Greetings everyone,

Great site tons of information. Most of my questions I have been able to find the answers on Ed’s web site or this forum but I just came across one that I am stumped on.
Let me set the stage quickly first. I current own a 2 ½ yr old female GSD she resides with the family in the house. Last week we brought home a new member to our family, an 8wk old male GSD.
Now I have separate crates for each dog and never are they left alone unattended and if they are together they are both on a leash so that when juniors needle like teeth get to be to much for the older one I can separate the quickly. They play together like litter mates when I allow them.
OK now researching a problem for a co-work with a crying puppy I came across this statement from Mr. Frawley.

Well you are doing a lot wrong. This is not a puppy problem it's a owner problem.

Here is the list:
1- A puppy should not be lowed to run with another dog. This is only going to lead to problems. They need to be kept separated.

Now I thought I was doing everything right since bringing junior home last week but this has me really concerned.
I guess I am looking for the why? And what am I suppose to do now?

Thanks Kim

A few quick "whys".

First, because of the risk of injury. Despite being able to separate them quickly, it only takes a second for permanant physical and psychological damage to happen.

Second, because young dogs are naturally going to enjoy playing with another dog more than you. It degrades or impedes the bond between you as the handler, and your pup.

Third, because it increases the likelyhood that the dogs will not view you as the leader. Dogs tend to establish their own hierarchy rather quickly when allowed to. You want to be the leader, which means only you get to decide pack roles.

It doesn't sound like you are doing *everything* wrong.
The pup has only been in the home for a week, though. I would keep pup and adult dog seperated for now. You want your pup to bond with you and see you as the leader, not your older dog.

After you and the pup are off to a good start, here in a few weeks, you can start slowly introducing the two dogs. Don't rush things. They have the rest of their lives to get to know each other.

I'm sure someone more experienced and knowledgable will come along but this is my personal opinion and experience.

I believe the train of thought is that the pup will become to doggy and be more focused on the other dog rather than on you. And also the potential for harm to come to the pup from playing with a much bigger older dog.

That being said the way you are doing it sounds just fine to me, if they are supervised so that the pup doesn't annoy the older dog and the older dog is trusted to be safe with the pup then I don't personally see a problem.

But I have companion dogs who do activities, not working dogs, so my thought process might be totally different.

I would strongly recommend reading, or re-reading (as the case may be) the following articles:

http://leerburg.com/2dogs.htm

http://leerburg.com/pdf/introducingdogs.pdf

http://leerburg.com/packstructure.htm

Thank you both for your help I guess I have some more reading to do.

Kim