old dog attacking new puppies

I’m facing a terrible problem with my belgian sheperd attacking fiercely new rottweiler puppies if they only try to reach him or lick him or even are around him, and they are extremely hyper and they won’t just leave him alone.

What to do to stop my old dog from attacking the pups? i want to leave them with him freely and feel secure. The problem is getting out of control and they are getting older now 4 months now please tell me in details what to do in order to eliminate the problem.

They are almost house broken and i want to let them free in the house and this problem is limiting me from doing that.

Hi
I’m afraid to say that this situation is unlikely to get better if the pups are 4 months old and your older dogs’ behavior has been like this consistently. The older the pups get the less tolerant he is likely to be.

You’re right to be worried about the situation as these pups are now big and strong, and if there are any serious altercations between them and your Belgian Shepherd, then someone is likely to get hurt. When you have more than two dogs who are fighting, the ‘pack instinct’ kicks in and the other pups/dogs are likely to join in – usually attacking the weaker party and this can result in very serious injury, even death.

If they’re all males then you are in for some difficult times and you’re going to need to be very vigilant and proactive about supervision and corrections. They should all be neutered in order to reduce some of the aggression and territorial conflicts. If you have a female she should also be spayed, as male to male fights over a female in season are serious.

You may be able to get them to accept each other if you supervise short periods of interaction between your older dog and the pups, but one at a time. Correct your Shepherd if he gets aggressive to the point of biting or attacking, but if he’s just growling or mock-snapping to keep them ‘out of his hair’ that’s natural. Also correct the pups if they get too much ‘in his face’ and make sure there are plenty of toys and love and attention for everyone. I wouldn’t recommend allowing them bones or edible toys when there are two dogs together, as food guarding may occur.

Once your older dog can tolerate one of the pups at a time, you could try to introduce the two of them, for a very short period. But it’s something that you will need to approach very slowly and with a LOT of patience. Also, I’d strongly recommend that you never leave them alone together unsupervised…. not until you’re 110% sure that they LOVE each other. Even then I’d personally be inclined to crate them separately, or put them in different rooms or enclosures when you’re out.

I hope this helps some, best of luck with your ‘pack’.

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