bradpattison.com

Hi all. We have a 6 month old German Shorthair and friends of ours just got an 8 week old chocolate lab puppy. We plan to train the two together for hunting companions and are hoping they will both get along so that we can have play dates with them regularly and they can keep eachother company. Our dog is well behaved and has no aggression issues, but she can play a bit rough at times and tends to boss around dogs who are a bit timid. She's pretty good with little dogs as she spent her earlier days with little dogs at daycare until she was old/big enough to be put with the bigger dogs. My question is, how do we introduce our dog to the new puppy without overwhelming the little guy? He's sort of this little dumpy, clumsy thing right now (so cute!) but I don't want him getting stomped by our bigger puppy. I'm sure in a few months they will be great play buddies, but we just don't want to introduce them too soon. Anyone have this experience before and can pass on some advice? Thanks!

We came accross the tiniest little pug puppy on our last trip to the dog park. He was walikng with 2 other dogs: 1 about 10months old and the other, I'm note sure, but older still.

When Keymo started playing with the older dogs, yes, the puppy got stepped on a few times and squeeked (his idea of a bark) but he soon learned to scoot out of the way.

Do not pick the puppy up to try and protect it. You'll only make the puppy become insecure.

The 2 should get along fine. Let them work it out.

Dogs seem to know these things. Your dog will learn to be a bit more gentle, and the little guy will learn to get the heck out of the way!

I was very nervous about this when we brought our beagle home at 9 weeks. She was just so little, and clumsy and dopey - smaller than the head of our big 80 pound mutt. I thought he'd kill her.

There were a few scares - mostly when she'd push too far and he'd get angry and put her in her place. Which I now know is OK for him to do - but at the time I thought he was an evil demon. He was asserting his dominance and she did learn, and he never hurt her.

She got stepped on, and she yelped. But she quickly learned to hold her own, and watch out for feet. She also learned that if she screamed loud enough at him, he'd run away, LOL. Now if she doesn't want to play with him, she just screams before he even touches her - and he bolts and goes to bed.

A good tool to teach them now is some form of "stop." If you feel play is getting a little too out of hand or a bit too rough and tumble. We clap our hands and say "Ok, enough!" and they instantly seperate and go about their business.

My GSP is exactly the same! She plays rough with bigger dogs and thinks she can dominate everyone and she is just shy of 5 months. During puppy school, we had a very shy dog come in and watch our classes. We were told to leave her alone and she would join in puppy play if she felt comfortable but normally she remained with her mom; my dog being the nosey one, went right up to her and could sense the dog's fear and basically said hello then left her alone.

Puppies have an innate way of dealing with each other. It will teach the 8 week old how to play with the bigger one and 6 month old how to play a little more timidly. You can always keep a water bottle close in case they get too rough.

Yes I'd like to echo the dogs will figure it out. Your dog has a good nature so you should be fine there might be some yelps and yips but that's all normal stuff.