Episode #207 Caring for and Validating Your Senior Dog While Teaching a New Puppy

Introducing a new puppy into a household with a senior dog can be a rollercoaster of emotions, but it doesn’t have to be. Imagine finding that needed balance, where your senior dog feels loved and secure even with a new bundle of energy bouncing around. In today’s episode, we give you the insights needed to create a harmonious environment for your seasoned canine companion and your playful new arrival. Drawing from personal experiences, such as Bruno and Baxter's unique adjustment journeys, we unpack the significance of understanding your older dog's changing needs and how to manage the potential stress a lively puppy brings effectively. From creating a safe retreat for your senior pet to maintaining consistent routines, we’ll guide you through essential strategies to ensure both pets thrive.

Chapters

• 0:00 New Puppy Meets Older Dog
• 8:01 Building a Strong Bond Through Training

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Are you bringing home a new puppy and you already have an older dog in your home, there's a few things that you're going to want to know to make sure that this goes well and that they start to like each other. So today we're talking about bringing home a new puppy when you already have a senior dog in the home, and how to make that a smooth, happy transition. Welcome to the show. Welcome to the Puppy Training Podcast. I'm Amy Jensen, founder of Baxter Bella, the online puppy school. Here we are all about helping you create the best possible experience raising a puppy, from training tips to practical tricks, all aimed at fostering a happy, well-behaved dog who truly feels like part of the family. So if you are ready to enjoy the journey and strengthen the bond with your dog, let's get started. Hello everybody, welcome to the Puppy Training Podcast. I hope you're having a great Christmas holiday. We just celebrated Christmas and it's time to think about the new year next, right, I haven't even thought that far. Hopefully you're more on top of it than I am, but today we are talking about caring for and validating your senior dog while teaching a new puppy. So many of you are bringing home a new puppy or you just brought one home and you already have a dog. Sometimes that can present challenges, but it can also be a good experience as well. Sometimes that can present challenges, but it can also be a good experience as well.

Speaker 1: 1:26

Older dogs often have specific needs, like physical limitations, emotional requirements and a set routine. As long as we can balance these needs while making sure our puppy receives proper training and attention, it will all work together to maintain harmony in our homes. So today let's talk about the importance of validating and caring for our senior dog while teaching a new puppy, and we're going to focus on three ways to support our older dog during this transition. First off, understanding our senior dog's perspective is important. They often experience changes in mobility, hearing, vision and energy levels as they age. They may start to feel threatened or anxious with the arrival of a new, lively puppy. Puppies have a lot of energy and it doesn't always match the energy of our senior dog. A senior dog's life is built on routine and sudden disruptions can create stress, so it's essential to acknowledge their feelings and adapt your approach to make sure that your older dog feels secure and valued. There will be times when your older dog likes being around the new puppy and other times when they will need their own space. So let's start there. Number one is to create a safe space for your older dog. Senior dogs need a quiet, comfortable place where they can retreat if the puppy becomes too energetic. We are not going to treat our older dogs like the puppy sitter. Okay, this space should be off-limits to the puppy and stocked with your senior dog's favorite bed toys, perhaps even an item with your scent, for added comfort. Giving your senior dog a sanctuary reinforces their sense of security and provides them with a much-needed reprieve from the puppy's antics At our house.

Speaker 1: 3:00

Bruno is our senior dog in our home. He's 12 and he doesn't move as easily as he once did. His knees are not doing so great, but he still loves to be out by us. He just prefers to be laying somewhere out of the way of the excitement and chaos of Baxter and Bella, who love to play and wrestle. We created a pen area for him to retreat to whenever he wishes, so he has his bed, his chews, food and water bowls are in there for him and it has a little doggy door so he can come and go as he pleases and, if needed, I can lock that door, so fun, sweet, spunky Bella can't go visit Now. This gives Bruno that safe, comfortable place where he can't be bothered by the puppy antics.

