[Cuppybear]

Mom dog aggressive toward her own puppy?

Hi, we had a litter of puppies back in May and kept the mom as well as one of the puppies, now 8 months old. Oliver (the puppy) lives with me and Tracey (the mom) lives with my parents, but I bring Oliver over all the time to visit. Oliver and Tracey used to hang out in the garage together for hours playing. He was always super energetic and would "bug" her nonstop, but she would put him in his place when she had to and we never had any problems between the 2 of them. Recently though, we had to keep Oliver in the house because Tracey had a bum hip and was on anti-inflammatories, and was supposed to stay off of it for a while. We of course didn't want them playing together because that wouldn't allow her to recover.

About a month ago, my parents let Oliver down for the first time to see Tracey in the garage. I wasn't there, but I heard she got really nasty and wanted to jump on him. My dad got nervous she was going to hurt him so he pulled Oliver away. Oliver peed right there on the garage floor I guess because he was so scared. My brother's girlfriend kept one of other puppies and he had been over to visit several times during this time, and she was always accepting of him. This has me puzzled.

Does anyone know why Tracey would exhibit this behavior towards her own puppy? Has she gotten territorial since he's been gone? We haven't let him down since, but I'd really like to re-unite them...Any suggestions on how to do that?

 

[Cuppybear]

They used to play like this

 

[StormyPeak]

There are a number of ways to reintroduce them...but you might try having your dog and your brother's girlfriend's dog play with each other for a bit first, if they will...then let the girlfriend's dog in first to see the momma dog, followed closely by your dog. But... I wouldn't walk in with the dog in your arms...put it on a short leash...and also have the momma dog on a short leash, just in case. Since both of the sibling dogs will have each other's smell on them from playing, that might cause the momma dog to hesitate in doing anything aggressive...since she knows and likes the other dog already.

I think dogs can be jealous and if a person walks in with a dog in their arms, that might trigger some territory/jealous feelings in the other dog...especially given the
'new' dog has a height advantage that would make the other dog even more nervous.

Also be sure than any food or cherished toys are not laying around that might need 'protected' by the momma dog.

Stormy

 

[Cuppybear]

Unfortunately I don't think we'll be seeing the other puppy because my brother and his gf broke up.

How you recommend doing this with just the 2 of them? Just introducing them both on leash? I believe when my parents did it Tracey was off leash and Oliver was just let down the stairs also not on a leash. I was also thinking maybe bringing Oliver out front, then introducing Tracey second. This way she's coming into him, and it's also on neutral territory.

 

[StormyPeak]

Sorry I haven't responded sooner. My internet here has been having major issues since Friday night, often being off for up to 7 to 12 hours at certain times and in-between only on sporadically - on for a few hours and off for anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour or so.

Your plan to keep both leashed and introduce them in neutral territory sounds good to me.

Hopefully, the two dogs will get along together - it might have been the previous incident happened due to the momma dog being startled by a strange dog rushing into her territory.

From my experience with dogs, momma dogs usually don't remember their offspring once the pups have been weaned and separated from them. So don't feel like there is some failure there...it's just how nature meant things to be, I think.

Stormy