The new puppy is here

[iRusty00]

here he is:

he is very energetic, and rusty doesn't want anything to do with him. he chases rusty around. Sonny lets Rusty sniff him and all but Rusty won't let Sonny sniff him back. When the puppy tries to play with Rusty, Rusty will growl and sometimes snap. HELP!! also, Rusty WILL NOT eat and is acting very depressed. He is making me sad. PLEASE HELP!!!

[Shazza]

I think they are just working out who is who in the pack right now. Just give it time but keep an eye on Rusty and discourage the snapping.

How long has it been since Rusty ate last?

[iRusty00]

well we just got the puppy today and Rusty hasn't eaten any time this afternoon. He ate this morning. I don't want him to starve himself!! =(

[SparkyJonesMom]

Oh, Sonny is precious! I love his coloring, especially the black eyebrows! I hope Rusty gets the hang of the new one soon.

[lacy]

Sonny is a real cutie! Such a happy baby. I don't really have any experience with two dogs but I bet they will work it out once they get use to each other. Don't worry to much about the not eating. He may just be excited and he will eat before he starves! My dog doesn't eat every morning and every night everyday. I know he will when he is hungry.

[jimnconnie]

Sonny is a real cutie! More than likely, Rusty's nose is a little out of joint because Sonny's in his house, and getting lots of attention. Jealousy isn't unusual at first, so make sure you pay lots of attention, and spend some quality time alone with Rusty every day for a while. Be sure that Rusty is top dog, and have him do everything before Sonny. First to go out the door & in the door, first to be fed & get treats, and first to receive attention & praise from you. It should only take a couple of weeks for Rusty to realize that Sonny isn't just an obnoxious guest, and that he's there to stay. Eventually they will work things out for themselves. Which dog eventually rules the roost depends mostly on their personalities, no matter how much you may try to make Rusty the leader. Our male Bailey was 2 1/2 yrs. old when we got Sophie, and we really thought we did all the right things to make him the alpha, but as it turned out he just didn't have that type of personality, and Sophie is more or less the dominant one. Bailey is a laid-back people lover, and Sophie is much more energetic, and always has to be ahead of him on walks, or running in and out of the house. Just enjoy watching them interact & grow up together. You'll love having two of them!!

Jim

[iRusty00]

the problem is..he's not excited...at all. and rusty has totally changed. he is not a happy dog anymore. I have basically been giving Rusty 90% of my attention.

[kevlor7]

I'm so sorry that Rusty isn't taking the new addition so well, hopefully he'll change his mind soon. I'm curious if Rusty has always liked other dogs at your house or if it was just the new puppy that he's having the problem with? I think about getting a second puppy for Lucy to play with sometimes because she's so crazy about other dogs and absolutely loves when we have puppy visitors....even crying at the door when they leave........she's such a loveable dork. Keep us posted on Rusty's progress, I hope he doesn't give the adorable Sonny a complex.......that's the cutest puppy. Congratulations!

[Idaho Cairns]

Don't stress, your older dog will come around--they always do. We have seen the "You guys have turned my wonderful world upside down!" behavior everytime we have brought a puppy into the home--it passes.

[iRusty00]

How long did it take for your dogs to come around? I have a strong feeling that Rusty loved being the only dog and to be honest, I miss it.

Question: Rusty barks real loud in at the puppy when he tries to play. The puppy is also biting him when trying to play, and i stop it of course. But is that really loud barking good or bad?

[Kramersmom]

Oh Sonny is adorable. So is Rusty, how precious they both are. I never had two Cairns, growing up we had as many as 3 dogs at the same time all different breeds. Kramer is very docile and he is very attached to me as me to him. Every where I go Kramer is right there. I would love to get another Cairn but I'm afraid of the same thing you are experiencing. I'm sure as time goes on, Rusty will come to really enjoy and have fun with Sonny.

I'm sure he is jealous. After all, he has been top dog for this long and now a puppy is taking over his territory. I hope it all works out. The members here with two Cairns have told you this is normal and all will work out. They are both handsome fellows. How old is Rusty?

[iRusty00]

Rusty is about 18 months.

[Idaho Cairns]

How long did it take the older dog to get over the intrusion of the puppy? Depends of course but it is a gradual thing. Our pups have been really annoying to the older dogs--jumping on them, competing for toys, human attention, etc. We have had our new one since the middle of December and now they have a regular routine--sleep together, eat together, and wrestle together until the pup gets "uppity" with the older dog and then she shuts the puppy down with a serious head butt and a meaningful growl.

