How to manage the life between a puppy and an old dog
In your home you have a dog that is becoming old and you are really thinking of adopting also a puppy: what kind of problems can arise?
If you already have an old dog at home, it can get along with a puppy, but you should bear in mind some crucial differences. The puppy is always active, it wants to play, it is curious, whild the old one is often tired and can hardly adapt to the new one.
It is fundamental maintaining a hierarchy in their lives, since the old one can liv the arrival as an invasion. Let’s se what to do if you are thinking about adopting a puppy with an old dog at home.
Puppy and old dog, how to manage their first meeting
In order to avoid aggression episodes related to the defense of the territory, it is necessary that the puppy is integrated gradually: every step has to be taken slowly in order to not startle the old dog and avoiding making it perceive the new one as an intruder. How to manage their first meeting?
It is recommended keeping the puppy in a trailer allowing the old one slowly sniffing it. Once you open the trailer, you could reward the old one so it can associate the arrival of the puppy with something pleasurable for it.
During the first day with a puppy at home, do not give it cuddles with caresses and at least for the first times, avoid leaving the two dogs alone in the same room.
Puppy and old dog, the coexistence
After the first meeting it will be necessary a transitory period during which you should strictly monitor the two dogs. Then trying leaving them alone in the same room, but be prepared to intervene: if they interact without problems and play, reward both and then their bond will become deeper and similar to the bond between older and younger brother.
Jealousy
Be careful, the worst problem during the coexistence between a puppy and an old dog could be jealousy, especially during the first times. Even if the old dog as a sociable temperament, it could see the puppy as a rival, a small intruder in its territory. It is better maintaining the same habits and routines as before, always respecting the hierarchy: form the bowl to the caress, the old dog should always come first.
In order to protect the old dog from impetuous games and physical and emotive suffering that could be caused by the new one, so we recommend educating the puppy to interact properly with its older brother.