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Pupforum presents your training questions answered by professional dog trainers.
Ev lives the Lower Mainland of Beautiful British Columbia, Canada where she has been training dogs since 1969. She is experienced in many methods including clicker and motivational training. Ev is an original Superdog Performance Team member and her own dogs have travelled and performed with the Canadian SuperDogs since 1984. She has also served as an A.A.C. judge ans is an original Member/Trainer with the Dogwood Pacesetters Agility Club.
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[Edit]
8/10/2006
We currently have a male 7 year old terrier mix who is a very gentle submissive dog.
3 days ago we adopted a male 6 month old golden retriever puppy. Our terrier mix is
having a hard time adjusting to the pup. The pup is slightly larger than he is. When in
a controlled atmosphere it doesn't seem too bad, although he still gets scared. But
when they are outside in our fenced in yard and neither of them are leashed, the pup
runs full throttle at the older dog and the older dog gets skittish.
The pup is getting
neutered the end of August. Will this calm him down? He really is a good dog, but he
is a puppy. The older dog won't stand up for himself. We have been trying to intervene
the best we can. Any suggestions? (philliesphan101, Pennsylvania )
First you need to remember that you are dealing with a Senior dog with the Terrier mix. Almost 50
years in human terms and it's no surprise that he's having a hard time with a bouncy, baby, over-sized boy - I wouldn't handle it well at my age either :)
The puppy is a puppy and will be until at least 3 years of age or more. Males never seem to
actually mature and settle like females do so expect a full bouncy life with the Golden.
Neutering will only take away his wanting to mate and possibly hump everything in site or
scrap with another dog over a female but that's it. Seldom does it 'calm' them - that is in his nature.
My suggestion is this - make sure the T (terrier mix) is ALWAYS, fed First, petted or greeted First,
taken for walks First or at least have his leash put on First, and allowed more luxuries than the pup
(on the couch, on your bed, under your feet when you're sitting, etc.) whereas the G (golden pup)
should 'Earn' his freedom. Keeping G in a confined area like a kitchen or laundry room for sleeping
and those 'Time-Outs' when he's been naughty and needs to think what he's done or even when you
don't have the time to Supervise the G, those confined places will come in handy for peace-of-mind and potty training.
The T on the otherhand is el
derly and should be given the respect as such. Allowed time and space
away from bratty kids/pups, quietly enjoying a snooze at your feet while you're on the computer or
watching TV and definitely not expected to endure the full throttle of a bouncing, baby G. Physically,
he's probably not up to the challenge of dealing with an over-sized puppy and mentally, he's going to
get cranky, feel left out with a new youngster around and being a Terrier, will not tolerate being 2nd
for very long. Make sure T feels like #1 in your home and life in general and try to work or play with
the dogs, Separately. The T won't want to be with the pup 90% of the time and the G won't learn
anything as you being alpha with the distraction of the T around.
If you got the G for company for the T - bad idea and that won't work. The T only needs you in his
life and is probably very happy with that. If the G was acquired as a fun dog to do more things with,
then the T need not be involved in that outside the home. After a full day of training or dog sports
or jogging or whatever with the G, he'll be tired so he can rest in his confined area while you
snuggle and converse with your T over a glass of wine or cup of tea in a quiet room of the house.
You can still play with the T - he's mentally not 'old' and will enjoy the interaction and exercise,
but it need not be with the G until the G is more mature and 'trained'. You don't want the T to
stand up for himself because you will be instigating something that may not stop until someone
gets hurt - that job is yours to keep them from getting carried away in play and getting enough attention individually.
Sorry for the long winded lecture - it is extremely hard to assess situations via the written word
and I didn't want you to get the wrong idea and still attain enough info to get both your kids on
the right path. Once the T knows you are looking out for him, he will be less likely to cringe or
shake around the G but the G will also need your time in training and manners before any of that will happen.
Good Luck.
Canine Caretaker Training/Consulting
http://www.k9care.ca
"United We Stand."
http://www.standunited.ca
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