[Tvztommy]

Hi all, my name is Tommy.

I am a first time dog owner with my parson terrier/shepherd(Australian) mix. He’s also mixed with dachshund and blue heeler. I’ve had him for about a year now, he is 1 year 3 months.

I live with my best friend, brothers almost, and he just got a 6 week old puppy that is a black lab/shepherd(German) mix.

We’ve had Chewy, the German Shepherd mix, for about a week now and I’m having a hard time determining if my 1 year old Australian Shepherd mix, Roscoe, is getting along well with the puppy. He’s owned a pit bull before.

In the mornings or after a long period of not seeing Chewy, Roscoe seems to be quite aggressive and runs and hides from the puppy. I’m having to put Roscoe into a timeout until he’s “ready for the day” as I’d like to say. Which seems to always be the solution because after about 10-15 minutes of separation, he’s happy and ready to rumble with the puppy. Roscoe is unfortunately quite shy and timid but is loves and cuddles once he warms up to you. During the days, perfectly fine! But I’m stumped on the mornings, I don’t want to have to do the timeout all the time unless that is the solution.

When playing, to me, Roscoe seems to understand that he is playing with a much younger puppy as he headbutts and nudges. Although it seems a little rough. but you hear the sneezing and the waggling tails and smiling mugs so I’m assuming they play nicely. The older dog does like to turn around sometimes when they’re rough housing and will stick his butt in the puppy’s face. Is this something that’s OK or should I step in real quick to redirect that behavior?

my biggest issue is with Roscoe’s morning aggression with the new puppy if anyone can offer suggestions or solutions, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks in advance

 

[RonE]

Not what you asked about, but six weeks is way too young to be separated from a pups mother and littermates. In many parts of the country, it's illegal to sell a dog that young.

 

[Tvztommy]

it was given to him, I’m not sure of the details

 

[AngelBichon]

Can the puppy be returned to the litter for 2 more weeks? Definitely too early to be home with you.

I would not stop a dog from offering their backside to the puppy. However, it may be a sign that you need to separate the dogs - not for a "time out" because they are in trouble/the older dog is doing something wrong but because the older dog is getting tired of the puppy play. (Dogs like to sniff each others butts. So, it could be he is offering the butt to slow the pace of play & to get a break; this is not a bad thing because he is doing it in an appropriate way - he is not biting etc.)

 

[BKaymuttleycrew]

I'd probably do the separation thing differently - I'd keep the puppy confined to a playpen (X-pen) area so he couldn't pester the older dog first thing in the morning. That way Roscoe wouldn't have to create separation by either being 'aggressive' OR running/hiding. When he shows that he's ready to play, then the puppy could be let out for some fun.

The 'butt bump', if being offered during a good & happy play session is fine. One of mine has that same signature move when he's initiating play. As long as all seems happy & not escalating into more of a squabble (rather than a fun game), I'd not worry. Do make sure that they aren't going non-stop, though. If one, or the other seems to be getting tired & showing indications of wanting to relax but the other one keeps on ignoring the signals, then you need to step in & enforce a mandatory cooling off period. (time for puppy to go back in the playpen again for a bit?)