adding a puppy

Question
Hi kim we have a 6year old desexed minature apricot boy who has to be top dog and will bite if we try to groom him.We just added a second black girl miniature puppy,now 12 weeks.Last night she tried to jump up onto his chair and he bit her ,tearing her nose and making her yelp and cry.When he is out in the paddock with her he runs and plays but in the house,growls a lot,eats her food and protects toys and bones from her.She is okay today and not scared of him,but we are worried about further aggression and wounding.thanks so much for this,julia in australia with Ra and Roxy

Answer
Hello Juila,
Sounds like your dog is trying to show you that he is dominate over you and that he controls when you can groom him or even when you try to pet him in a way he doesn't like.  
You are going to have to change that.  To do so, when he snaps or growls at you, you need to lay him over on his side with his head on the floor and make him submit until you allow him to get up.  You can put a muzzle on him or wear thick protective gloves to keep yourselves from getting bit if you think that his bitting will be an issue, but you can't let him bite you and win.  FOR THIS TO BE SUCCESSFUL, YOU CANNOT LET HIM WIN.  IF HE BITES, YOU CANNOT PULL AWAY, BUT MUST CONTINUE TO HOLD HIM DOWN.  HE WILL EVENTUALLY QUIT BITING BECAUSE HE SEES THAT IT DOESN'T WORK, AND THIS IS THE FIRST SIGN THAT HE IS SUBMITTING. If he bites you and you back off, you are defeating the exercise and he will get the idea that biting makes him dominate. He has to see that growling, biting, snapping or anything else that he thinks he can scare you with won't work, then he will start to submit to you because he will see that you are Boss.

DO THE DOG EXAM WITH HIM.  
Start with you sitting on the floor and lay your dog in your lap on his back with his head near your stomach.  Rub his tummy until he will relax some.  Once he settles down some, go over his head and ears, and look in his eyes and mouth.  Next go over his legs, coat, skin and rear area.  Finally just pet and rub on him.  
This teaches him that you can touch him anywhere on his body and that you are dominate because your head is over his and even though he is in a very submissive position, you won't let anything hurt him.  

**If you don't think that you can do this alone, you will need to consult a professional that can come to your house and work with you and your dog.  You can find a Dog Behavorist in your area by looking in your Yellow pages or by contacting a Dog Trainer who should be able to point you in the right direction.**

You will need to make him submit to your new girl when he growls and snaps at her also.  Hold him down and let her come over to him and sniff around him.  If he growls or raises his head, correct him, don't let him up and make him wait until you allow him to get up.  This shows him that the commands are coming from you and that he needs to listen to you.  Praise and let him up when he sucessfully submits to you.

I hope this helps you some.  If you have other questions about this or other Poodle topics, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim