mixing middle age dog with puppy

Question
QUESTION: i have a 6 yr. old yorkie male that is really spoiled and would like to get another puppy how and what breeds would be most compatable for him

ANSWER: Kathy,

I would not give you a breed because that would be something you would need to decide based on what you want, large dog small dog etc. What I can tell you is that if you get a female they will be more compatible than if you get a male.  Usually two males do not get along.  I have also found that if you bring a grown dog into the house when you already have a grown dog they will not get along.  Puppies however, usually get along with grown dogs even spoiled ones.  You will need to get a puppy that is about eight weeks old and you will need to watch them in the beginning to make sure your male does not show aggression towards the puppy.  If he does then you will need to teach your male that he cannot be aggressive towards the puppy.  You should show the male lots of love so he has no reason to be jealous.  You cannot unspoil your male but you can teach him what is acceptable behavior and what is not.  I have always found that when you bring a puppy into the home with an adult dog they usually get along.  I will caution you however that any male dog fixed or not will mark his territory when a female dog is around.  This will continue even as she gets older.

Sincerely,

Melinda

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QUESTION: thank you now a new one got the puppy but older dog tucks tail between legs with ears back and runs away scared  if gets closer heturns shows teeth growls and runs away will not come in room she is in she is 10 weeks shih tzu help

ANSWER: Kathy,

I don't think you have anything to worry about.  What is happening is call "establishing a pecking order".  In the animal kingdom everything has a pecking order.  There can only be one boss and everyone has their place.  Your older dog is telling the puppy that he does not want to be bothered by him and to stay away, hence his behavior.  Over a period of time (sometimes up to a year) they will have established a certain order.  The older dog is teaching the younger one about boundaries.  I have a seven year old Yorkie (very spoiled and shy) and a six month old Westie puppy.  The Yorkie at first would have nothing to do with the Westie and would growl, bark, and attack the puppy at first.  They will now lay together on my chair when I am watching television and will even sniff each other while doing so.  What happened was that the Yorkie was letting the puppy know that there were certain boundaries she could not cross and that the older Yorkie was of a higher rank than the puppy.  If you think about it that is a very reasonable thing.  Puppies tend to be a little wild.  The Yorkie is past the romping stage and so she must let the puppy know that it is not ok to jump on, bite, or be crazy while she is around the older Yorkie.  Over the past 15 years I have seen this play out time and again and it is always the same.  The only time it is not ok is if the older or younger dog is attacking the other and actually biting the other dog.  This does happen occasionally but it usually means that you have a mean dog and it would not matter who it was paired with it will be mean.  This is however, the exception rather than the rule.  So unless one is attacking the other you really have nothing to worry about.  Give them time to get some ground rules established and it will work itself out.

One last thing.  You need to make sure that you don't let the puppy jump on or attack the older dog.  You can speed up the process of them getting along if you teach the puppy that she cannot do that to the older dog.

I hope this puts your mind at ease.

Sincerely,

Melinda

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QUESTION: what do you think of clickers for helping to train the older dog not to growl and bark at her and  when he is really having a stressful time giving him some calm dog which is organic

Answer
Kathy,

I am not there so I don't know the extent of the growling and barking but as I said before the behavior is a training technique for the puppy.  If you try to stop your older dog from growling and barking you are not allowing the older dog to teach the puppy what he can and cannot do concerning the older dog.  If the older dog is minding his own business and the puppy tries to get close to him or play with him then what he is doing is natural and should not be stopped.  If the older dog is chasing the puppy and growling and barking like he is going to attack the puppy when the puppy was minding his own business then you could try the things you mentioned.  Either way if it were me I would give it some time before I tried to intervene.

Sincerely,

Melinda