SUSANNAH DARLING

Thank you so much! I have one last issue, which is integrating him with our older and much smaller dog. She's a 3 year old Shih Tzu, but she was the runt of her liter and maxed out at 8 lbs. We think he thinks she's another puppy, not an adult dog, and he lunges at her to initiate play. He is only ever in a playpen or on a leash around the house/backyard, so thankfully he hasn't ever reached her with these lunges, but I still can't find anything helpful when it comes to that situation. He lunges at her regardless of situation, how tired he is, how distracted he is, how recently he was played with, etc. She never corrects him and just hunches down or runs away when he lunges. Other than keeping them apart and trying to reassure the Shih Tzu that we won't let him get her, is there anything we can do to help them bond and stop the lunging? Will age eventually help? Or just more socialization with other dogs so he can learn to play gently? Thank you again for answering, every day is a new challenge but also new wins!

We just got a new mutt pup, an 11 week old suspected Australian shepherd/lab mix. We have had him for a little over a week now. He's very smart and responds well to training, other than trying to bite everything he sees. One day we'll get past that, he's a baby and I'm not expecting a miracle lol The one thing is that I hope to train him to eventually become a bit of an assistance/service dog (not to give away! But for me. I have anxiety and diabetes, and having a little helper would increase my quality of life a lot). So a lot of the training has been focusing on staying calm and socialization, because it feels like any time he gets too excited he loses what little attention he has. So any time he relaxes in his playpen, he gets a treat. I dont let him get too excited about dinner (he goes a little crazy for food), and slooowwwllyy hand feed him or use it for training sit/down/eyes on me. He's only 11 weeks and already picking up what I want, even if he does get a little frustrated. I guess between the sleep deprivation and overall stress, I need reassurance (or repremanding if I'm doing something wrong) that it's okay to treat so highly for calmness. He doesnt ever really get the zoomies unless he chases my husband. He sometimes annoys our older, small pup (8 lb Shih Tzu), but we're working on him learning to leave her alone unless she wants to play. I guess I just wanted to know if it's okay to focus calmness - sometimes I feel like I'm stifling his puppyness, even though we obviously encourage happiness and he always wags his tail while training. Thanks and here's my little mischief maker: