[TagsDog]

Hello everyone, this is my first post here, basically I'll jump right in with my question, I have a 12 year old staffordshire bull terrier named Tags, he is a lovely dog who just wants to play and eat all day. I've had him since he was a pup and he is basically great at everything! But he doesn't have a lot of experience being around other dogs, he's never mated, and has rarely been around other dogs for a long period of time. When he is passing other dogs in the street he doesn't act alarmed at all, just tries to walk over to sniff them, and doesn't bark or growl at other dogs. He does moan when the dog that my neighbour has is out, as he can see it through the fence. The other week I took him for a walk with my friend and her dog (who was also male) and I did notice the hairs on Tags' back standing up at first, but other than trying to sniff the other dog nothing much happened until we got down the road and something triggered one of the dogs to growl which resulted in a little scuffle between the two, but we soon calmed them both down and they were well behaved for the rest of the walk, my dog did continue to try and sniff my friends dog though.

...

I'm trying to not drag this on, but I feel its best to provide as much information as possible. I've been browsing puppies for a while and I have completely fell in love with miniature dachshund puppies, but we feel a bit anxious about looking into bringing one home because we feel like Tags wouldn't like it, and think he may try and harm the puppy, so my question is, what is the best way to introduce a new puppy to an adult dog who has been the only dog in the house for 12 years and has little experience of being with other dogs, any help would be appreciated! Thankyou.


BTW, if we did bring a new puppy home, it would be a male dog.

 

[mathilda]

Okay, I know some people will have another opinion, but I'd not add another puppy to your family for now.
12 years is already pretty old and the dogs seems to be a bit insecure when it comes to dealing with other dogs.
I don't say it can't work, but it will be stressful for the old dog to have a lively puppy around, especially if it isn't so well socialised.
I'd just enjoy the last years with your elderly dog and think about a new one after the dog isn't anymore.

 

[TagsDog]

Okay, I know some people will have another opinion, but I'd not add another puppy to your family for now.
12 years is already pretty old and the dogs seems to be a bit insecure when it comes to dealing with other dogs.
I don't say it can't work, but it will be stressful for the old dog to have a lively puppy around, especially if it isn't so well socialised.
I'd just enjoy the last years with your elderly dog and think about a new one after the dog isn't anymore.

I understand what you mean entirely, but my dog is still VERY energetic, to be honest I think the energy levels my dog shows would match that of a puppy's, but I'm no expert, my dog is very friendly and I'm sure he wouldn't try and harm another dog purposely, but you can never be certain. My problem with waiting until my current dog passes in order to get a new pup is kind of like replacing him for me, and I wouldn't be able to do that, infact it would take me a very long time to get over my current dog and start thinking about getting a new one, and by that time, it would be years from now. I appreciate the advice.

 

[tiffanyandteddy]

From my own personal experience it is not impossible to add a new puppy to your family with the condition of your staffy. However, you do have to make sure to keep a very sharp eye on both dogs just in case.
I rescued a bully some years back who was not used to being around other dogs at all and he didn't show signs of dog aggression, but I never wanted to test it. After two years of having him, I decided that I wanted a puppy. Some of the things I did was walk the dogs. I had my brother walk the puppy in front of me and I walked Sam a couple feet behind. When the puppy would stop and sit in some grass or pee, I'd let Sam sniff around that area and so on. I'd have the puppy in a crate and let Sam sniff him through there and vice versa. Within a couple weeks I had enough trust in Sam that I had the puppy in a sit stay position, let Sam in the living room, with a couple of stern looks and sniffs, Sam walked away from the puppy and went on with his life. They did great together! It did take a lot of consistent work and patience.

 

[StormyPeak]

I've had a lot of dogs in my live that lived into old age. (I'm 52).

While it is possible to get a puppy into a home with an elderly dog, personally I never liked the idea. Your dog is 12, and you say energetic, which is great, but from personal experience, I can tell you that when they start to act old...the progression is very fast...one year you have a dog that doesn't seem old and the next, it's barely able to move because arthritis kicked in, or it's eye sight or hearing have great diminished.

I call it the downward spiral...and with month that goes by, it's like one of t hose 'twists' in a spiral...they get smaller and things move along faster with each twist.

The last thing I ever wanted for my elder pets, was to be pestered by a younger dog on days when they were not feeling good, or their energy levels ran out after a half hour of play but a puppy can go almost all day.

There's always time to get another dog in one's life...but you have only a limited amount of time with the pet that you have....and once their gone, you might regret all the hours you never spent with your current pet because you were sidetracked playing with a new puppy and teaching it things while your older pet sat off to the side and watched.

I know we don't get a vote in this....and again, I also know people successfully put puppies into a house hold with older pets....but my slant is don't do it. Let you dog have you and only you just like he's had it for all of his life and don't let his last years be something where he is now having to wait for it because another dog has come into his life and he has to now share you with that dog.

btw, I've always had 2 dogs in my life...but they were always acquired within months of each other and their ages where usually very close to each others...and that works out because they do share the same energy levels and see similar slow downs as they aged and were use to having me paying attention to the other dog..

Stormy

 

[mathilda]

I think if I would want to add a new dog to an elderly dog, I'd probably take an adult animal that is already a bit calmer and has perhaps also learned a bit about social behaviour before, so that it doesn't pester the old one so much.
there are a lot of middleaged, calm dogs in shelters, that are waiting for someone to take them home.
Teo was relatively fit until the end and very playful, but when he got older he was a lot less tolerant towards puppies and young dog not respecting his boundaries and you could see, after playing with a puppy, that it was tiring him to be with them.