I'm looking for any additional tips, advice, suggestions for our new living situation. We currently have a 25 lbs 8 month old male dog (Z). He is young but he is full grown. We got him when he was 2 months old. He's very sweet tempered, playful, loving.
We just adopted a 2 month old male puppy (T) from a local shelter. Before adopting him, we brought our 8 month old dog in to meet the puppy and see how they did. Z at first wasn't sure what to think, had his hackles up and was alert. He quickly calmed down and was playful with T. We decided to bring T home and had them both meet and hang out outside before bringing them inside.
T is adjusting well, however Z is always 100% focused on T. We're having a difficult time telling when Z is playing and when he is being aggressive. Sometimes we see him doing a play bow, rolling onto his back and showing his belly and full wagging his tail. But he also frequently has his hackles back up, is like chest bumping T, knocking him over, trying to bite his ear and drag him. T will sometimes let out a yelp but Z seems to be unphased by it and continues. We're also having a hard time breaking Z's attention and having him respond to our focus command and looking at us.
I'm looking for any suggestions on how to get Z acclimated to T, and to help Z not feel like he's being threatened. Also needing to get Z to understand when he's being too rough, without scaring him.
We just adopted a 2 month old male puppy (T) from a local shelter. Before adopting him, we brought our 8 month old dog in to meet the puppy and see how they did. Z at first wasn't sure what to think, had his hackles up and was alert. He quickly calmed down and was playful with T. We decided to bring T home and had them both meet and hang out outside before bringing them inside.
T is adjusting well, however Z is always 100% focused on T. We're having a difficult time telling when Z is playing and when he is being aggressive. Sometimes we see him doing a play bow, rolling onto his back and showing his belly and full wagging his tail. But he also frequently has his hackles back up, is like chest bumping T, knocking him over, trying to bite his ear and drag him. T will sometimes let out a yelp but Z seems to be unphased by it and continues. We're also having a hard time breaking Z's attention and having him respond to our focus command and looking at us.
I'm looking for any suggestions on how to get Z acclimated to T, and to help Z not feel like he's being threatened. Also needing to get Z to understand when he's being too rough, without scaring him.