Puppies and adults - sometimes it's not that simple

(Clique aqui para a versão portuguesa)

A question I was e-mailed some time ago:

Good evening, I “accidentally” stumbled upon your blog thanks to a research I was doing about “how to connect my dogs”. If it is not too much of a bother, and as I see you are experienced in this field, I would like you to answer me this question, if possible.
So this is the situation, I have a 6 year-old Labrador Retriever, very sociable, loving, stable and now very thoughtful. He sometimes has those bouts of excitement when he is with another male but this behavior disappears quickly after they meet.
This is to say that Bronco never had any problems with other dogs, and I’m referring to fear, anxiety, …
The thing is a short while ago he was bitten, not seriously, by an Alentejo Mastiff, because I was careless and it happened in less than a fraction of a second, and I am afraid that he is now somewhat afraid of other dogs (this is my first conclusion).
And why? Because almost 2 weeks ago I brought home a Great Female, and she obviously wants to play with him, and ends up annoying Bronco a bit and his defense mechanism is simply to run away from her.
On the 1st day he was very interested, but when he realized “that little thing” was staying he changed his behavior
I have been keeping both of them separated, he has full access to the house and she is in the balcony, properly arranged. During the day I have them together 2 to 4 times in the patio, never more than 30/45 minutes. This time is spent as I described, she want sto play and he runs away and avoids her, but still shows some interest. And the issue of him being afraid of other dogs is over, because this weekend a friend brough his dog over (the 2 of them never met) and shortly thereafter they were playing.
This said, I ask if I should change anything, or what am I doing wrong? This is something that has me worried because I never thought it would play out like this.
Daisy is almost 3 months old and I think she doesn’t interpret well some of his signs. And I don’t think it’s jealousy as they eat at different places and at different hours.
I would really appreciate it if you could help me out.

My reply:

Before replying to your questions, I need to stress one thing… It is impossible to discuss actual cases without seeing the situation and the dogs, preferably on their environment. I will tell you what I understand from your description, but take this as general guidelines, not something specific to your particular case. There are usually many subtleties in canine communication that most owners don’t realize (including some supposedly experienced dog people), which may change the whole meaning of a person’s interpretation of a situation.

So, now, regarding your doubts… it seems to me we have two independent questions…

1st – The Labrador being bitten
I cannot say anything about possible fears regarding other dogs without seeing how he behaves, but the fact that he quickly started playing with your friend’s dog seems to suggest no long-lasting sequels.
A serious bite in a puppy may sometimes cause some traumas, with him associating that situation to a given stimulus – the place he was when bitten, the type of dog that bit him, the person he was with, etc. But with an adult dog, especially with your dog’s age, and a slight bite, this usually leaves no long lasting negative memories…

2nd – The Labrador and the Great Dane
Based on your description of this situation, I have a totally different interpretation! ;)
Let’s switch species… Imagine you’re quietly at home, resting, and a child keeps coming up to you, bouncing around, pulling you to play when you just want to rest, because you’re tired from work. What do you do? Yeah, exactly!... Your Labrador is actually showing a very balanced behavior!
Ok, so this is not the image we get “sold” when we get a puppy, that he and the older dog will be best buddies, but that is not out of the question.
Quite simply, it seems here that he puppy is a bit too “annoying” with the Labrador, a bit too “pushy”. And as the well-behaved dog he is, Bronco goes away to seek some peace and quiet instead of grumbling at the pup.

Usually, adult dogs withstand a lot from young puppies, avoid correcting hard and let them do a lot of stuff they would never allow older dogs to do. This may lead to some puppies getting too pushy if no one tells them how to behave. The problem is that as the pups grow up, from about 5 months on, adults stop accepting some behaviors, and may start reacting differently if the pup doesn’t show the proper behavior.
So… if I were you, I would be more worried with the pup’s behavior than with the Labrador’s behavior. You need to get her used to being calmer around the dog, and to respect if he sometimes doesn’t want to be bothered. If necessary, channel her energy to activities not involving “nagging” the Labrador.
For this, and if you’re not used to interpret canine behavior, I would recommend you talk with a canine trainer. Formal “training” may not be exactly necessary (although it is useful for any dog), but rather some behavior modification, redirecting the pup to activities and games which will benefit everyone involved.
I hope this helps a bit…

When to start taking out your new puppy

(Versão portuguesa aqui)

A common concern about new puppy owners is when they can start taking their puppies out on the street. I usually recommend they start taking them a few days after they’ve had their first set of vaccines. Of course, no puppy leaves our home unless a few days have passed since their first (or second, depending on the type) set of vaccines, so in practice that means they can start taking them out from the moment the puppy is adjusted to his new family. Vaccines nowadays are much safer than in the old days, can be administered sooner and more dogs are vaccinated, making strange dogs less of a risk of transmitting disease.
However, there is still much outdated information running about, specially by well meaning but inexperienced people or old-school vets.

To help in dispelling some of these myths, I reproduce below an open letter by Dr. R.K. Anderson, DVM, MPH, DACVB, DACVPM, a reference in the behavioral veterinary community and founder of the Animal Behavior Resources Institute.

Thank you Joyce Kesling, CDBC, from Responsible Dog & Cat Training ~ Behavior Solutions for pointing me to this one! :-)

The emphasis on some sentences is mine.