This is almost the identical pattern we observed when we brought our four year old into the house with another older female. Eventually they will come to depend on each other for entertainment and companionship. Just this week the puppy misbehaved (ran off) and was not allowed to go on the daily walk with the older dog--the older dog almost refused to go alone, would stop and look back toward the house, apparently wondering where the puppy was--we had to cut the walk short because the old gal simply was dispirited to the point of obviously not wanting to go without the puppy.

I would imagine that you will see improvement in your older dog's attitude almost immediately, just a behavior at a time. I really do believe that Cairns enjoy company of another dog (probably any dog does) since they are such social dogs.

Ours still compete over attention, one plays, the other plays. They both rough up the neighbor's Doxies daily, explore the hillside together, and terrorize the squirrels as a pair of avenging angels side by side. It is no different than having children except the helpless stage is so abbreviated.

Again, I wouldn't stress too much, dogs don't have negative human qualities like resentment and jealousy that builds weird attitudes--wait and see--you will appreciate the fact that you got another Cairn for your personal enjoyment and probably wish, as I do, that you lived on a farm so that you could have a houseful of the little characters.

[Brody]

It's going to take some time for Rusty to come around. But I'm sure he will. My parents had two shih tzu's and one passed away. Daisey ended up being an only dog for about two years and was very spoiled before they got another puppy. And it took probably 3 months for Daisey to really warm up to Maggie. It may take some time. Maybe you should just let them together for a bit so maybe Rusty doesn't feel like he has to fight for your attention.

[beccadiane374]

Tanner came into our house as a 3 month old puppy & we already had a toy poodle, Stinker, who is 10 years old. I've had Tanner for 6 months now & Stinker has still not come around to him. He wants to play with her so badly, he will just cry for her, but she wants nothing to do with him. We try to let them be around each other for a little bit each day, but Stinker gets so upset & we're hesitant to let them just have it out b/c Tanner is 18 pounds & Stinker is abt. 4 pounds. Besides the fact that she absoultely just wants nothing at all to do with him & would rather lay on the bed in another room where he can't get to her.

[cairnsby3]

I agree with Jim (Jimnconnie), Rusty first. The thing that bothered Spring when I got Shiner was of course he was making all the normal puppy mistakes (barking at nothing, carrying my shoes around, having accidents, etc) and poor Spring was shocked, she was sure mom was going to be mad. And if I did raise my voice to get Shiner's attention, Spring was really sure mom was mad. She was starting to get depressed, so I made sure to spend time with her, of course she still got to sleep on the bed, while the evil puppy had to go in the crate. I also told her how good she was and gave her lots of treats. She got to the point where if I hollared at the puppy, Spring's tail went down and then if I said "Spring good" her tail came right back up. After Shiner learned the rules and stopped making mistakes, everything was fine. They play and occasionally Spring tells him off if he takes something from her that is really important, if it's not important she lets him have it.

[tlwtheq]

I agree with Jim (Jimnconnie), Rusty first.

That's the rule of thumb we've always used. It won't bother the puppy.

He just needs to learn the pecking order which he will graciously do.

Congratulations on your new addition!

[TazTalk]

We brought Taz home last September when Gypsy was 13. We had just lost Bandit 3 weeks before that, so Gypsy was used to having another dog in the house, but not a devil pup . She wanted nothing to do with him at first. I think what upset Gypsy most was Taz's biting with the sharp puppy teeth. Plus, being 13, she just didn't want that much energy in her face! It took a couple of months, and they started to play and hang out together. It seemed that Gypsy began tolerating Taz as soon as he started losing the baby teeth. Now they are buddies.

I understand your concern. One of the main reasons we got Taz was for companionship for Gypsy, so I was very upset initially to see Gypsy snub him. Just be patient -- you'll be so glad you did this!

[iRusty00]

i think rusty is getting better he was letting the puppy get up on him to play. but when the puppy begins to nip, he growls and it's game over. i think rusty just need his space so i usually stay on the other side of the gate with rusty while someone else watches him on the other side. I've moved his water and food and he just ate & drank...finally!!! XD Sonny is doing well with potty pads so far. he goes on them sometimes and he woke up a just a few times last night, letting my mom get some sleep.

[iRusty00]

wow..its happening faster than i thought ;P Rusty's playing with us again!! not bad for 3 days xD

[Sam I Am]

Can I ever feel your pain!! We had a very dominant Silky pup for only 5 days and sadly decided that it just wasnt working out and returned the pup back to the breeder. Jock tried his best to dominate this little terror of a terrier, but the pup just became more and more dominant with Jock and us. Jock was obviously very unhappy and confused (so were we). Hopefully your new pup, who is just so cute, was far better socialized than the Silky pup was. I would love to have a companion for Jock but I wonder if thats my "human" feeling getting in the way. He seems perfectly happy to be the one and only dog!

[iRusty00]

yep, sometimes they're just as happy being the only one!