12 week old Rotti duo chasing my 2 year old Chihuahua

[KimberlieHeard]

Who signs up to be a parent of 12 week old siblings?  My husband does.  This is already so much fun!  I’m gonna need y’all’s help with a lot but today I need ideas as to how to stop the babies from chasing my 2 year old chihuahua.  They will be a lot bigger than him so I want them to get along.  Any time Lucky(chihuahua) is down on the ground the duo chase him.  For now he jumps on the couch to get away but soon they will be big enough to get up there.  When we are outside they also constantly chase him around the yard.  I know they are just curious but I don’t want this to become a huge issue.  Thanks in advance!

[Adrienne]

Awww, look at those cuties! Your Rottie pups are adorable, and so is you Chihuahua!

It sounds like your pups are having a blast chasing Lucky who is on the unfortunate side of being "pestered." Well, here's the thing:  before coming to your new home, on top of playing rough among themselves, puppies were often playing (and pestering) their mom, often playing with her tail, legs and ears. It was part of mom's job to teach them when she had enough and some ABC's of canine social etiquette and she often did this by engaging in avoidance behaviors such as walking away when their play got rough and sometimes escalating to showing other body language meant to tell the puppies to back off. 

So when puppies are welcomed to our new homes, they may engage in the same boisterous, playful behaviors with us (chasing and nipping our legs) and other dogs (and other pets, poor kitties!) sharing the household. 

On top of this, puppies are pretty socially-illiterate beings, sort of like human toddlers who don't say please and may get in our faces. Pups may therefore chase and try to bite an older dog's ears, tails and legs as he tries to walk away. The good news is that some good adult dogs will give young puppies some leeway when they misbehave, granting them what is known as a "puppy license."

However, enough is enough, and sometimes older dogs' patience will run low and they'll feel the need to give out some "lectures." Mother dog may have already imparted some of these lessons herself, but puppies may just "try" with older dogs.  So after the older dogs try to walk away unsuccessfully, their teachings may go up to the next level involving growling and showing the teeth.

In most of these cases, the aggressive display is mostly ritualized. Ritualized aggression takes place because dogs are natural conflict-solvers. This is because, in the wild, so much energy is required for hunting, reproducing, and basic survival, that there is little energy left to waste on fighting. To prevent conflicts, dogs therefore should instinctively rely on their body language, which is ultimately a way to prevent true fights from occurring. 

Now, many pups may get the lesson and may therefore understand when an older dog is not in the mood for play and is asking to be left alone. Puppies at this point may get the message and stop pestering, walk away with their body low or may even deliver an apology, by rolling over their back, and possibly, urinating submissively to prove their innocence. 

However, some pups can be quite persistent and may not get the message clearly. When this happens, this may lead to the older dog further escalating into something along the lines of: "What part of my signals, do you not understand?" I said back off!" This may lead to the older dog snapping or even delivering a (hopefully!) soft, inhibited bite to make the point. 

Sometimes, puppies at this point may yelp or whimper, but in most cases, fortunately these pups are not hurt, they are just startled and telling the adult dog to please not hurt them. It's important though to keep an eye and make sure the young pups don't appear emotionally traumatized. Now, some adult dogs make great teachers dogs, they call them "Nana dogs" while others may not be too cut for the role and get truly stressed and defensive.

It may sound odd, but sometimes in a group of large dogs (even serious dogs like Rotties and German shepherds,) the small dogs are in many cases the ones that sound the alarm, want to walk first through doors, guard food etc. and these big dogs steer clear from them. This just to say, that size doesn't always matter, although we must always make sure to always monitor interactions considering the difference in size (although any dog-to-dog interactions require supervision).

Now, we must consider some factors here, yes, like you pointed out, we need to consider that Lucky is a Chihuahua, so he's likely the size of your pups now and soon will be outgrown fast. So right now Lucky may feel intimidated and therefore we need to ensure that he doesn't feel the need to take the matters into his own hands to defend himself. Also, we must consider that he was used to being the only dog if you have had him for 2 years, so we need to ensure we aren't giving these two pups too much attention in his presence so he doesn't feel left out.

So to better understand you situation I have a few questions:

How long have you had these pups? This will help me better understand your Chi's emotions at the moment as it's quite stressful for resident dogs when we introduce new dogs in the home, let alone two hyper pups.

Are the pups male and female?

Does Lucky ever show any interest in play with them or is he always thinking of moving away from them?

Have you tried introducing one at a time versus two? If so, how did it go? 

Has Lucky ever played with puppies before? Does he like other dogs?

These further details can help me assess better the situation, thanks!

 

[KimberlieHeard]

Hello!  Thank you so much for that insight.  Now to answer your questions. 
 

We have had the pups a week and a half.  They are brother and sister and Lucky is a male.   Lucky does try to sniff them every once in awhile when they aren’t paying attention.  He has started to jump down and play with toys but once they notice him he runs.   I do try to let him be alone with just one at times and he still runs from them.  He has not ever played with puppies before.  His best friend is my neighbors female Boston Terrier( He was socialized with her while he was only a couple of months old).  He barks at every other passing dog when he is in the front yard on his run for potty breaks.  I did have another dog come in the house last holiday season and he barked at her for a good 5 minutes but then wanted to be her friend.  That is really the extent of his socialization.  I hope this helps!

