Fergus, Farley meet Hunter - not good

819 Views 5 Replies 5 Participants Last post by dronning, Oct 5, 2009

dronning

Discussion Starter · Oct 5, 2009

We had "The Birthday" weekend when we celebrate 4 birthdays at once there were about 25 people in the house. My nephew brought his 10 week old Lab - not a good idea. Hunter tried to mount Farley (8wks) and Farley just tore into Hunter but this only excited Hunter even more. Hunter never got the idea that Farley was saying no and kept up trying to mount Farley. Big brother Fergus spent the rest of the day hearding Hunter away from Farley. Farley wanted to play with Hunter and kept trying, they would play for about 20 seconds then Hunter would try and dominate Farley but Farley wasn't having any of it.

We tried to correct Hunter but he wasn't getting it so we had to keep them apart.

The one thing I was really proud of was the way Fergus handled this, if anything I wish he would have given Hunter a little stronger correction - it might have sunk in.

My nephew isn't very quick to respond to Hunters poor behavior. I also don't think Hunter hasn't been around any other dogs since he was brought home about 3 weeks ago.

What would have been the best course of action here.

Dave

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Tanyac

· #2 · Oct 5, 2009

I would probably have taken them all for a walk around the block together first, as bringing a dog into the home sometimes causes trouble. Most pups aren't lucky enough to mix with other dogs, so 10 weeks old isn't really a long time since leaving their littermates.

I think splitting the pups up was probably for the best especially as one was trying to be dominant to the other. Pups are constantly trying to dominate each other, sometimes it sounds pretty rough, so the lab probably thought "yippee!!", and just ploughed in there.

Hopefully if you meet again, he will be more socialised and better behaved, maybe take them all for a walk first?

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Willow52

· #3 · Oct 5, 2009

When my daughter's BF brings his 2, Hank's brother & his 6 m.o. GSD, we just put them in the backyard to play. There's a lot of wrestling, humping (the little ones only), barking & biting. They bite each others ears, tails, head etc. A teeth showing & growl then running and playing again. It's not real fighting and they have a great time. Typical puppy playing.

I'm not sure if your concerned because the party was disrupted or that the lab was mounting your guy.

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msdogs1976

· #4 · Oct 5, 2009

tanyac said:
I would probably have taken them all for a walk around the block together first, as bringing a dog into the home sometimes causes trouble. Most pups aren't lucky enough to mix with other dogs, so 10 weeks old isn't really a long time since leaving their littermates.

Hopefully if you meet again, he will be more socialised and better behaved, maybe take them all for a walk first?

I agree. Walking will help work off some of their energy and should encourage a more mellow temperament for all when going into the home. Certainly doesn't hurt to try.

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fostermom

· #5 · Oct 5, 2009

Puppies that age aren't so much trying to assert dominance (mounting is not just a sign of dominance) as they are expressing excitement. Humping can be brought on when two dogs are playing, especially as the playing escalates. I just say "uh uh" and redirect my foster puppies when they do it. It doesn't take many corrections for them to realize that play stops if they hump.

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dronning

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 5, 2009

Thanks for the feedback, I wasn't really concerned just looking for opinions.

We did take them all to the park to walk but it didn't help.

My 2 boyz Fergus (2 yr) and Farley (8wks) play all the time no issues and if gets a little rough Farley will yelp and Fergus will back off. Sometimes Farley will just run under the chair to be left alone. 90% of the time Farley initiates the play with Fergus.

Farley wasn't concerned about the Lab being there because he was comfortable enough to sleep on the floor with the Lab running around.

I was actually pretty amused watching Farley all 9 pounds of him trying to push of this 16 pound lab off, Farley really stood his ground, he would not back down or run for cover.

What did surprise me how visous Farley sounded when this took place and it really escalated quickly. I am sure this was due to the fact he didn't know this dog and wasn't sure if he needed to protect himself or not.

We could see Farley getting a little growly with everyone after this but he soon settled down.

Puppy classes for the little ones I guess.

Dave

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