behavior

Question
we have a 1yr 6m old male jack named brutus, he is very playful and friendly. He is very good with other dogs nomater what size or breed. my neighbor has pug that is 3 years old, five days ago they brought home a 6 wks old miniature snausher, immediately brutus was barking, growling and aggressive. my neighbors sit near to my fence where brutus  can see them constantly. in an attempt to calm him down we decided to let his sniff her, i made the mistake to not introduce them in a neutral zone, brutus snap at my neighbor, and caught his finger.  I think brutus believes the pup to be a rabbit, which he has caught and kill once before. I don't know what to do he is not agressive but I am worried that he could jump my fence and try to get that puppy, please help.
thank you


Answer
Hello Miriam,

Oh boy you have a dilemma on your hands. Unfortunately there isn't an easy answer! Sometimes there is just not a good chemistry between dogs. We don't know why?! You are right in thinking that Brutus thinks the puppy is some sort of prey, and you'll have to watch him closely when they are out. I feel bad but it's going to be difficult. You should definitely ask your neighbors if they wouldn't mind sitting somewhere other than at the fence, at least for a little while, while Brutus gets used to the fact that there is a newcomer in his world. (why does anyone have a SIX week old puppy anyway? That is two weeks too soon for any puppy).
There are a few things you can do to get the dogs more acquainted and used to eachother but it is going to take time and patience. You might have to muzzle Brutus during this introductory stage but thats OK and better safe than sorry for everyone. See if your neighbor will help and get the two of the dogs together on a daily basis. You can hold Brutus back but let him sniff and nudge and check out the puppy (with a muzzle on!) The puppy will probably roll over on his back and be submissive to Brutus, which is a good thing. They will be establishing dominance (who's the boss). It's good to do it while the puppy is young. Older dogs are much harder to train with this problem. Continual exposure to the puppy and time to play together and get used to eachother a little at a time will help... keep in mind though, Brutus might not ever really take to the puppy but he will definitely have to be taught that he can't harm the puppy. If when they are getting acquainted and he starts getting overly aggressive or mean to the puppy you have to correct that behavior THE SECOND he starts to show it.
A loud NO and a tug on the collar will break that ultra-
focus he has obsessing over the puppy.
So, lots of exposure with protection and lots of IMMEDIATE correction (over and over and over) and eventually the two of them will hopefully come to accept eachother. I say the more exposure to eachother the better the outcome. I hope your neighbor is in agreement to help you with this.
Brutus sounds like a great dog.. he's probably stubborn but he loves you and respects you enough to want to change the behavior.
Consistency and calm assertiveness is the key. Be patient and stern and it should be OK.  I wish you the best of luck! Take care, and don't blame yourself or Brutus if it doesn't work out. Sometimes you just can't mix oil and water no matter how hard you try.
Carol