We just brought home our second Newfoundland a couple of days ago. Our one year old Newf (female, Gray , +100lbs) now seems even bigger than our pup (male , landseer, 20ish pounds)! We supervise interactions but because of the size difference I'm reluctant to let them determine the pecking order, so to speak, because I'm afraid she'll hurt the new puppy. Can anyone give me an idea of what is normal and what I should allow, or not, for the smoothest an quickest transition? Thanks in advance!
Second Newf (pup)
- Thread starter Brita
- Start date
I think you would definitely not let the older one play too rough with the little one. I had an adult male when we brought home our little girl and we had issues for a while with the male biting her to try to keep her in line. We didn't let that behavior be ok and after she grew up she let him have it...now he totally leaves her alone. They play but not in a mean way. Their little bones are not developed enough to have rough play and they should not tug on anything as their teeth are very soft...I would supervise all interactions with them for about 1 year. Good luck and have fun!!
Thank you for your response!
We are on our third day with the new puppy and he seems quite spunky - a solid, fluffy boy who likes to antagonize(?) our older girl Newf. Antagonize might not be the right word - more like returning to play even after expressing his deference. We give them supervised interactions in common areas and separate breaks in their safe spaces.
When together, the older dog does what I think is typical - sniffs, follows, "bows," etc. The pup will nip at the older dog and then she (the older dog) will either put her paw on the pup or mouth her as if to say "no go on the bites." The puppy does not whine or appear hurt in these situations and when our older girl lets go the puppy returns to excited behavior. During the interactions she'll show deference by showing her tummy or hiding to a safe spot. My concern is when to actually intervene - pawing the puppy doesn't seem bad but how do I know if she's putting too much weight on her before she gets hurt? Mouthing her to stop from nipping doesn't seem bad but how do I know if it is wrong before a mouth turns to a bite? I want to let them establish their relationship naturally without interfering unless, of course, I should. We also have human four year old and one year old, who the older Newf is very gentle with - she jumps out of their way if she thinks necessary. She does the same with the puppy, but the puppy -- being a puppy -- is more erratic and I fear he might just get stepped on. Obviously both dogs are very excited at the new relationship but I just want to make sure that I'm doing everything that I can to make sure that excitement doesn't turn into a situation that will hurt the puppy and that our lovely Newfs can enjoy each other's company, one of the primary reasons we wanted to expand our Newf family - to ensure constant companionship.
I just discovered Newf Net and am loving the experience and expertise on the forum as I read through older threads. I always knew that Newfs are special, but I'm also quickly learning from reading through comments that what applies to other dogs does not always apply to Newfs. Thanks for sharing!
We are on our third day with the new puppy and he seems quite spunky - a solid, fluffy boy who likes to antagonize(?) our older girl Newf. Antagonize might not be the right word - more like returning to play even after expressing his deference. We give them supervised interactions in common areas and separate breaks in their safe spaces.
When together, the older dog does what I think is typical - sniffs, follows, "bows," etc. The pup will nip at the older dog and then she (the older dog) will either put her paw on the pup or mouth her as if to say "no go on the bites." The puppy does not whine or appear hurt in these situations and when our older girl lets go the puppy returns to excited behavior. During the interactions she'll show deference by showing her tummy or hiding to a safe spot. My concern is when to actually intervene - pawing the puppy doesn't seem bad but how do I know if she's putting too much weight on her before she gets hurt? Mouthing her to stop from nipping doesn't seem bad but how do I know if it is wrong before a mouth turns to a bite? I want to let them establish their relationship naturally without interfering unless, of course, I should. We also have human four year old and one year old, who the older Newf is very gentle with - she jumps out of their way if she thinks necessary. She does the same with the puppy, but the puppy -- being a puppy -- is more erratic and I fear he might just get stepped on. Obviously both dogs are very excited at the new relationship but I just want to make sure that I'm doing everything that I can to make sure that excitement doesn't turn into a situation that will hurt the puppy and that our lovely Newfs can enjoy each other's company, one of the primary reasons we wanted to expand our Newf family - to ensure constant companionship.
I just discovered Newf Net and am loving the experience and expertise on the forum as I read through older threads. I always knew that Newfs are special, but I'm also quickly learning from reading through comments that what applies to other dogs does not always apply to Newfs. Thanks for sharing!
Our little girl was such a bad biter...nothing we tried worked with her but that was puppy to human and not puppy to older dogs...our HUGE boy Jake was very rough with her and sent us to the vet several times with cuts from bites. That is why we had to supervise all the time and even then he was too fast for us to catch before he would bite her. Maybe your older female is more motherly towards the pup and will do fine teaching him what is acceptable, our male didn't...but now they are friends. I just think I would supervise the play and interaction until the puppy is older as his little body is very fragile at this point. No stairs for 9 months and no jumping either...I do believe it is better to be safe than sorry.!
