Additional Dog Family Member - 2009-01-06

Question

Hi, we have a male 3 year old Labrador who we've had since a puppy and a week ago bought a female 9 week old Maltese x shitzu. Our Labrador has always been good with other dogs (all sizes, sexes and ages) but won’t have a bar of the pup. If she goes near him he growls and then walks away. She just wants to play. What can I do to help them get along?

Answer

Think about us – if we were an only child and certainly another baby arrives. Kids often feel pushed out to 2nd position as they no longer get the main focus. I would recommend – as you have two hands – treat them equally and make sure that the Lab, even if only 3 gets some private time, when the puppy is asleep. A good way to address this is have the puppy sleep on a blanket that you put in the Labs bed – and vice versa, so they both smell the same. There are also some good articles on additional family members on our site.