Puppy Vaccination and Early Socialization Should Go Together

Robert K. Anderson DVM

Diplomate ACVB and ACVPM

Professor and Director Emeritus, Animal Behavior Clinic and Center to Study Human/Animal Relationships and Environments

University of Minnesota

1666 Coffman Street, Suite 128,

Falcon Heights, MN 55108

Phone 612-644-7400 FAX 612-644-4262

An Open Letter to My Colleagues in Veterinary Medicine:

Puppies begin learning at birth and their brains appear to be particularly responsive to learning and retaining experiences that are encountered during the first 13 to 16 weeks after birth. This means that breeders, new puppy owners, veterinarians, trainers and behaviorists have a responsibility to assist in providing early learning and socialization experiences with other puppies/dogs, with children/adults and with various environmental situations during this optimal period from birth to 16 weeks of age.

Many veterinarians are making this early socialization and learning program part of a total wellness plan for breeders and new owners of puppies during the first 16 weeks of a puppy’s life -- the first 7-8 weeks with the breeder and the next 8 weeks with the new owners. These socialization classes should enroll puppies from 8 to 12 weeks of age as a key part of any Wellness Program to improve the bond between pets and their people and increase retention of dogs in their first puppy home. (See -- JAVMA, Vol 223, No. 1, pages 61-66, 2003)

To take full advantage of this early special learning period, many veterinarians recommend that new owners take their puppies to puppy socialization classes, beginning at 8 to 9 weeks of age. At this age they should have (and should be required to have) received a minimum of their first series of vaccines for protection against infectious diseases. This provides the basis for increasing immunity by further repeated exposure to these antigens either through natural exposure in small doses or artificial exposure with vaccines during the next 8 to 12 weeks. In addition the owner and people offering puppy socialization should take precautions to have the environment and the participating puppies relatively free of natural exposure by good hygiene and relatively clean environments.

Experience and epidemiologic data support the relative safety and lack of transmission of disease in these puppy socialization classes over the past 10 years in many parts of the United States. In fact; the risk of a dog dying because of infection with distemper or parvo virus disease is far less than the much higher risk of a dog dying (euthanasia) because of a behavior problem. Many veterinarians are now offering new puppy owners, puppy socialization classes in their hospitals or nearby training facilities with assistance of trainers and behaviorists. This emphasizes the importance of early socialization and training as important parts of a wellness plan for every puppy. We need to recognize that this special sensitive period for learning is the best opportunity we have to influence behavior for dogs and the most important and longest lasting part of a total wellness plan.

Are there risks? Yes. But 10 years of good experience and data, with few exceptions, offers veterinarians the opportunity to generally recommend early socialization and training classes, beginning when puppies are 8 to 9 weeks of age. However, we must respect an individual veterinarian’s professional judgment, in individual cases or situations, where special circumstances warrant further immunization for a special puppy before enrolling in early learning and socialization classes between 8 and 12 weeks of age. Please note that during any period of delay for entering puppy classes, owners should begin a substitute wellness program of early socialization with children, adults, other animals and environmental stimuli outside their family, to take advantage of this special period in a puppy’s life with planning and consideration for any concerns of the pet’s veterinarian.

Please remember that the risk of a dog dying (euthanasia) because of behavior problems is more than 1,000 times the risk of dying of distemper or parvo virus. Early learning, socialization of puppies and appropriate vaccination should go together in a wellness program designed to protect lives of dogs and improve the bond with families.

If there are further questions, veterinarians/trainers may call me for discussion and clarification.

Puppies playing with adult dogs

(Versão portuguesa abaixo)

It is very important that, during their growth, puppies get used to dealing both with people and with dogs other than their mother. That’s the way they learn their species’ behavioural codes, that they learn to relate and communicate with other dogs. If they are denied these experiences, when they are older they may experience difficulties in dealing with other dogs they meet along their lives. This may eventually lead to aggression due to communication problems.

You can read here an article I wrote for the “Cães e Companhia” magazine about the behavioural development of dogs from birth to adulthood. Unfortunately for some of you, I only have a Portuguese version of it. I hope to translate it in the near future.

Open publication - Free publishing - More cachorro

At home, our puppies are first introduced to other dogs of their breed/morphological type. At first they only interact with the adults on a one-on-one basis. Afterwards, as I assess the behaviour of the puppies and the adults, they can play with an increasingly larger number of dogs. In this video, 7 week-old puppies play with most of our adult Dachshunds and Drevers. Of course, this only happened after several weeks spent introducing the puppies to the adults.



After the puppies are comfortable with dogs of their type and size, I begin to introduce them to dogs of different size and behaviour.
On this video, the puppies are getting to know some of our Barbados da Terceira (Terceira Cattle Dogs).
One of the advantages of having dogs of different breeds, with distinct physical and behavioural traits, is that our puppies learn from a young age to interact with different types of dogs, learning the differences in behaviour and communication associated to different morphologies and functions.



IMPORTANT: I do not recommend anyone to place many adult dogs and puppies together. Only consider doing it if you have in-depth knowledge of each dog’s behaviour, both with puppies and with other dogs, and have excellent knowledge of canine behaviour and body language (so you can detect any potential problem before it escalates). Naturally, even so you should only do it if you can properly supervise the dogs. Playing can easily lead to an increase of arousal, so the dogs may unwillingly harm a puppy. Even the puppies’ natural awkward behaviour, different from that of the adults, may trigger predatory behaviour which, along with pack behaviour due to having several dogs together, may lead to serious injury to a puppy if there is not strict supervision by an experienced person!

What about you, what do you do to make sure your dogs goes along with everyone he meets on the street?