R Taft
Active member
I allow my older dogs to interact with my pups. Pups need to be educated by the older dogs and are allowed to be growled at. Everyone tells me they love how polite Urshie my six month old pup is. That is becuase she has been told off by our old girls a lot... I allow growling at it is a warning for her to behave, I allow the older girls to interact with her all the time. I do watch out for rough play and my dogs know gentle, means gentle play and no rough stuff at all. If you do not allow the pup to gat told off, you will have lots of future issues. I have a six dog house hold of which five are newfies. The toughest on the pups is the non newf though. But they get on really well and all the puppies that go through our place end up polite adult dogs.
it is natural behaviour for the adult female to tell off puppies... it is good for them and great socialisation. I meet many dogs in my behaviour training sessions that have not had this and they are difficult to teach appropriate behaviour once older.
The biting is also often fixed by the older dog and sometimes it might seem quite severe. For myself, i have stuff that she is allowed to bite on my person, I always carry stuff around with me, and put it in her mouth when she goes to bite.... I also will do the really loud scream, but you better make sure it is loud and walk away out of reach and ignore the pup for about 5 minutes for it to work.
Femal dogs, especially of the same breed are the best teachers... males are often too tolerant or play too rough.
Now if you think your puppy is too rough for your older girl.... remove the pup, say nothing and just put it out in time out for about 5 minutes... if allowed back, say nothing... if it happens again, timeout again, and again and again and again.... can be quite tedious the first few weeks. But make sure you do not make your older gilr think she is the one in trouble and allow her to tell the pup off. If not it will be issues later on
it is natural behaviour for the adult female to tell off puppies... it is good for them and great socialisation. I meet many dogs in my behaviour training sessions that have not had this and they are difficult to teach appropriate behaviour once older.
The biting is also often fixed by the older dog and sometimes it might seem quite severe. For myself, i have stuff that she is allowed to bite on my person, I always carry stuff around with me, and put it in her mouth when she goes to bite.... I also will do the really loud scream, but you better make sure it is loud and walk away out of reach and ignore the pup for about 5 minutes for it to work.
Femal dogs, especially of the same breed are the best teachers... males are often too tolerant or play too rough.
Now if you think your puppy is too rough for your older girl.... remove the pup, say nothing and just put it out in time out for about 5 minutes... if allowed back, say nothing... if it happens again, timeout again, and again and again and again.... can be quite tedious the first few weeks. But make sure you do not make your older gilr think she is the one in trouble and allow her to tell the pup off. If not it will be issues later on
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This has been really helpful, thank you!
A little background on our babies: Odin and Dos share a dad, actually, but obviously from different litters. Daddy is a big 200 pound boy. Dos' mom was around 160 and Odin's mom was less but comparable (though the exact number escapes me at the moment).
Yes, one is still a puppy and our one year old (Dos) is still in many ways puppy-like, but she has, surprisingly, taken on a more mature role now that we have the younger pup (10 weeks). Not that she doesn't charge on and play, but she seems to be more concerned with making sure she knows where the little one is and if playing together will obviously focus all of her attention on him (Odin). Now, this very well may be my own perception shift since I didn't have the comparison before! We also spoke to our vet and she reminded us that it doesn't behoove the breed to play too rough with puppies so as to ensure the continuation of the breed. Makes sense. Also makes sense to keep an eye on things just in case.
In any case, I think I was nervous because, while Odin is a big puppy (26 pounds) , he still remains smaller than Dos. Seeing her put her big mouth around Odin's much smaller limbs or body was a bit scary but she also hasn't bit - only stops him. I definitely want them to learn to play well together (and let the pup learn good behavior appropriately) so will try to relax a little bit and let nature take its course. I think the advice to also remove the puppy if necessary was really useful because I needed reminding that our big girl can't be entirely responsible. At night, when it is bed-time Dos lies down near Odin's crate and they kiss each other, so I know they like each other but once out together it is NON STOP!
A little background on our babies: Odin and Dos share a dad, actually, but obviously from different litters. Daddy is a big 200 pound boy. Dos' mom was around 160 and Odin's mom was less but comparable (though the exact number escapes me at the moment).
Yes, one is still a puppy and our one year old (Dos) is still in many ways puppy-like, but she has, surprisingly, taken on a more mature role now that we have the younger pup (10 weeks). Not that she doesn't charge on and play, but she seems to be more concerned with making sure she knows where the little one is and if playing together will obviously focus all of her attention on him (Odin). Now, this very well may be my own perception shift since I didn't have the comparison before! We also spoke to our vet and she reminded us that it doesn't behoove the breed to play too rough with puppies so as to ensure the continuation of the breed. Makes sense. Also makes sense to keep an eye on things just in case.
In any case, I think I was nervous because, while Odin is a big puppy (26 pounds) , he still remains smaller than Dos. Seeing her put her big mouth around Odin's much smaller limbs or body was a bit scary but she also hasn't bit - only stops him. I definitely want them to learn to play well together (and let the pup learn good behavior appropriately) so will try to relax a little bit and let nature take its course. I think the advice to also remove the puppy if necessary was really useful because I needed reminding that our big girl can't be entirely responsible. At night, when it is bed-time Dos lies down near Odin's crate and they kiss each other, so I know they like each other but once out together it is NON STOP!
WOW!!!! I'm both envious and a little tired thinking about that many!
