resident adult dog aggressive towards new puppy

Question
I currently have an eight year old border collie mix. We have always kept him fenced in because he likes to chase cars. I recently got a 14 week female lab. When I went to introduce the dogs in our front yard not were he is kept pinned in and my 8 year old snapped, he was barking out of control and actually nipped the puppys ear.It almost seemed like he was more nervous than actually mad if that makes any sense. He has never shown aggression towards people and I guess I assumed he would be fine. I realize this is my fault for not socializing him properly. Is this a lost cause or is there still hope they can get along?

Answer
Hi Tim;
I don't think it is a lost cause at all.
It DOES makes since that he would be more nervous than mad.
He may just be afraid he is being replaced, or since the front yard is not where he is used to being, he may have felt insecure about if this was or was not an intruder he should chase away.
Hard to say without being able to observe the dog. All I can do is vewnture a guess.
I don't call it aggression if he was actually nipped an ear.
If it was aggression and he wanted to do harm, he would not have nipped an ear, he would have attacked the whole pup.
You know,,, maybe he just wasn't sure what it was, or was so excited because of the newness of being around a puppy.
You say you have not socialized him properly.
Has e even been that close to a baby dog since you got him/
Is his fenced yard open so he can see dogs that may go down the alley or be in neighbors' yards. or is it a solid fence he can't see out of but can only smell?
You refer to where you keep him as "pinned in".
Is this a portion of the back yard where he is pinned in, or does he have a whole yard to run in, and move around.
Small portions of a yard to keep dogs in is really a very bad situation.
By Humane society standards ( proven to be best for physical and mental health of dogs) a rather pen area is cruelty.
Is he ever allowed in the house?
Will the new puppy be allowed in the house?
Like when a new baby comes into the family and there is an older child that is not supposed to touch the baby unless someone is around, in other words a situation where they older child would feel put aside because of the baby, there will be jealousy, and problems are sure to come up.
If the puppy is obviously being "protected" from him, he is going to feel his secure place in the family is threatened.
He may have acted that way because he was excited, and just didn't know what he was supposed to do with the puppy.
He is a he and you brought a she there.
Is he neutered?
If not, that may be a lot of the reason for the excitement and nervousness.
Don't leave them in a situation where he can hurt the little one, but you need to have them in a controlled situation so they can get aquainted.
He sould feel his place in the family is secure and he is not going to be replaced.
This is a hard call to make, not being to know more about the way he has been raised and what his place in the family is.
If you have a Petco or Petsmart store near you, you might go and talk to the trainer that does the obedience classes, or see the trainers at Man's Best Friend, if you have one of their facilities near you.
A person who can observe the dogs could help you much more.
You could call your local Humane society chapter. They would be able to give you more advice, by possibly having you bring the dogs in so they could observe them together, and better make a judgement about just how your dog is acting.
Charlotte