Hello everyone. I just want to thank everyone in this wonderful community for your support lately. I am so glad this site exists. For those of you who didn't see my last post, but are interested, I am having a rough time introducing a new puppy into my home with Bandit my 1 year 7 month old husky. The first few introductions seemed rather aggressive to me, but I got some advice, and tethering the dogs close enough to one another for a couple of hours a day has helped immensely. Bandit and the puppy have actually played a few times, but the puppy is still mostly keeping his distance. Bandit on the other hand seems obsessed with the puppy now. He will lay as close as his tether allows to the puppy even if the puppy moves some distance away from him.

However, this is just some progress and far from perfect. It seems now that Bandit and the puppy only play when they don't know I am watching, but as soon as they become aware of my presence the puppy starts growling at Bandit and it doesn't seem to be play growling. He immediately withdraws from earlier play and screams bloody murder if Bandit tries to start play again. So they aren't exactly in love with one another, but I am hoping that it will get better as time goes. I am still not confident enough with letting Bandit and the puppy engage off leash or untethered and I am always supervising.

Now, I am hoping to find some tips or advice on what I can do so the puppy and Bandit don't get aggressive when I am around. I try to give both equal attention, but it seems like they are being extremely dominant over me, my Mom, and Dad. I don't want this to be a problem. It's easy to remove toys and treats that cause fights, but we can't remove ourselves. Has anybody experienced anything similar?

I had to read your other thread to find out what age your new puppy is, congratulations by the way, these two will be the best of buds, I'm sure of it.

Over my lifetime, I've had the need to introduce a puppy to an existing dog quite a few times. I've actually never experienced the growling on either side but I gotta say, an 8 week old puppy just doesn't know aggression. An 8 week old puppy can be pushy, but aggressive I'm thinking not. In my mind, you may be just misinterpreting the noises they make. It happens! It also doesn't sound to me, as you described in the post above, that Bandit is the one being dominant over you. The puppy, maybe, and he will more than likely make improvements on that part as time goes by and you working with them, together, and individually. From everything I've read, Bandit is handling himself very well and a lot of that comes from the time you invested in him and the way you brought him up. Have confidence in that! with your 8 week old, yes, he must be watched carefully with Bandit because of their size differences and energy levels, but as the pup grows, you will have to watch them less and less. Seriously though, try and relax (your dogs will relax more then too because they can actually read that you are relaxed and will respond accordingly) and step in if/when you have to, but I think you raised Bandit very well and things will relax going forward.

Work on training. Start that puppy on basic commands. Continue to work on Bandit with the same stuff. They will see they both have the same set of rules and expectations in time. Work on keeping yourself calm. If they are fine when you are away and the pup's anxiety goes up when you return it's likely feeding off you. Work on bonding with it and give it time. Look into some breathing exercises. Do a little yoga. Anything to soothe yourself. In return it will soothe them. Or they will think you're crazy and want to play with you. That was my big boy's first impression of Yoga. Looks funny, ima nip her in the butt.