Is it okay to let my puppy play with my older dog?

Introducing a new puppy to your pet family, when it already contains an older dog, can be a bit of a rocky road, especially if your older dog doesn't have the energy or the inclination to keep up with his little sibling. Sometimes pet owners misconstrue the interaction between their new puppy and their older dog, becoming alarmed when the older dog corrects the new puppy to set boundaries and enforce respect. If you reprimand your older dog because you misinterpret his behavior for being mean or jealous, when he is just teaching your new pup some manners, you can, in fact, create a problem, where the new puppy does not respect boundaries of other pets in the home. Often, allowing an older dog to establish respect themselves can resolve the issue, however, if your older dog is unable to exert himself or the new puppy is particularly boisterous, you may need to step in and train your puppy appropriate behavior with your older dog. Limiting access between the dogs with crates or barriers can also help establish boundaries. You should not punish your puppy for exhibiting boisterous, playful behavior--this is natural for puppies and punishing natural behaviors will only confuse your new puppy and create anxiety. Instead, limiting, correcting and redirecting playful behavior around your older dog, to establish personal space, boundaries, and respect will be more effective and provide a peaceful, comfortable environment for both your old friend and your new one.

It seems to me that at least with the German Shepherds that I’ve had, it’s not a good idea to let the very young rambunctious puppies play with the senior dog. Because nothing good is really going to come of that. What I’ve done in the past is basically just had a leash on the dog during each and every encounter when they were out with a senior dog and not allowed them to do that. Yet I found that the senior dogs just don’t have the appetite for those puppies. And the best thing that I can do for them is to not let the very young mouthy dogs with all those razor-sharp teeth annoy the heck out of them. However, I think it is beneficial to have puppies play with adult dogs, especially adult dogs that are in their prime and have a good, solid temperament. Now, I feel that even though I’m not going to let the senior dog play with the dog, I do want my puppies to be around the senior dog quite a bit in my presence. I know that those senior dogs genuinely do appreciate it when we keep those little razor-sharp puppy teeth away from their aging limbs. The senior dog will have to know that I have a puppy and they’re going to have to respect that.