My 110 pound dog won't stand up to my new 25 pound puppy!?

Question

I just got a new English Mastiff puppy, who is now 12 weeks. I Have an 8 year old Golden also. My puppy constantly nips at my goldens neck,tail, and stomach. All my Golden does is snarl then run away. Im not sure if he's scared well scold him for bitting the puppy or what, but I hate watching it and I don't know what to do or why the puppy is doing it? I understand the whole "alpha" dog thing but shouldn't my 8 year old golden be more superior than my 12 week puppy?

Answer 1

Your Golden is doing the right thing. You need to train your puppy that is not the right thing to do. You need to get a handle on that puppy while the puppy is still small. That is going to be a very big dog and training really needs to start now. You might want to enroll into a puppy class. All the best;~)

Answer 2

Small dogs tend to be the loud and noisest! Maybe a 'sausage' dog? they seem fairly quiet. You say you 'need' a dog but do you actually 'want' one or are you just getting one because of the novelty? Because it would take up a lot of your time walking it several times a day. If you get a dog cheaply it might mean its not been as well looked after so I'd try looking around and maybe go to some animal shelters that are quite full then they might give you one cheaper. Good luck but owning a dog is a big responsibility so make sure you're prepared for that.

Answer 3

There is a bigger issue that no one is addressing. The older dog knows that the puppy is just that a puppy and does not want to hurt him. Most older animals will try to protect the younger ones just like in the human race. But if you don't get the puppy under control when it gets older the other dog may lash out and seriously hurt it. The older dog is letting the younger one get away with it because it's younger but that won't last for long. You really have to get a handle on it now before it becomes a real issue in a few months.

Answer 4

I have the same problem. ANd no, the older may not be more superior. Some dogs are just born alpha and by nature they want all the other dogs to know that they are the alpha. This is the puppy in this case. Other dogs, are submissive. The reason for this could be many things, but a very likely is that in its litter there was an aplha pup that was more of a bully. It scared the submissive pup into being submissive and now that it is older, the dog is stil used to being submissive. That is the older dog in this case.

Answer 5

At this point I don't think the puppy is going for that Alpha dog thing. He's a puppy, he has a ton of energy and he wants to play. Your golden is behaving normally for a healthy dog. It doesn't want to hurt the baby. Do they cuddle up ever? If thats the case than the older dog is going to show the alpha thing by being protective and responsible for the younger dog. At 12 weeks old, it's time to start helping them along by training the pup to not be so obnoxious but this will take some time.

My dogs are a year apart almost to the day. may not sound like much but a year is a big difference to young dogs. Gracie (the younger one) was very young when we rescued her (too young) so she didn't get to go through the natural process of weaning when the mom starts kicking their little buts for being annoying. This has brought up some boundary issues with other dogs and humans. At two years old she's way hyper with new company and she follows Moose around and is constantly bitting his legs and neck, jumping on him, trying to wrestle. We keep hoping that Moose will put her in her place and she'll calm down but he just deals with it. He'll walk away if it gets too bad or he'll come sit by one of us. He's never hurt her let alone lift a lip and sneer at her. We've really had to step in and work with her and I think we're finally making progress. She's a great dog in every other way ver eager to please but she just LOVESSSSSSSS EVERYONE SO MUCH AND SHE JUST WANTS TO LOVED AND HUGED AND WRESTLED AND ............
It's really just exhausting to think about LOL. Good Luck and be patient your pups just a baby like a two year old it's going to test all boundries known to man. ( and bigger dog for that matter)

Also, Make sure that you're treating the older dog like it is top dog. Feed him first, he gets choice of the seat in the house and he gets to go through the door first when you come and go from the house. In the car, He gets shot gun. It may seem mean but it's really best for both dogs and it's really important. This will help the older dog feel more secure in his domain while teaching the pup his place. It may seem really unfair but over time it will even out a bit between them:) Good Luck.

Answer 6

The issue here is that you have an adult dog and a puppy. An adult dog will not be aggressive towards a puppy but when the puppy grows up there will be an issue of dominance the two of them will have to work out especially if they are of the same sex. For now the Golden will tolerate the puppy and eventually show it who is boss.

Answer 7

My old Golden Sweetheart weight over 90 pounds at 13 years of age when we got our Miniature Schnauzer puppy. Pepper weight all of six pounds and immediately became a 6-pound earring or tail ornament. Golda would walk around with Pepper dangling from an ear or drag her along as she gripped Golda's tail. When Golda curled up for a nap, Pepper would climb on top and nap as well.

Never once did I see Golda snap or snarl at Pepper and they got along famously.

As for Pepper, she bullied Golda shamelessly, and Golda took it without objection.

Quite frankly, I believe that getting Pepper gave us at least another year of our sweet old Golda girl. About a year and a half later, we lost our old sweetheart to cancer.

It is my opinion that Golden Retrievers are the gentlest, sweetest tempered, least dominant breed there is. They will accept a puppy and treat it as their own, lavishing love and affection on them and tolerating all manner of indignities.

Rather than worry about, or berating your Golden for being a wimp, be grateful that he is not snapping and dominating the Mastiff pup. I suggest that you attempt to curb the rambunctiousness of your Mastiff puppy now. If he continues in his rambunctious ways when he weights 150 pounds, your furniture will suffer.

BTW, Pepper, now a 15 pounder, still dominates our 105 pound Great Pyrenees. Mattie doesn't let Pepper get away with as much guff as Golda did, but Pepper is definitely still the top dog.

It might also be a good idea to spend some special time with your old dog, just so he knows that the new puppy has not replaced him in your affection.

Doc

Answer 8

This isn't really an issue of dominance. Puppies are very rowdy and energetic. They just want to play constantly and this annoys most mature, older dogs.

Your mastiff is going to get VERY big though and you'll want to start training is immediately to behave. The first 6 months are the key training stage. That wild behavior might be cute now but you don't want the dog acting that way when it's 200 lbs!

Also, females always have dominance over males, regardless of size or age.

Answer 9

ounmandy is correct. Expanding on her answer, your golden sees YOU as alpha and will look to you to set the rules for the puppy. It is your duty to your dogs to be their alpha. Your golden is a soft-breed and statistically less prone to aggressive and dominant behaviors which is actually a good thing for the puppy.
Don't allow the puppy to over-do his 'playful' nipping. It sounds like it missed the soft-mouth lessons usually taught by the mother, so you need to step in. Dogs at play should only pretend to bite. The jaw muscles should stay completely relaxed. Let the puppy know, in no uncertain terms, what YOU want. The puppy wants to please you.
Dogs love for their humans to define the rules. It satisfies their instincts. Training them from pups takes a lot of energy on your part but will pay-off big when your mastiff reaches 'monster-size'. Start by training your puppy to walk on a leash. Even short walks will drain enormous amounts of mental energy from a puppy-in-training as it forces them to pay attention to you and follow your lead.
Failure to satisfy the dog-human instincts in your relationship could bring on bad behavior ranging from you losing the alpha position to the dog regressing to unmanageable and wolf-like behavior.

Answer 10

I am a Mastiff Breeder and owner for years, Funny thing is that my 20 pound pug was the bossof our mastiff in this house for a long time until he pased away. Now My mastiff (240) pounds is the BOSS of Bosses, We have a yellow lab and there is no denying who is the boss there, All depends, Please contact our club for more great mastiff people who have had any and all the issues you will have.. at mew endlang mastiff club we are a yahoo site as well............