps - with a ramp for puppy) so I don't want him to get hurt.

Giving Kit some time out is definitely a good idea - generall when pup passes out we both give Kit lot sof hugs and kisses and she quite often heads outside without pup to play by her self.

I like the advice to separate them occasionally so that Choco will still be ok being alone. I reckon he's gonna be a good dog (watch this space ) and he's already getting out and about in the car and is getting used to visitors and other dogs (both my partner and I have big families with LOTS of dogs!)

I noticed last night that Choco was trying to show a bit of dominance when playing with Kit and humping her but only when he was really excited (as boys get! ) As we eventually want Choco and Kit to have puppies (Chokitos!) should I discourage this behaviour now or just ignore it?

Cheers for all your advice!

[kitty]

one thing i will definately recommend, is try and give your dogs one area of the house where it is there little time out. It may be easier for us, but our bedrooms are the dogs time out zones for when they got too tired of each other. Because Eva is my OH's brother dog, when she's had enough of Molly, she goes into the OH's brother bedroom, and Molly knows that she isn't to follow. Same goes for Eva when Molly comes into our room. Anything in the rest of the house is fair game though!!

[sandgrubber]

I have always allowed my girls (Labs) to play a major role in raising puppies (from birth onwards). They are good at it. An older, well mannered bitch can be a great influence for a young pup. They do sometimes discipline puppies, and occasionally I even hear a yelp from the pup, but I find that a pup who has grown up with an older girl in charge tends to avoid many of the cute/obnoxious out of control behaviour for which Lab pups are known.

The mouth-mouth game is absolutely fine, as are the various other games played with one of the two lying down. I agree with others about zoomies.

At two, a Lab may have calmed down considerably and be a "responsible" family member . . . or may still be something of an idiot puppy. If your girl has turned the corner, I would say, be careful, but do let her have a role in the pup's upbringing.