# 8 week old puppy attempting to dominate adult male



## lrodptl (Nov 12, 2009)

Our new puppy (male) seems to be dominating our 10 year old 95 pound male. He will take his ball,or jump at his face after the ball,nip at him,barge his way into the water dish etc. The older male is a very laid back but energetic male who always walks from a fight. Should I intervene or am I misreading this? Is it just bad puppy manners?


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Am I the only one that cringes when there is an eight week old puppy in the "Aggression" section???

How old was your pup when you got him? 

Your puppy does not yet understand that he needs to respect an older dog. EVERYTHING is play to him right now. He is trying to engage your older dog in play. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SEX.

Why the older dog is letting him, is because MOST dogs respect the puppy license. Both in the wild and domestic dogs, older pack members allow a puppy to do just about anything up to a certain age and then they start disciplining the puppy. 

Food dishes and water dishes are not equal. In dog terms, water dishes can be freely shared. It is the food dish that will cause aggression in some instances. But not for a young pup. This is where at some point down the line, your boy may give the pup a low growl, etc, when the puppy license is wearing off. 

Your puppy does not have bad puppy manners.


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## Kay13411 (Jul 24, 2003)

Couldn't have said it better myself.


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

not entirely bad puppy manners even. he will learn manners as he grows; right now, he's just being a baby.


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## triordan (Dec 5, 2008)

your older dog will let him know when he's crossing the line!


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## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

You guys are right.... definitely operating on temporary puppy license.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

You do want them to play, and a puppy will take advantage and be a bit nuts. 

It's YOUR responsibility to make sure your older dog is still ok and the younger isn't going to far. It's not really your older dogs job to raise and play with the puppy all the time. So as long as the older dog is having fun and interacting well, that's great, but when he's done that's fine too and YOU need to be there to step in to make sure no one (uh, puppy) gets hurt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bAWYdrtC9M&NR=1 is a video of my pup playing with my older dog. Since my older dog can be too rough, and the puppy (Glory) has always bellied up to any dog, you can see they are playing ideally with the puppy not pushing it at all. 

The thing to remember is it's your 'job' to exercise your puppy and play with your puppy. So while your other dog can definitely help (and you want the help) if you can't be there to watch, crate the puppy. If you think the older dog has had enough, step in to distract or crate the puppy.

BTW, a great way to increase the bond between your dogs in a 100% calm and unstressful way is off leash hiking in the woods. Cause the older dog can run off and escape, or stay close and interact. Here's an example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oy_jwygiFA


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

It's not clear to me exactly how the old dog is reacting. I've seen some older dogs give a puppy a lot of leeway. Even Ciana's sire just sat there as she hung off his ear and cheek. 

When your older dog has had enough, he will let the pup know. If the older dog is showing discomfort and not acting, then you should separate the puppy.


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## AgileGSD (Jan 17, 2006)

Honestly, assuming anything your 8 week old puppy does is "dominance" is going to be off base. Your puppy is a toddler - he's exploring his world and doesn't really know the rules yet. Because of this, most adult dogs are fairly tolerant of puppies being puppies. Young puppies usually have to really cross the line before an adult dog says something about it. Many trainers explain it as, up until a certain age puppies have a "puppy liscense" with adult dogs which permits them to be annoying. Once this puppy liscense expires, the adults will generally set boundaries pretty readily. If you feel that your puppy is being too over the top, it is ok to separate him for awhile from the adult dog but in general, dogs are pretty good about setting boundaries when appropriate.


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## Jason L (Mar 20, 2009)

Ike tried to hump Obie's head this morning. That got him a complimentary free stay at the varikennel crate hotel. Good going boy!


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## lrodptl (Nov 12, 2009)

I think some of the comments are off base.
Puppies are tested in 3 areas for dominance at 7 weeks old in the Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test which is used by my breeder (Monks of New Skete). My puppy indicates some dominance during off leash walks by nipping at the legs and getting underfoot. Puppies can display dominance tendencies in subtle and not so subtle ways and it just can't be written off as puppy manners.Humping may be a sexually dominant act but there are other dominance displays such as the one I mentioned. Dominance is about an animal's attempt to obtain priority access to many things,not just a mate. Since my puppy has neutrally dominant parents but has tested dominant and is displaying some indications but is still a very young puppy it is difficult to determine.


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## lrodptl (Nov 12, 2009)

I've chosen to correct the puppy during the assaults and it is lessening. He still takes the dog's ball,bullies into the water or anything else the adult dog is giving attention towards. The adult is an extremely laid back 95 pound male GSD who could do serious harm so when in doubt............


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: Jason LinIke tried to hump Obie's head this morning. That got him a complimentary free stay at the varikennel crate hotel. Good going boy!


Hahahahahahahahaha.... Oh Ike!


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