Should I let a 3 mon puppy stay with 1year old male GSD

[johnquantran]

In a month or so I will get a new 3mon puppy. Currently I have a male GSD 1year 3 month old. My question is "should I let them stay together or separate them out" because I worry the puppy could pick up bad habit from the old one.
Thanks for your inputs.
--JT

[wolfstraum]

NO. The puppy should be crated when you cannot be watching him....it is not an issue of picking up bad habits...the older dog, still a pup himself, could hurt the pup - inadvertantly or intentionally....the puppy needs to learn potty training and house manners from you managing and interacting with him. Some intact males are good with pups, but should always be supervised closely.

Lee

[Mom2Shaman]

Second that. NO. When you find out the older dog can put the pup's whole head in his mouth, you will realize it is not about habits, it is about safety. I have an older aussie neuter great with cats to the point he cuddles with them and yet have always supervised with the pup. Even supervised there has been some rough play leaving the pup yelping (probably out of "crying uncle" and not actual pain but if I had not intervened there could have been unintentional injury. It is not wise.

[Two]

3rd. I would say if you can't watch both of them then they shouldn't be together, at least when he's still a pup. You don't know what your older dog will do, heck, 1 year isn't even that old I would consider him a puppy too. The puppy won't be picking up bad habits like most people may think they might. As long as you spend lots of time with your two dogs, you can still train the new puppy how ever you like and shouldn't be picking up any bad habits since you're the leader.

Hope this helped =]

Edit: Oh and it's never too late to train your 1 year old who has "bad habits" ;D!

[Lilie]

It will be a bit harder to help your current puppy work through it's 'bad habits' when you have another pup that requires your attention as well.

[Castlemaid]

Fourth what everyone else said about safety. In addition, another issue to consider is that you don't want the pup becoming too bonded to your other dog which can easily happen if the pup is spending more time with your older dog than with you.

Training and having your pup look to your for leadership and direction will be compromised if the bond to the other dog overides his bond to you. One more reason to keep them apart (for the first year, at least) and make sure that play/interaction/training is focused on YOU.

[DanielleOttoMom]

5th It is alot of hard work. I would wait until your dog is at least 2 or 3 years old.

[Lauri & The Gang]

Originally Posted by johnquantran

In a month or so I will get a new 3mon puppy. Currently I have a male GSD 1year 3 month old. My question is "should I let them stay together or separate them out" because I worry the puppy could pick up bad habit from the old one.
Thanks for your inputs.
--JT

JT - what do you mean by 'stay together'?

If you are talking about letting them be together UNSUPERVISED then I agree with everyone else. It's not so much a matter of one picking up bad habits (like your older dog suddenly learning to potty inside the house because the unsupervised puppy does it) but it's more an issue of safety. Making sure the older dog doesn't overwhelm the puppy.

If you are talking about letting them be together when you are around, I say YES! As long as you supervise their interactions it's great for them to be together. Just be sure to spend one-on-one time with each dog as well. If you don't the dogs are likely to bond more strongly to each other than to you.

[johnquantran]

Thanks for all your inputs.
- Lauri, what I meant is to let them stay and play together unsupervise while I am at work.
- Mom2Shaman, my dog looks exactly like yours
Thanks again.
--JT

[doggiedad]

train and socialize the 1 yr old before bringing
home a pup. don't leave them together unsupervised.