socializing older dog with puppy

Question
I have two dogs, a 13 yr. old bordercollie/australian shepherd, Macey, and a 2yr old. german shepherd /rottie, Harley. The problem is when I puppy-sit my daughter's 6 mth.  old boxer,Angel, she wants to puppy play with the other two and they don't want any part of it. Macey is very slow to react and tolerant. There are  periods of reasonable socialization with Angel, just starting now, but, Harley just growls and snaps at her. Soooo, he is separated from Angel at all times, mainly for safety reasons.This is simple to do indoors, due to the layout of my house, or I have Angel outside in the backyard, while the other two are in and vice-versa. Angel is half way through the  basic puppy training course, but , it does not touch on this problem. Past separating the older dogs from Angel, what is the next step in trying to get them to accept her, especially Harley? Sometimes, I think I just have to wait for her to mature, but by then is it too late? HELP???

Answer
Hello Linda..i am not sure if i can help you here without seeing the dogs interact, but with Angel not being a permanent part of the family, it is hard to be sure that the older dog will ever accept the young dog. Keeping them seperate in the house, however, is NOT helping...but making it worse. The older dog knows she is there..trust me and doesnt understand doing this. Are you sure that the older dog will actually hurt Angel? i have a pup here and an older dog and the pup constantly annoys the older dog and when she has had enough she shows her teeth and growls at the pup and then will snap if he doesnt stop, but he never really hurts her. See if there is a behaviorist in the area that can come over to assess for free for you..i am sorry i cant help you without seeing them
nancy