introduction of puppy

[franoman]

i was hoping for some advice on introducing a 6 week rott to a 3yr 6 mth old.
the older one(tyson) is very friendly with other dogs so the early yrs shouldnt be a problem. its further down the line that im concerned about. the younger one is also a male. do you think there will be future dominance issues as tyson generally the boss outside of myself. he is very sure of himself and is extremely confident and attention seeking.

do you feel that as the pup grows up there may be challenges to this dominance or is tyson old enough to remain the alpha male.

also is there any truth in the theory of getting one of them neutered to solve this potential difficulty?

any comments appreciated!

[Tonielle]

Tyson will have to assert his dominance, or vice versa.

Dogs are pack animals and they will always have a 'position' in relation to other dogs.
Usually, in order to determine who's who in the pack there are situations (ie testing or telling) and yes, there will probably be times when puppy chances his arm to see where he stands.
You might find that puppy becomes alpha (of the 'real dog' pack) ... I have seen pups be dominant over adult dogs... it's not always down to age.

My advice to you is to intervene in any serious situation, but let them decide who's boss.
In my house the Alpha dog gets treated as such (in relation to the other dogs) ie fed first etc...

Do not try to assert who is boss, watch carefully to see what they've sorted out and act accordingly. (always making sure you stay 'top dog', of course)

If you interfere and try to 'choose' who's alpha yourself then you might find that the 'real' alpha is constantly having to reassert themselves (as they are naturally above the other) and you might have problems.

** edited to add **

The position of alpha (amongst the dogs) can change at times, so watch carefully and act accordingly.

Of course, this is only how things go in my house - and just my 0.02c !!

Best of luck!
HTH

Toni

[Judi W]

Best results would be for you to acquire a puppy of the opposite sex and to wait until it is at least 7 weeks to 8 weeks of age before bringing it home. As you are now, you will be bringing home a puppy that should still be with its litter, and you will have two same sex in the prime which pretty much guarantees conflict. Neutering is not going to solve this.

[franoman]

so would you say to get a bitch and have her neutered?

[Tonielle]

OUCH!! Sorry, I was thinking about the situation in future and totally neglected to notice the age of the puppy!

6weeks is too young for a dog to go to it's home. Fullstop.

I would also consider finding another breeder to buy from as this sounds a very irresponsible way of homing puppies.
Is there a reason why the puppy is leaving mum at six weeks?
My own dog came to live with us at six weeks, but only because he was abandoned and subsequently rescued by us at that age.


A little OT, but why is Tyson not neutered? Are you breeding/planning to with him?

Any dog (IMO) who is not breeding should be neutered, unless there is a really good reason to not do so!

[Judi W]

I would definitely recommend a bitch and one or the other or both should be desexed.

[franoman]

in this country puppies are always taken away at 6 weeks here.

just to clear up another point. tyson is the sire of the litter.
so in your experience, dont get a dog, get a bitch and have her neutered.
and if no longer using tyson as a stud get him neutered

[Judi W]

Just don't keep two intact together as it is just short of horrible dealing with an intact dog when you have a bitch in season in the home.

[Tonielle]

Yep, sounds about right.

What is the reason behind the removal of pups so early?


Sorry, editing again because that sounds very abrupt... I am merely curious to hear the reasoning behind this. I realise and respect that there are differences everywhere in the world.
I am interested because this is such a huge issue here, in ireland. We are constantly trying to educate the public about the issues behind taking a pup away from it's littermates and mum too early... I'd like to hear another view, as there seems to be one *thumbsup*

[Judi W]

The only reason I have ever discovered is a lazy breeder that is not inclined to care for the pups once the dam is finished with them. They tend to believe that if the dam is no longer providing their food, that they no longer need to be with their dog families. It is a lack of knowlege about the development and the learning that pups need from their own kind before moving on to their new human families.

[Tonielle]

Yes! Judi! It is so very important and we struggle everyday to help people understand the reason why they shouldn't just buy from the guy who'll give the puppy up right away... (aside from all the other reasons not to buy from an unscrupulous breeder!)
Socialisation is just such an important part of puppyhood and they learn so much from their littermates in such an appropriate way - I really am curious to know the logic which caused this to be the 'norm' there...

[Judi W]

Since you are both from Ireland, for you "there" is "here"

I would note, that many of the more serious behavior issues people deal with are with puppies that were removed from their litter at too young an age. It is those couple of extra weeks with the litter that helps teach them bite inhibition and same species rules.

[franoman]

i dont know. ive had 2 german shepherds and 1 rotty and always collected them about 6 weeks.
you think 7 or 8 weeks

[Tonielle]

Darn... I definetly need another coffee... thanks for pointing that out Judi!!

Franoman - We try so hard to educate people about things like this, 8 weeks MINIMUM. You don't necessarily want to leave the littermates together too late either, but 8 weeks is really the youngest I would remove a pup from it's litter.

Since you are from ireland I would also like to direct you to a very good site (if you haven't already been to us...) www.irishanimals.ie and also db http://board.irishanimals.ie (no www)
I am not trying to be harsh, but I would like to ask you why you are breeding as the only reason to breed that seems reasonable to me is to better the line and contribute to the upkeep of a good line of solid and sound dogs.

Please visit us at irishanimals and see the vast numbers of dogs we are trying (often unsuccesfully) to save EVERY DAY. Yes, lots of these are purebred dogs, that is not uncommon at all.
Just like Grace and Edith who I recently sprung from the pound. Dumped and neglected and yet 'purebred' dogs...

There are thousands upon thousands of dogs (purebreds included) destroyed EACH YEAR HERE in ireland, even though thousands of us are interested and try to help with the situation.

Anyone is welcome to visit the site and join :)

Toni

[franoman]

tonielle,
im personally not breeding the pups. im just using my dog as a stud dog and will just be taking one of the pups as a pet.
i appreciate about the re-homing of dogs but i can assure you that proper care will be taken of any dogs i work with.

please see original post of orogonal query as i feel your missing the point