New Puppy, New Rules = Unhappy dog

[SweetTeboho]

I have two dogs, Davy & Frankie. Davy was a rescue and he is about one and a half years old. Recently we acquired Frankie, not a rescue, to join our family - mostly for Davy's company (and of course for mommy too). Davy does enjoy playing, running & cuddling with Frankie. We are careful to make sure that Davy does not feel left out since puppies gain so much attention.

But with a puppy around and getting into much trouble Davy is a nervous wreck. Being a rescue he was already sensitive to tone of voice and hand movements; and he had overcome all of this. But now that we have Frankie, a very defiant pup (but so darn cute while he's doing it) Davy, to me, seems to have regressed a bit.

The most recent change was we have chosen not to allow the dogs on the couch anymore. We had family over the other day and the dogs just about drove them crazy! After that we decided to enforce this rule which they have obeyed beautifully, but now Davy is walking around shaking all the time - like he's scared.

I tell him all the time he's a good boy, I sit on the floor with him so he can get in my lap to be loved and my husband & I make special time just for him. Any opinions of anything else I can do to help my sweet Davy?

[pipsie71]

Hi. One thing I do know is that you shouldn't be telling him he's a good boy if he's acting scared and shaking, as you'll just reinforce this behaviour. Only reward him with those kind of words/attention when he is calm and not showing any fear or nervousness.

Other than that, I won't advise for fear of steering you wrong. Others will know the best tips for dealing with an existing dog when there's a new puppy in the house.

Good luck I'm sure you'll get on fine, Pip

[Macawpower58]

Hi, and welcome to petlovers. Congrats on your new pup.

One question I have is why are the two dogs getting in trouble? First, puppies can't get in trouble if they're supervised. Second, puppies are redirected to the right behavior and not punished when they do make mistakes. Third, it's a very good idea to limit puppy's interactions with Davey while Frankie is growing. A crate/playpen is perfect for this. If Frankie is allowed to run with the older dog 24/7 he will not bond with you as well as he does with Davey. This can make training much harder, as he's found Davey is much more fun, so why listen to you, when he wants to play with his pack member?

Have you started obedience with your pup yet? Now is the perfect time to do so. All motivational, no compulsion at all. I'd also do this away from the other dog, it's too distracting. Continue Davey's training also, it will help him to remain confident and bonded with you.

As Pip said, don't reward anixous and stressed out behavior. Ignore it. Petting/soothing/cuddling, makes these behaviors worse. If you find you're yelling at the puppy, and Davey for misbehaving, you need to slow down and rethink you're training.

One thing I always remind myself, if my dog has done wrong, it's a handler (me) error, not a dog error.

Ask any questions you like, there are lots of knowledgeable doggy folk on here.

[SweetTeboho]

Oh Frankie gets in trouble because he likes mommy's stuffed animals on the bed (a special bride and groom given to us, obviously, on our wedding day). He knows he's not allowed on the bed but he jumps up there anyway to grab those dolls. That hasn't happened in a few days.

Davy gets in trouble for sneaking into the kitchen. He knows he's not allowed in there but he is GREAT at sneaking. This dog deserves a ninja award for his ability to quietly get anywhere w/o anyone knowing. All we have to say is "what are you doing?" or "Davy?" and he'll come out with his head hanging down.

As far as training, I do it with both of them and I am impressed with how amazing my dogs are. They can both sit, wait, come, drop it or leave it, down & come here (Frankie's not perfect of course but at almost 6 months I think that he is AMAZING). They both sort of have the hug command but we are working on it. Davy can do much more like catch (in the air), stand (oh Frankie tries that one) walk (walk on two legs), jump or run & jump to get something, speak, greet the door and roll over. To work them together I first used training to teach Frankie 'wait' which Davy already knew. So when they get distracted or hyper they are told to 'wait' and then we start again.

As far as Davy being stressed I think that's such an awesome suggestion. Once I read it I thought that MUST be it - we have been reinforcing his behavior since we got him. I do think he's shaking more now that we have Frankie but if Frankie grabs the doll or even has an 'accident' in the house Davy starts shaking right away.

I'll start not enforcing the behavior and I know this will take time. Thanks!

[Wiztherewoz]

A lot of people make this mistake... Being so invested in trying to make a nervous dog feel secure that they inadvertantly make them more worried than ever by constantly mollycoddling them and 'reassuring' them in that touchy-feely, soothing-voice, there-there-it's-all-okay human way.

The most reassuring thing to a dog in a new situation is for their owner to act confident, act normal, act just like nothing's changed at all. Ignore any fretting, only giving the loving when the dog's in a positive mindframe. If the owner goes on like everything's okay, even in a potentially frightening situation, the dog will more often that not follow their lead and believe that everything's okay too.

Sounds like you've already realised this though. :) Best of luck getting Davy back on track again. (And try not to get frustrated with Frankie's trouble-making in front of Davy, try to always retain a relaxed demeanor when you're around the dogs no matter what they're doing. They'll respond to you much more if you're calm, and will help get Davy's confidence back.)

Let us know how you get on.

[SweetTeboho]

I just realized that I might need to clarify something...

As Frankie is doing his 'bad deeds' Davy starts his nervous behavior. In fact this is how I usually know that something has happened because Davy kinda works as a 'tattle-tale'.

But as far as the Frankie situation, things are showing signs of improvement! Davy has stopped acting as an unknowing 'tattle tale'. He no longer automatically becomes nervous when Frankie is taking his liberties. This, of course, must have already been on the way. But thanks to all of your advice over time my husband and I can work to bring Davy to a 100% happy dog by not reinforcing his behavior! That means soooo much!

*Frankie has now left the bride & groom alone for a whole week! :-D He still finds new adventures, but the happy couple seem to be boring to him now.

[Macawpower58]

I'm happy to hear things are improving. Keep us updated!

[tweener]

Im glad too that everything is doing fine and I hope they won't get into any trouble again. Goodluck!

[CKelly976]

Good to hear Davey is coming back and your puppy is progressing in a positive direction!

ever since I brought my cat home, anytime the cat gets in trouble, the dog drops her head and stub and retreats to her crate for a time out. I never close the door or acknowledge her in there, she just sits in there for about 5 minutes and then will look out at me asking to come out...it weird, but Davey's behavior kind of reminded me of that.

good luck to you and your husband and congrats on the new fur baby :)