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New Puppy? Here Are Some Tips to Safely Get Your Old Dog Used to It

Nothing brings you quite as much joy as the moment you bring a new puppy home for the first time. On the flipside, few things are as capable of bringing your other dog or dogs as much confusion and even anxiety as a fluffy new friend can. So, during the first few days or weeks with a new puppy, you need to take time to monitor your dog’s behavior around its new friend.

With property supervision, you can safely get your dog used to a new puppy by using some helpful techniques to discourage bad behaviors and encourage good ones. Before you leave your dog loose with with its new brother or sister, you need to be sure to...

Supervision All Initial Interactions

Animals may have coexisted in the wild without human supervision for centuries, but that doesn’t mean that all of their interactions were good — or even safe. So, you need to make it a point to monitor ALL of your dog and puppy’s initial interactions.

While you need to do this to make sure your dog doesn’t accidentally hurt your puppy, you also need to keep in mind that this time is vital for your puppy’s social growth. So, use this opportunity to make sure the little one is understanding the big one’s social cues and responding to them appropriately.

Crate Your Dog or Puppy at Times during This Process

At the point in your puppy’s development when it doesn’t understand how to properly interact with your fully grown dog, the little one’s behavior might become something of a nuisance. This could lead to anxiety in your dog or, in extreme cases, bouts of aggression toward the puppy.

To encourage a harmonious living situation for your dog and puppy, don’t hesitate to put either in a crate for short periods throughout. This separation will allow the two to safely inspect and interact with each other, helping to facilitate your dog’s healthy acclimation to its new friend.

Don’t Discourage Growling

For most of us, the sound of a dog growling can be a bit nerve-wracking, as it is oftentimes accompanied by some form of an attack. However, when it comes to dogs’ interactions amongst themselves, this behavior is actually a form of communication intended to discourage a certain behavior.

So, if you detect your dog growling when your puppy is performing a bad behavior, don’t get onto your dog. Instead, let it use this time to help to train away your puppy’s bad behavior with this form of communication. (Of course, you should always be close by enough in case that growling DOES become a precursor to some manner of attack against the little one.)

Reinforce Good Behavior

Inevitably in the acclimation process, your dog and puppy will begin to interact harmoniously. These positive interactions may be small, big, brief, or permanent. No matter the size or duration of this behavior, though, you should never pass up the opportunity to encourage it.

This encouragement can come in the form of pets, kind words, and even treats. However you choose to reward good behavior, you can be sure that this positive reinforcement will go a long way toward ensuring that your dog will quickly become used to your new puppy.

Need Some Help Acclimating Your Dog to Your New Puppy? Then Call Up Our Dog Trainers Today!

At the end of the day, you may find yourself lacking all of the necessary skills, time, or even patience (we’ve all been there) to safely acclimate your dog to the new member of the family. If that’s the case, then just call Dog Ventures for help. Our experienced dog trainers offer behavior modification and other services, we can help your dog behave in the safest manner around your new puppy.