Should I let my older dog growl at my puppy?
Ned Mertz
2025-06-14 04:14:21
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No, puppies don't get traumatized by being growled or snapped at. On the contrary, it's all 100% natural dog body language and peaceful interaction. It would be much more traumatizing if the dogs didn't growl but actually attacked and bit him instead. Puppies need to learn how to interact with other dogs, just like children need to learn how to interact with other humans. If the puppy still doesn't stop, the adults may bare their teeth or snap at them in a warning. The proper response to such a warning is for the puppy to back off and maybe yelp in a very theatrical way as a submissive gesture. All of this is proper communication for dogs and it's important for puppies to learn this. Usually adult dogs are very patient and forgiving with puppies, but if the puppy still doesn't stop, the next level of escalation would usually be actually nipping them without injuring them.
Linwood Johnson
2025-06-12 05:07:43
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The shelter told us that Bishop has always been friendly with other dogs, and even had a "best friend" there.
We also tried taking him to dog parks, but we realized that Bishop is quite introverted and prefers to keep to himself, even with dozens of dogs around him.
Our trainer told us that Bishop has really low stress tolerance, probably from being in the animal shelter all his life and being fostered/adopted and returned by multiple owners.
At one point Bailey made a sudden movement towards Bishop and Bishop let out a growl and got in a defensive position.
Bishop seemed to get defensive again and growled at Bailey when she got too close to him (even though he also kept trying to chase her around).
We are planning on keeping them separated for at least 2 weeks, and we won't be letting Bailey sleep in the bedroom with us until they are fully comfortable with each other.
Sallie Waelchi
2025-05-30 22:39:20
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It is 100 percent normal for your adult dog(s) not to love a puppy. Your dog may want to go away from the puppy or may growl or even snap to tell the puppy to go away. Don't punish your dog for growling at the puppy. Growling is normal dog communication, and he is letting the puppy (and you) know he's had enough. Instead of punishing this important communication, calmly separate them. Never leave your new puppy alone unsupervised with your adult dog. It's much safer to place one or both dogs in a crate with a chew toy when you leave the house. However, if your older dog uses his teeth on the new puppy, that is not normal, and it may be time to consult with a veterinary behaviorist. It can take a few months for your adult dog and puppy to fully acclimate to each other. Be patient as your adult dog learns to cope with a new puppy.
Madaline Prohaska
2025-05-30 21:23:55
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I've read contridicting things like that I should tell older dog off for growling or that I shouldn't, my opinion is that I shouldn't tell my older dog off for this, I could force her to let puppy terroriser her but in the end my older dog will just snap so I have to let her try and work this out. Basically my older dog doesn't let the puppy no where near it and constantly grows if she gets within half a meter of her. It hasn't gone any further than growling as of yet, but I'm just really shocked in her behaviour she's never been like this before. I'm not at the moment worried for the puppies safety but I know that the older dog doesn't like her and it makes me wonder how the future will go.
Isaias Haley
2025-05-30 20:45:57
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You're fairly confident the older dog wouldn't actually hurt the newbie, but still, this tension wasn't part of the plan for one big happy fur family. An older dog has a lot invested in his home, it's his core territory and he has things pretty much the ways he likes. Helping an older dog accept a puppy has a lot to do with getting into the mind of the established dog, and understanding how he sees the world. This enables you to minimize the disruption to his life so that he feels less threatened and can open his heart to the youngster. This involves making sure each dog has his own resources and you acknowledge the older dog ahead of the puppy. In addition, you can use reward-based training methods such as clicker training, to reward the older dog when he uses an appropriate coping strategy, such as getting up and moving away from the annoying pup, rather than growling.