My 6 month old Rottweiler has no respect for our adult Pug, he jumps on her and mauls her. How can I get him to understand that this is not OK?

I have a 6-month-old rottweiler puppy who is well-socialized, and has the right amount of exercise, for his age, and we are attending obedience. 95% of the time he is amazing he listens and engages. However, he has no respect for our 5-year-old pug he jumps on her and mauls her. I use verbal corrections like " uh uhh" which is the word I have chosen to let him know he has made a mistake and "off" in a loud stern voice. He gets off but then 5 minutes later does it again...is my only option to alternate them in their crates. How can I get him to understand this is not OK and protect our older dog.

Cindy's Answer

I don't allow my puppies to have free access to my older dogs if they show this tendency. They are either on a leash so I can block them from pestering and abusing my other dogs or I put the young dog in an exercise pen or behind a baby gate. Right now we currently have 4 dogs ranging in size from 4 lbs to 85 lbs, so we have a lot of experience managing this situation. You can alternate them in crates but I prefer to have the young dog in the living space with us either leashed or in the exercise pen. That way they learn to settle around the other dogs but are still part of the family activity.

You can also put the pug in the pen when you want to offer the pup some free time with you in the house. Our ultimate goal is to allow everyone loose with us together but it can take some time. I want my young dogs to learn how to behave properly while protecting my older or smaller dogs from being tormented or even injured by an exuberant pup.

We have an inexpensive video on how we manage our multi dog household, I've linked it below.