New puppy concerns

[Krista Sue]

Hello fellow Doodle owners,

I am a new Goldendoodle owner. We got our girl, Maggie from a breeder and she is an F1B Godlendoodle. This week she will be 10 weeks old and we've had her for exactly 1 week. We chose a GD because I had always heard wonderful things about their personality and how they were great family dogs. Prior to purchasing a dog from a breeder, I have always gone through rescues. We also have a 4 year old Pointer/Doberman mix named Chloe. We adopted Chloe when she was 1 year old from a rescue group.

 

This first week has been exhausting and stressful. I was initially concerned that Chloe would be jealous of our new GD but she in fact has been nothing but wonderful and gentle with her. They have been playing with one another and chasing each other in circles around the kitchen table and seem to be having fun. Maggie however has been getting very snippy and aggressive with our older dog. Over the past 3 days she repeatedly will bite her ears, tail, nose, etc... and growl at her. At first I thought I would let them work it out and hope that she would stop but ignoring it has not helped. Just yesterday I started to intervene when this happens and have been separating Maggie from Chloe and firmly saying no and then I give her a bone or toy to distract her. I am really surprised that this little 10 week old puppy is so aggressive and this greatly concerns me. I emailed our breeder about it yesterday and she replied by saying that the puppy's would fight amongst each other and compete for food, etc... and this is normal behavior for a GD pup and not to worry. I was planning to take Maggie to a puppy play group this Saturday but am concerned that she will bite the other puppies. I'm really hoping that this behavior passes. Have any of you experienced this and do you have any advise for me? She is an adorable dog and I want nothing more then to have a great dog for our family and a great sister and companion for our older dog.

[Gail and Bailey]

This is normal behavior for a puppy.  As your breeder said, this is how they interact with their siblings and learn what is tolerated and what is not.  Let me share with you how it goes when I take my 2 year old doodle (Bailey) to play with my friends 6 month old puppy.....they run around and chase,  Bailey will lay down and the pup will bark at her and nip her butt and her ears to get her to play chase again.  This will finally bug Bailey enough that she will turn and show her teeth and growl.  The pup keeps it up until Bailey either gets up and plays again or lightly nips the pup to get her point across to be left alone.  My friend and I let them work it out because it is how the pup is learning.  They now will wrestle and nip each other in play and it gets pretty rough but they are having a ball!!  As they play sometimes Bailey is the aggressor and sometimes Rudy is.  I am sure your 4 year old Chloe will let Maggie know when to stop....even if it is by giving her a warning nip.  In my opinion, Maggie needs to be "corrected" by the other dog when playing, not by you.  It sounds like they are having fun together!  Give it some time and enjoy watching them.  :) 

[Krista Sue]

Thank you so much for your response Gail. This is exactly what I was hoping to hear. I've never owned 2 dogs at once so this whole thing is so new to me/us. What you've described is similar to the play patterns of Chloe and Maggie. In the future, I will let them work it out, unless of course it gets to be too much for Chloe. I can already tell that Maggie is a smart girl and I'm hopeful that she will be a blessing to our family as we have a long road ahead. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gail and Bailey]

Krista,  sorry I did not start out by welcoming you to Doodle Kisses!  Welcome!  You might find it helpful to join the Puppy Madness Group.  There are lots of others dealing with new pups and you can hear what others are going through and get lots of support.  I am sure you will enjoy being part of the Doodle Kisses family!!

[Krista Sue]

Thank you Gail. I appreciate the welcome. :) I will absolutely join the Puppy Madness Group. I look forward to developing friendships with fellow Doodle owners.

[Pat and Traveler]

The only slightly comparable thing I have to offer is that I took care of a puppy for a while, and it practically drove Trav crazy!  The puppy was a little older than Maggie, but the situation sounds very similar.  The puppy would constantly jump at Trav's face, bite at his ears and legs, etc.  Trav was finally driven to growl, trying to set up some boundaries.  I'd put the puppy in an X-pen sometimes, just to give Trav a rest.  :)

[BG and Gavin]

 It sounds like Chloe is the perfect older sister and an easy going girl.  My guy is easy going too and I have seen him endure all types of "abuse" from younger puppies, HOWEVER once a line is crossed I have also seen him correct with a quick growl and glance. He once endured a puppy humping his head (if you can imagine) for about 30 seconds and then... correction. It looks like nothing to me, but the other pups back right off.  Must be dog language for "back off dood!"  I would definitely continue to supervise, but I will bet Chloe will find her voice when she needs it.

[Lynda Kamrath]

Yes, this seems very normal to me.  We seem to go through it with each of our pups.  Usually the older dog will be the one who gets snappy and sets the limits for the younger dog.  I would just say she is settling in to your family.  Try not to get too upset and some play groups or some puppy behavior classes might be helpful.  One on one time away from Chloe might also be a good thing to try.

[Krista Sue]

Thank you Lynda, BG, Pat and Gail for all of the great feedback and reassurance. I did what you all suggested yesterday and didn't interfere with Maggie's taunting of Chloe. At one point, Chloe was holding Maggie down with her front legs. Maggie was underneath her and clearly not in danger of being hurt but Chloe was letting her know she had endured enough. It was pretty amusing to watch them. I feel much better after reading all of your replies. I think this website is going to be a wonderful resource for us. :) Thank you again and I hope you all have a wonderful day.

[Gail and Bailey]

It is amazing to watch them communicate with each other!  So glad you are feeling more comfortable with it all!  Enjoy every minute!  :>)