New dog

Question
We have a 2 yr. old, male poodle, Duke. My husband and I have no children. Duke is neutered. We are close to my daughter and her husband and they recently got a new puppy. It is male and 8 wks. old. Duke wants nothing to do with theirs. He turns his head the other way. He also snarled at the new puppy when he wanted to play with him. He did go after him once, too. Duke barks at other dogs from a distance, but it doesn't matter what size it is,he acts afraid of other animals. I'm assuming most of it is jealosy but how can we help overcome that. He have also been thinking of getting another puppy so he'll have a playmate.

Thank you for your response.

Answer
Much of the problem is jealousy, territorialism and testosterone.  I doubt you'd get the same reaction from your poodle if the puppy was a female. One thing you might want to try is to have the puppy brought into your house sometime when your pet is outside - and then bring him into the home.  That removes the need to protect territory from encroachment, as the pup is already THERE. Some of it might be lessened if your pet is neutered, but that isn't always a sure bet.  Truthfully, I'd say taking your dog to "school" to learn to obey you might be a help. It's hard to fight instinct, but with training your pet will (hopefully) realize HE isn't the alpha dog - YOU are.  

I hope this helps a little. I know it isn't a cut and dried answer, but there really aren't many.  Different personalities react differently. I had two males at one time and they got on fine - one was a young, small teacup male, and the other a miniature poodle who was very elderly.  Later on the same small teacup was a bit older, the elderly dog had passed away, and I ended up with a "dumped" dog named Barney, a miniature apricot poodle. My teacup (Rowdy) and Barney literally had a competition to see who could mark things the most - I had to get rid of two recliners because they'd both peed on it so darned much trying to mark their territory.  In my case, I hadn't formed a big attachment to Barney, and an elderly woman I knew desperately wanted a pet - so Barney is now king of all he surveys at her home (and is spoiled rotten to boot).

I think a professional trainer might know more about behavior modification and could help you develop specific strategies to lessen your dog's stress when he sees the puppy.

I wish you eery good thing and please give your "baby" a hug for me.

Warmly,

Kathryn