Posted: 11/21/2024 11:04:11 PM EDT
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My girlfriend just got a 4.5 month old German shepherd puppy. Very well behaved, seems intelligent. I have a 14 year old lab. We live separately. The puppy has been at the breeder kennel until she picked him up two days ago. When we tried to introduce the two, the puppy freaked out and was barking and howling like it was in pain. We are thinking the puppy is just scared because of the major change in his life. Any ideas on how to get the puppy to calm down. We are hoping that he will get comfortable in his new home and that will help. He will have more confidence. Thanks in advance. |
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i introduced our adopted female gsd to our red healer/yellow lab and cat . i was told initially the gsd hated cats and would chase and kill them. Well that wasn't going to work since that cat came first. But i gave things a chance to see how it would go. What i did was i sat on the floor and had them all by my side and i talked to them and petted, scratched and gave them all kinds of attention. As they each got closer to win more attention for themselves i kept pouring out the loves for each. When one would mean mug the other i would just raise my voice and say no and keep pouring more rubs and scratches. i kept this up and telling them everybody gets the loves. like they understood,lol. Before this all ended i grabbed each one by the collar and neck and told them to get along in a raised voice , and back to scratches and loves. The whole time im telling my healer good boy and the new one good girl and my maine coone you better watch your ass because i dont want to see you hurt. When i got up i watched them all come together to get a sniff and they would look up at me and i told them again firmly, get along , no fighting. Pointing my finger at each. That was about it from then on they all became buddies and it was a success. i wouldn't have kept the gsd any other way. She fit in quickly and if the cat was outside and scratching at the door to come in she was the one to come tell me . it was pretty amazing really. The people we got her from didn't believe it, that she would ever have a cat friend, and that they were. Sadie girl gsd is the only one left at I'm thinking 16-17 and she is working me hard knowing she gets whatever she wants. lol Couple sirloin steaks for breakfast and 2 big hamburgers for lunch and dinner. And half the time wont eat unless i sing to her or feed her off a fork. She cant see much so she trusts the fork thinking its my food im giving her. And she makes me happy knowing i have one fan that can put up with me singing. lol But anyhow be the boss and make them be buddies while you are the alpha . Doing so makes life easier for them . |
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Originally Posted By Tully123: My girlfriend just got a 4.5 month old German shepherd puppy. Very well behaved, seems intelligent. I have a 14 year old lab. We live separately. The puppy has been at the breeder kennel until she picked him up two days ago. When we tried to introduce the two, the puppy freaked out and was barking and howling like it was in pain. We are thinking the puppy is just scared because of the major change in his life. Any ideas on how to get the puppy to calm down. We are hoping that he will get comfortable in his new home and that will help. He will have more confidence. Thanks in advance. Puppy was excited. If you have somewhere you can let them loose together the older dog will assert dominance. May be a minute or two when the older dog has to growl or snarl, etc. Puppies often make a nuisance of themselves and bug the older dogs so they may snap or growl to set boundaries. May even be a short tussle. You may have to let them work out the pack order between the 2 of them, with you being the alpha dog. Just stay calm they will get the energy from you. Leashes can cause problems with dogs meeting other dogs. Limits their options. Advice about gradually paying attn to both is good. Feeding some to each by hand, alternating, is good to calm them down to each other. |
My own view is that left-wing positions largely come about from resentment, I agree with Nietzsche, a resentment about the surrounding social order. They have privileges, I don't. Or, I have them and I can't live up to them. Roger Scruton
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Originally Posted By Tully123: Thanks for the responses. Forgot to add that you should not interfere with them setting the pecking order unless an extended fight breaks out. I predict the older dog will set the younger one straight in a few seconds. May take a couple lessons from the older dog but they will settle into a pack soon enough. |
My own view is that left-wing positions largely come about from resentment, I agree with Nietzsche, a resentment about the surrounding social order. They have privileges, I don't. Or, I have them and I can't live up to them. Roger Scruton
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Originally Posted By Tully123: My girlfriend just got a 4.5 month old German shepherd puppy. Very well behaved, seems intelligent. I have a 14 year old lab. We live separately. The puppy has been at the breeder kennel until she picked him up two days ago. When we tried to introduce the two, the puppy freaked out and was barking and howling like it was in pain. We are thinking the puppy is just scared because of the major change in his life. Any ideas on how to get the puppy to calm down. We are hoping that he will get comfortable in his new home and that will help. He will have more confidence. Thanks in advance. Would not personally suggest raising a GSD with a lab unless I wanted a watered down GSD and a really tired and stressed lab. You is trying to mix shit on the opposite ends of the spectrum and hoping it will somehow work. Good luck!  |
