My dads gf just bought a new puppy a few weeks ago. I know my dog smokey has to get used to it, but he keeps attacking her every time she walk near me or i play with her. I give him way more attention that i did befor she got here. I spend alot of one on one time to let him know hes still #1, but everytime i play he either gets really angry or really sad. I have tried to play with them both as the same time and I always greet him 1st when I come home. I dont want him to hurt her and we do have a crate for her for when we are gone. Im not sure what else to do and now he wont eat food unless i sit next to him while he eats and pet him or he will want me to feed it to him.
Train him to down stay. And whenever you want to play with the puppy, put your older dog on a down stay. You have to teach him that he has to work for your affection, not just be a bully.
Your dog is not "protective" of you per se. He is "resource guarding" and you are (your attention/affection is) the resource that he is guarding from the pup. Please do not assign ideas like his being "angry" or "sad" at your giving attention to the new dog, because that makes it harder to understand and correct the problem--he is not angry at the pup or at you for your divided attention. Dogs do what is in their best interest and it is in his "best interest" to have your undivided attention.
In his head, he is the top dog. In his head, it is the puppy that needs to earn his respect and your attention. One of the best ways to correct that is to make him understand that *you* are the one in control of *your* resources and that he has no say in how you offer them. *Do not* greet him when you get home until you have done as *you* wish to do, but don't greet the puppy, either. Neither coming nor going should be made into a big deal, since you are neither receiving his permission to leave nor are you presenting yourself asking for permission to enter.
There are a great many links on the Internet that tell how to deal with resource guarding and we would need a better idea of what he is doing and what you are doing before we can offer suggestions on how to correct his behavior (and yours, if needed). Good luck in correcting your problem!
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