For posterity, and for ppl reading years from now (so, not OP) …. THIS is why I intentionally got the second dog when the first was only 7 months old.

I had previously done something like OP did, where my dogs were separated by 4 years and didn’t grow up together, and they mostly coexisted and tolerated each other for the rest of their lives. Importantly, they never had the same energy level nor desire to play and roughhouse appropriately.

To answer the feeding question — we had no issues. They each have their own bowl and know which is theirs. They get fed generally at same time and puppy is a slower eater. They often check each others bowls after to see if they left anything which has never once happened. It might be harder with a grazing dog — you might need to figure something out for that. They share toys and beds and it’s all been fine. Puppy does tend to steal bones from big dog which we think makes big dog sad but there are like 10 bones in the house so he could always just get another instead of sulking like he does.

Anonymous wrote:I'm also constantly thinking about dog number 2 for our now 7 y o. She has loved playdates since the beginning. Our trainer warned against it as being a bad idea in general (she's been hard to train).

Also I'm worried about food guarding and fights over food since she eats at her own leisure.

So we haven't pulled the plug. And it would be an older dog too. 2 at least.
Did anything happen to feeding when others did this?

PP at 9:43

Our older dog hasn't guarded food or treats ... but she has resource guarded us a little. The only time she pulls rank on the new dog is when we get home. We can see her through our glass door bark at the little one to keep her from running to greet us at the door first. The new dog very much has to wait her turn to greet us at the door, lol. And if you are on the couch petting and cuddling the new dog, the older dog will often come push her way in for pets, even though before we got the second dog she never asked for pets.

We had this exact situation this summer and we were upset too! It turns out our dog just didn’t want to play with a “baby”. It took a few weeks for the puppy to get older and then our dog started playing with him. They now do 3-4 play sessions a day, usually after a walk. Sometimes the older dog will go pick up the puppy’s favorite toy and just stand there with it like he’s daring him — come get it from me. And puppy is much better about not bothering big dog when big dog wants to sleep. They found their way. The one thing I would say is just don’t discourage your older dog from setting boundaries. When he snapped at puppy to tell him “cut it out” we actually praised him for setting boundaries and teaching puppy some manners. Ours is very mild mannered so we really didn’t want him to be a doormat to the puppy.

I'm also constantly thinking about dog number 2 for our now 7 y o. She has loved playdates since the beginning. Our trainer warned against it as being a bad idea in general (she's been hard to train).

Also I'm worried about food guarding and fights over food since she eats at her own leisure.

So we haven't pulled the plug. And it would be an older dog too. 2 at least.
Did anything happen to feeding when others did this?

We got a second dog a few months ago. The newer dog is a 1yo rescue and the older dog is a 1yo rescue.

They coexist. They don't bother each other, but they also don't play with each other. The younger one quickly learned that our old guy is not interested. I'm a little disappointed because I hoped they would be best friends. But in the end, we love both dogs and it works.

To be honest, my parents' older dog never adjusted to my sister's puppy (both older dog and puppy were female). The dog was quite old when my sister moved back in with her puppy and she was always very grouchy about it.

We kept our dogs separated for two months when we got a second dog. They could see each other through the baby gates, but they had their own spaces. Our first dog also loved all dogs, but he was leery when we got the second dog. Our second dog was 2yo when we got him, not a puppy.

They are now good buds and play well together, but they will never be those dogs you see sleeping on each other.

Give it time. And understand that having dogs over to play and having another dog move in is not the same thing at all.

We have a lovable mutt; she's 9 years old and we got her as a puppy. Two years ago we added another dog to our family; a rescue toy poodle who had lived her life in a puppy mill. The toy poodle worships her dog sister. The mutt tolerates the poodle. That may be the best you can hope for. They are always together, because the poodle wants to be with her sister. But the mutt could not care less, and would not be sad in the least if the poodle were to disappear into thin air.

But it has worked out. Both dogs are happy and healthy.

I foster a ton with my own two dogs.

1. Give the older one more breaks! Puppy needs to NOT be allowed to annoy it. Very slow integration is best.

2. Give the older one the same amount of attention and solo walks it used to get.

3. like others said -it takes time.

My dogs generally prefer older puppies/adults (with established personalities and an understanding of boundaries) to puppies who have not yet learned boundaries. Some puppies are better at that than others.

Just give it a bit more time.

Op here — we love dogs and have the time and space, and our first dog is very social and loves having “play dates” at our house and going to the dog park. We considered adopting an adult dog but she seemed to enjoy being around the puppy our friend brought over.

We thought it would be win-win.

Why did you get the second dog? What drove the decision?

We have a similar situation - sample size ONE but it worked out for us. Older dog is amenable mostly and does play with puppy. We lucked out I think. Good luck.

We have an adult mutt who loves dogs and has no problem with other people’s dogs in our house. She seems to be so happy when her “friends” come to visit. We even did a test when a friend brought over her puppy and she was fine with it, totally played, etc. She is a very social dog.

So…We got a second dog, a puppy, and she seemed completely annoyed with it. Granted it can be annoying— nipping at her to get her to chase it, etc. but we are so sad bc we thought she was going to love having a buddy.

We make sure we put the puppy in the crate for naps and at night so she gets a break and also we want her to feel like the dog isn’t always in her face.

It’s been 12 days and the older dog just doesn’t seem to be taking to the puppy. If it jumps on the sofa she jumps off and so forth.

Is this normal? Will it get better?