Puppy Aggression?

Question
We recently (a few days ago) got a Brittany puppy. She's pretty well behaved, a bit hyper and likes to wrestle and play rough, but what puppy doesn't? However our older dog, a five year old pug, is NOT interested in rough play with her. He loves to play rough with us, but when she tries to play, he runs away from her. Of course, she chases him, because it's such great fun, and he jumps onto furniture to avoid her. It seems he might be afraid of her (tail down and all these encounters end in him hiding), but he's happy to sit around her when she's sleepy. It doesn't seem as if he's afraid of her, because he's happy to steal her treats, and will growl and warn her away from him while he has treats...

The real problem is it seems like she's becoming less playful and more aggressive about chasing him -nipping at his face and seeking him out just to try and snap at his face. Obviously they need to get used to each other and figure out who's going to be dominant, but I'm worried she's going to seriously injure him and his giant bug eyes.

Should I be trying to keep her from chasing him? Try to keep him from running? Put her in crate to let her take out her aggression on toys instead (I've done this once or twice, but whenever he runs again...)? What should one do if a new puppy is starting to behave aggressively towards an older established dog?

Answer
Dear Cherrita,

This is a pretty common situation -- new pup wants to play, older dog doesn't.  You've also intensified this result by getting a Brittany, a breed in my experience to have a huge amount of energy.

The first thing I advise is to keep food out of the situation.  Don't feed them together and don't give them treats when they're both around.  He's warning her already and when she gets a little more confidence she may challenge him and then you may be looking at a bite and/or vet visit.  I'd also get rid of any animal-based chews such as rawhide, pig ears, bones, etc.  which dogs see as food.

Other than that, try to stay out of the situation most of the time.  Your pug seems to be a nice, very patient guy, but pretty soon he may lay into her when he really gets sick of it and that often teaches the pup to show a little respect.  By lay into her I mean he may bite her.  Don't interpret this canine correction as a huge problem because it will likely teach her the lesson she needs to learn, and it's not generally one that the human owner can teach.  Your issue may come in another year or two when the Britt is older, bigger than the pug, and still full of it, so get her energy expended and get her playing with other dogs to learn what's ok and what's not.

Your Brittany needs to expend more energy than chasing a pug or chewing on toys will allows.  If you're not already taking this girl on several daily long walks and at least 2-3 off-leash (in a fenced dog park) runs per week, start doing so now.  If you can't do this, get her into a good dog daycare 2-3x/week for her to play with other energetic pups who want to keep up with her and where the staff won't allow aggressive play.  She'll learn dog play etiquette there, and if you do it now chances are you won't have to keep her in daycare for longer than 6-12 months.

You're also going to want to get her into a good positive reinforcement training class before she's much older.  You need verbal control of the dog inside and outside of the house, for your sake and that of your poor pug's!

When she gets really aggressive, squirt her with some water in the face and say "Off" or whatever command you have been using.  Brittanys don't have a big problem with water but it will help and won't hurt anyone.  

Crating her with toys is not going to help.  Letting her run and play with other dogs who do want to play will help, and getting her out on long daily walks/runs will help immeasurably too.

Good luck and thanks for writing!
Suzanne Harris, BSc, CPDT
http://www.dogdaysUSA.com