When Does The Older Dog Decide The Younger One Is Not A Pup Anymore?

[lanabanana]

So we have Barney (5 yr old male - lab x) and Pippi (1 year old female - foxy/shih tzu x).

They play all the time etc, and as young dogs can be, Pippi is extremely annoying to Barney. She just LOVES her big brother and always has to be jumping on him, biting him, playing with him, bringing him toys etc.

Even when he is sleeping, if she starts annoying him, he will put on his play face for her and have a game of whatever she wants to play.

He has only once told her off and that was when she snuck up behind him while he was eating (she finished first). Other than that, he just will not tell her off even when she is gettign excessively annoying. In fact, she will soemtimes hang off his face and if he doesn't like it, he will cry about it and then give us big sad eyes so we tell her to cut it out (this doesn't happen often as like I said above, he will just generally play when she wants to).

He is sooo patient with her it is ridiculous. I thought at first that it was due to her being a baby and him recognising this fact, but it seems like he still gives her this consideration, maybe because she is small??

Anyway, my question really is, when is he going to decide she is not a baby anymore and tell her off for being annoying? Will he recognise her as an adult at soem stage despite her size and how old does she have to be (I am thinking it's around 2 years for large dogs and 1-1 and a half for small)???

I hope my question makes sense.

[lanabanana]

Asking as this is the first time Barney has been the older dog, the first time we have had a really small dog, and also the first time we have had an older dog who NEVER tells the younger dog off.

[Guest Ams]

Puppy licence runs out around 6 months of age so it may be you have a very tolerant boy who doesn't feel either the need or the confident to tell her off.

[Gayle.]

We've got a little bloke of 4 months of age and his puppy license seems to be running out pretty fast. He's a big puppy and can keep up with the other two dogs, but they don't always want him in their games especially if they are chasing a frisbee. One of them will generally turn around and growl at him. Then he comes back to me looking very dejected.

However, yesterday I won a frisbee in a raffle at our dog club and it's perfect for my little man, so I throw the big one for the big dogs and then in the other direction I throw the new one for my puppy.

Most of the time, he's welcome in their play and they often initiate it, and my big boy especially loves playing with the puppy.......but there are limits and he's starting to find them.

[wuffles]

Ava's puppy license ran out at about 6 months. A little warning turned into a roar and a pin after that

[aussielover]

Some dogs are just to laid back and nice to ever tell another dog off.

[Odin-Genie]

Anyway, my question really is, when is he going to decide she is not a baby anymore and tell her off for being annoying? Will he recognise her as an adult at soem stage despite her size and how old does she have to be (I am thinking it's around 2 years for large dogs and 1-1 and a half for small)???

In some cases it may never run out My elkhound, now close to 3 years, still babies my female goldy who is 2 and a half. She can get away with pretty much anything, including taking away all his toys, jumping up on him, butting in when he's being petted. My elkhound is definitely the leader of the pack and she follows him around everywhere, but he grooms her, lets her be silly. He wouldn't tolerate this behaviour from any other dog.

[Bubitty]

Bitty is 15 months and still has a puppy licence. She is regularly bouncing Bubby, sitting on his head, teasing him with toys and enticing him to play, squeezing into his crate for a cuddle, chewing on his ears etc etc

I have videos of them playing when she was 9 weeks old and it seems to me her body language now is exactly the same as when she was 9 weeks. I wonder if this has any impact on the way he treats her. He just lets her run riot on him.

[Miss Danni]

I find that Puppy Passports expire sooner with the adult bitches than with the adult dogs, who tend to be more tolerant of a puppy's misbehaviour for longer.

In our pack, Passports generally expire when the pups reach maturity, around 10 months (that's the adult girl's limit). With the adult males, they seem to put up with nonsense usually until the pup has her first season or until male pups hit the 10-11 month mark, when their testosterone levels are through the roof and they think they are invincible teenagers.

Having said that, one of our girls still puts up with crap from her 2 year old son! But no-one else does.