[dronning]

Farley (13wks) is relentless with his puppy play attacks on Fergus (2yr). Even when Fergus has had enough and gives a pretty stern correction Farley will yelp shake it off and circle around and go in for more. Fergus has got to the point where he will just grab Farleys head and sit there with Farleys head in his mouth and whine, Fergus whines not Farley. It's like he is asking for help. I think Fergus is way too sweet with the pup. He will come right over and check out what is going on when we correct Farley for biting or something, you can tell Fergus doesn't like that too much.

We have been giving Farley some time outs to give Fergus a break. Should we be doing more? Also even though Fergus only shows concern when we correct the pup I am wondering how he might behave if another dog corrects Farley's behavior.

Dave

 

[paula bedard]

I have no advice to offer. It sounds like you're handling it well. Hopefully someone else will see this and offer some constructive advice.

 

[fostermom]

I think you are doing great!

My Danny is just like Fergus with the foster puppies. Except, if they pester him too much or are biting too hard, he lays on them. I usually give him lots of breaks throughout the day, but he is always begging to come back into the "puppy room".

 

[Loisiana]

I had the same problem with my dog. Unfortunately, I did not know what to do either and it got to the point that my older dog finally got frustrated and went into total attack mode (blood and all). Puppy still did not learn his lesson.I took both of them to a trainer I greatly respect who happened to be giving a seminar about three hours from me. Any time the puppy tried to get into the adult's face, she had me grab the puppy by the scruff and throw him back a couple of feet. It only took a few times before he got the point to leave the adult alone.That is not a correction I would give for normal circumstances. However, in this case I did feel justified in giving it as it's a lot less harmful than a full on dog attack.

 

[janine]

Hi Dave....
My guys are about the same age as your two, Chester was 2 years in Aug. and Murphy was 11 wks on Sunday. And those two are the same way mostly playing but sometimes seems to get a little ruff. Chester wants to play as much as Murphy does and starts it all the time by swinging a toy in front of his face. Then for no reason and out of the blue Murphy will bounce on Chester or grab his tail in his mouth and tires to run. We have been giving Murphy the time outs until he settles down. The one thing that has worked some to break up the fights or to aleast get their attention is we put a few coins in a coke can and shake it to get them to look at us so we can tell them NO....I hope others have some ideas the playing is easy to break up now we can still pick Murphy up.

 

[Elisabeth Kazup]

Quote:

"she had me grab the puppy by the scruff and throw him back a couple of feet."

:--appalled:

Unorthodox and questionable method, imho.

 

[Florabora22]

Quote:

"she had me grab the puppy by the scruff and throw him back a couple of feet."

:--appalled:

Unorthodox and questionable method, imho.

I thought the same thing, but I guess I would rather that then the older dog tearing into the puppy. Some puppies DO NOT GET IT. We have a neighbor pup who's about 8 months and around 85lbs, and even now when he sees Flora he will try to jump all over her, despite the numerous (cranky) corrections she has given him in the past. He's just big and dumb and has no manners at all.

And I'm sure that the poster did not literally mean "throw" the dog, but maybe just pull it off the older dog in a firm way. At least I hope so. :uhoh:

 

[mylissyk]

If the puppy is too persistent, it's a good idea to give him a time out and give Fergus some quality time with you without puppy.