[Adrienne]

Thank you for the extra details, they are very helpful!

Based on Lucky's past socialization history and the fact that he runs upon noticing them, and still runs away even if only one pup is presented, it sounds like he is overwhelmed and engaging in distance-increasing behaviors (running away, going on the couch) with the primary goal of avoidance. It could be the pups are just too much for him at this time, and things may get better as he adjusts and understands that the pups don't mean harm. However, we want to protect him from feeling too stressed and avoid putting him into the position of both pups "ganging up" against him so to say which may only confirm to him that it's not a pleasant experience being around them. 

We can do this through management and allowing him to engage with the pups in activities that are more likely to create a bond rather than an aversion. Management means taking steps in controlling his environment so to prevent certain levels of direct exposure. In other words, preventing him from having to repeatedly rehearse the running away/avoidance  behaviors or at least setting the environment so that he's engaging in them significantly less. This is important considering that, running away is reinforcing, so he'll keep on doing that instinctively given the opportunity, and risks becoming his default way of "interacting with them."

So here are some management ideas to give him some "respite:"

• Avoid putting your Chihuahua into the position of being repeatedly harassed unnecessarily. For instance, remove the puppies when your older dog would like to nap. Erect baby gates so the pups can play among each other without bothering him. It goes without saying that all dogs interactions should always be carefully monitored for both safety and to prevent rehearsal of undesirable behaviors. 
• Make sure your older dog has a place to retreat to when he needs a break from your pups constant need to play. You mention he jumps on the couch, and that's a good place to be, but how about keeping him there already when the pups may enter the room? This way he doesn't feel the need to run away from them which creates negative associations. 
• Try to give your pups attention (praising, petting, talking) out of his sight. Many older resident dogs feel neglected when new dogs enter their home and this may cause "hard feelings"
• Create positive associations. Expose your dog to the pups from a distance in a place where he feels safe and the pups can't reach (couch, behind a baby gate). Feed him tasty treats (or his kibble if he loves it) every time he sees or hears your puppies playing so that he starts looking forward to hearing/seeing them rather than dreading their presence. 
• If at some time, your Chihuahua is ever cornered by the pups or the pups try to jump on the couch, avoid scolding your adult dog for growling or baring teeth at the puppies. A growl is a gift and we want our dogs to use "their words.."Your adult dog is just trying to teach your pups some boundaries just as grandma may scold a child for pushing her or doing something naughty. 
• Train a cue to redirect your dogs. Practice it with your pups and older dog at first separately one at a time, and then try to introduce it when they are all together. I like to use a smacking sound with my mouth  (as seen in Look into My Eyes from the Brain Training for Dogs course) which means that a tasty treat is coming. The goal is to get your dogs to pay attention to you and move towards you when you notice the first signs that things are starting to escalate. If you're too late, all dogs may be too focused on each other to listen. Once your dogs come towards you, feed each a tasty treat (if they are not prone to food guarding) and redirect them to some other activity such as spending some time in the yard sniffing or giving each dog a Kong to work on in separated areas.  
• Alternatively, just train both pups to respond to a "leave it" as soon as you notice their intent to go pester Lucky. So say Lucky is on the couch, and they are trying to climb up? Say "leave it" and redirect them to some other activity like going out in the yard or giving them a special toy to play with. Lucky will feel better knowing that you have the situation under control. Here is how to train "leave it": https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/
• Engage your dogs in bonding activities where they all get to have fun together as a group in productive ways. Take them on walks (when the veterinarian gives the OK) and car rides.
• Once Lucky is more confident around them, if Lucky has some great behaviors, we can make him a great teacher dog. Say he comes readily when called? Have your pups watch him and they will soon learn to come rushing to you too. Does he go potty outside in the yard? Take them out with him and let him show them where to potty. Say he is calm on walks? Walk him (with a helper to walk another puppy) so that your pups learn to be calm on walks. 
• Many dogs get along well when they are puppies, but as they turn into adolescents, things may start to change a bit. Being prepared is important: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/

Now with siblings, we need to avoid too much bonding to take place. It's great that you have a male and female combo as males generally allow females to get away with infractions. With two puppies we risk what's known as sibling rivalry or littermate syndrome, although we can take steps to reduce the chances. What happens is that if we don't take steps, there are risks for  paving the path towards two dogs who feel better being among each other than with their owners which can  create problems that may interfere with the training and bonding process with the owner. Two pups raised together may also not be able to flourish into complete dogs, but as two half dogs that sleep, play and eat together all day.

 

There it is often recommended to keep the puppies separated for a goof part of the day, scheduling only a couple of set play-times. This means keeping them crated in separate crates, training one at a time, feeding each in their own food bowl, walking and socializing one at time. This way, the puppies have ample of opportunities to bond with their owners and we can foster their individual personalities. 

I hope this helps!

Let me know if you have any questions.

Happy training,

Adrienne

 

 

 

[KimberlieHeard]

Thank you so much!  I appreciate your thorough response.  We will be getting another kennel as the duo sleep together right now.  I’m sure I will have plenty more questions but I am going to start from the beginning of your training and take it day by day!  

[Adrienne]

Sounds like a plan, keep me posted!

Enjoy puppy hood, it doesn't last long!

Happy training,

Adrienne