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Pup needs to acclimate to it's new life before dogs that it won't be living with are going to be introduced. Give it at least a week in the new home and then: (note this will be across a few days) Go to park or other neutral location, out of sight of each other, or quite distant so they aren't fixating on eachother. Day 1 Step 1: When older dog pees younger dog comes to smell the spot and vice versa Step 2: bring the dogs together (either barely able to touch, or not able to depending on how they are acting. If necessary carry the pup and bring the adult up to sniff. If walking on leashes, choke up and have the dogs really close to you, like on a 3 foot leash) for 3 seconds (literally count one Mississippi two mississippi three Mississippi break! and then break it off, walking away. Dragging the dog if needed. Step 3: repeat step 2 10 minutes later. End for this day. Note, short meetings that go good are great - it's logged in the dog's mind as a "win-potential friend" regardless of length. Recognizing a dog and knowing it's a dog that you have 5 'wins' with is great for building the relationship. If left to their own two new dogs will often accidentally fall into some sort of conflict - especially if one is a bit scared or young - putting the meeting in the 'potential enemy' camp. You can get around this if you are really dog savvy and can deal with whatever set them off but for most people this just digs a bigger hole to overcome. Day 2 (or at least after a meal and nap)(still at a neutral location) Step 4: Repeat step 2 Step 5: After 10 minutes, allow a meeting of 10-20 seconds on normal leash, and then break. Step 6: (assuming the above has gone well) allow dogs to play together ideally off leash. |
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Originally Posted By Aaron56: Would not personally suggest raising a GSD with a lab unless I wanted a watered down GSD and a really tired and stressed lab. You is trying to mix shit on the opposite ends of the spectrum and hoping it will somehow work. Good luck! Originally Posted By Aaron56: Originally Posted By Tully123: My girlfriend just got a 4.5 month old German shepherd puppy. Very well behaved, seems intelligent. I have a 14 year old lab. We live separately. The puppy has been at the breeder kennel until she picked him up two days ago. When we tried to introduce the two, the puppy freaked out and was barking and howling like it was in pain. We are thinking the puppy is just scared because of the major change in his life. Any ideas on how to get the puppy to calm down. We are hoping that he will get comfortable in his new home and that will help. He will have more confidence. Thanks in advance. Would not personally suggest raising a GSD with a lab unless I wanted a watered down GSD and a really tired and stressed lab. You is trying to mix shit on the opposite ends of the spectrum and hoping it will somehow work. Good luck! Disagree "personality" doesn't rub off. Yes, dogs will look for signals from each-other. So dog A who loves all humans and thinks they are friends and dog B who is skeptical of all humans will interact where each reads the other and tempers their behavior. But alone will still be the same. regarding the 'tired and stressed' lab - Nope. Part of this is what lineage each comes from. A field bred working line lab will run circles around your average GSD but will be a bit easier for the human to tire out through extensive games of fetch (especially if the human throws the ball DOWN THE HILL so the dog has to run back up the hill) and a working line GDS is going to have more energy than an 'English Chubby' aka show line lab. But there are a hell of a lot more working line labradors than working line GSDs in this country, so playing the odds, it's not a working line GSD. Of course no 14 year old lab is going to be energetic. And no 4 month old pup is going to be anything but energetic (in spurts) Old dog will need to correct young dog, set the pace, etc. Young dog will gain immeasurably from a mentor dog. |
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Had a second session with the trainer. She brought her female Vizsla who is good with puppies and correcting their behavior. Improved the puppy’s behavior and fear almost immediately. The old lab does not have the personality or strength any more to do that. I came by with the lab and the puppy’s had very little reaction. We all spent the night in the same house last night and had no issues. The puppy still needs some work, but has improved dramatically. It is really nice to see. Thanks again. |
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Originally Posted By Tully123: Had a second session with the trainer. She brought her female Vizsla who is good with puppies and correcting their behavior. Improved the puppy’s behavior and fear almost immediately. The old lab does not have the personality or strength any more to do that. I came by with the lab and the puppy’s had very little reaction. We all spent the night in the same house last night and had no issues. The puppy still needs some work, but has improved dramatically. It is really nice to see. Thanks again. Good news! Glad you have had success with socializing the pup. I see fun days ahead for y'all. Merry Christmas! |
My own view is that left-wing positions largely come about from resentment, I agree with Nietzsche, a resentment about the surrounding social order. They have privileges, I don't. Or, I have them and I can't live up to them. Roger Scruton