Speaker 1: 3:36

Next, it's important that we maintain consistency for our older dogs, especially during significant changes like bringing a new puppy home. We want to keep feeding times, walks and play schedules as close to their usual routine as possible. If our older dog enjoys slow, peaceful strolls, we want to ensure that these outings remain part of their day. By preserving familiar patterns to them, we show our older dog that their needs are still a priority and it helps them adapt more easily to the new family dynamic. So when changes are starting to happen, we want to keep as many things that are familiar to our dog in play as possible.

Speaker 1: 4:11

When Bella arrived, she joined our daily routine. Baxter really loves his walks at the park, so we took Bella along, just put her in a puppy stroller and she got to come for the walk. Now sometimes she would be napping and that's when Baxter and I would head out on his daily adventure. So we got some one-on-one time together. To Baxter the schedule didn't change much. We still did our same favorite things together and that helped him adjust to having this new puppy in the home.

Speaker 1: 4:36

Now take note that Baxter is three, bruno is 12. So each of them adjusted a little bit differently to bringing Bella home. Baxter's a little younger, he's more playful, he's more interested in the puppy play style. Bruno is much older, not as agile, has some knee problems, and so we treated each a little differently, right? Baxter wanted to be near the puppy more often. We treated each a little differently, right? Baxter wanted to be near the puppy more often, bruno was a little more like yeah, I'm good just to watch from a distance most of the time. Okay, so take into account the age of your senior dog, as that will definitely play into the time that you need to structure the behavior of the puppy and manage their interactions with your older dog.

Speaker 1: 5:19

Number three is to provide extra attention and affection to your current dog. So the arrival of a puppy often draws much of our family's attention away, which can make an older dog feel somewhat neglected. We want to counteract this by setting aside dedicated one-on-one time with your senior dog, whether it's gentle grooming, a relaxing cuddle session or simply just sitting with them while they are resting. These moments of undivided attention can reaffirm their importance in our life. All right. So training the puppy with a senior dog in mind is very important.

Speaker 1: 5:50

When teaching our puppy, it's really important that we establish boundaries and we promote respectful behavior towards the older dog. Now, puppies don't always come with this knowledge of how to interact with an older dog. Older dogs generally are pretty good at teaching them. But we want to make sure that we are monitoring this and if our puppy's not getting the message that, we can simply help them out and show them what to do. So we can encourage our puppy to play gently and recognize when the older dog is like, hey, I've had enough, then that's where management is key in the beginning and we prevent our puppy from going back to our older dog over and over again when it's not appreciated. So baby gates, exercise pens, crates and tethers will all be helpful in teaching our puppy appropriate manners around other dogs and giving our older dogs breaks when they need one.

Speaker 1: 6:37

So we also add the training as well. So this takes time. We manage as we train. We do not expect our young puppies to know what to do. It's our job to teach them appropriate behavior. So I like to teach cues like leave it or settle, which can be super helpful in managing interactions between our dogs. Additionally, we use positive reinforcement for both dogs to create cooperation and a good environment. We want to reward our older dogs for tolerating the puppy's presence and the puppy for behaving appropriately around the senior dog. This dual approach reinforces good behavior and it helps prevent any jealousy. Older dogs tend to love the fact that puppies mean more food rewards. Let those dogs join in on the training sessions. It's great review for them and they have fun doing it. They also love, as I mentioned, the fact that food is involved.

Speaker 1: 7:26

While our new puppy requires extensive training and attention, it's important to strike a balance that ensures both dogs feel loved and cared for. By addressing the unique needs of our senior dogs and fostering mutual respect between both, we can create an environment where both animals can thrive. It really is fun to see them play together, bond and get to know each other and, as I mentioned, age will play a lot into this. So if you have any questions about your senior dog and need help coaching through how to help your puppy join the household, please reach out to us. We'd love to do a coaching session with you and help you through the entire process.

Speaker 1: 8:01

Have a great week and happy training. Thanks for tuning in to the puppy training podcast. I hope today's tips help you feel more confident and excited about raising your dog. Remember, with a little patience and consistency, you can create a loving bond and a well-behaved pup who's a joy to have in your family. If you found this episode helpful, be sure to subscribe, leave a review and share it with fellow puppy parents. For more resources, visit Baxter and Bella online. Until next time, happy training.