New dog, new to forum!

prairiebound · New member Joined: 03 Aug 2007 Posts: 2

Hi there,
We have had a fairly sedate Akita cross for four years (12 yrs old) and last weekend adopted a 1.5 year old golden lab cross (Jessie). She's spent her life so far in small enclosure with a mud floor! WE felt so bad for her that we caved! Despite her upbringing she has a very loving temperament and seems to be learning fast.

However, she bullies our older dog -- literally running circles around him and sometimes body-checkign the poor guy. She gets in front of him at the door and between us when we pet him. She seems to like him, she often licks his head and mouth (I read somewhere this is a sign of submissiveness?).

I haven't been able to find any articles online about stopping this kind of behaviour and letting her know that she's at the bottom of the pack! Any suggestions would be most welcome!!

She's a big change for us (the jumping, the digging, the ENERGY) so i'm sure i"ll have lots more questions.

loves-da-pits · Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 7:47 pm Post subject:

Welcome, Prairie! Congrats on your new dog.

You're right, face licking can be a sign of submissiveness. Or it can be a sign of respect for the dominate or elder dog. Most pups will respect their elders. Now is the time to teach Jessie to respect you as well and to look to you as pack leader. That means making her earn any privileges such as meals, treats, playtime, etc. Just make her lay, sit, or stay before being allowed her pivilege.

All the body slamming and such on the other dog is just pent up energy. You may have to do some extra exercises with Jessie to wear here out a bit. The older dog just isn't into marathon playtime any more. If Jessie is worn out from more exercise she'll tend to give more face licks to the older dog than running circles around him.

Sounds like they'll be great buddies.

prairiebound · New member Joined: 03 Aug 2007 Posts: 2

Hi there--thanks for the reminder re: the earning of treats etc...she's so fun to play with that we often skip the "earning" part! Also a good point about the energy...we'd noticed some crazy behaviour and have been trying to tire her out-- I've taken up jogging and she goes again in teh afternoon w/ my partner and for a walk with our other dog at night. But we don't get them all in every day. She does seem to be calming down though. This is quite a baptism by fire for us, we got our other dog at the age of 8 and he fit in beautifully right away! thanks again

Samsintentions · Moderator Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 4297 Location: Texas

Remember, that if you don't raise a puppy from young yourself, they will pick up bad habits and other things, and then its up to you to correct those behaviors and change them into what you want.
Younger dogs will also ,usually, have much more energy and want to play more. Elder dogs are usually more sedate and set in their ways....