I will apologize in advance, this will be a long post.
I lost my 12 year old GSD soulmate in November, our female who will be 12 in the fall was depressed after losing him. We knew we are a 2 dog family, and I had a lot of concerns bringing a puppy into the mix. My Mika is a dominant, no nonsense, queen bee sort of gal. She is also very leash reactive. She is the dog who has taught me so much about dog ownership and training. We completed advanced obedience together, and through a lot of hard work and dedication she is much better. She is a wonderful, smart, sweet girl. Since Maxx died she has been very bonded to me. I had a lot of questions and concerns before getting a pup. My breeder guided me to working with a senior and puppy and matched our pup perfectly. I was ready for whatever challenges were to come.
There have been NONE. Our pup is 15 weeks old and he is her baby. She never lets him out of her sight. She always lays at my feet and if he starts getting nippy and puppy crazy, she goes, gets a toy to distract him and plays with him. She loves playing tug and chase with him. If he gets too tired and fussy.....she nuzzles him until he goes to sleep. She never bonded to my Maxx like that. If Maxx looked at her sideways she would tear a strip off of him. Watching her patience with him, how she plays with him and teaches him has left me in such awe of her. Before we got the pup, Mika just wanted to sleep all day, wouldn't play, had kind of lost her spark. Baron has put a spring in her step, joy in her eyes (she is always smiling) and her appetite is back to normal.
I would have never dreamed this could have went so smoothly. I would have bet my next paycheque that I would have had to separate them much more. I'm in such awe of my good old girl. Maybe she needed to be a Mom all this time.
I lost my 12 year old GSD soulmate in November, our female who will be 12 in the fall was depressed after losing him. We knew we are a 2 dog family, and I had a lot of concerns bringing a puppy into the mix. My Mika is a dominant, no nonsense, queen bee sort of gal. She is also very leash reactive. She is the dog who has taught me so much about dog ownership and training. We completed advanced obedience together, and through a lot of hard work and dedication she is much better. She is a wonderful, smart, sweet girl. Since Maxx died she has been very bonded to me. I had a lot of questions and concerns before getting a pup. My breeder guided me to working with a senior and puppy and matched our pup perfectly. I was ready for whatever challenges were to come.
There have been NONE. Our pup is 15 weeks old and he is her baby. She never lets him out of her sight. She always lays at my feet and if he starts getting nippy and puppy crazy, she goes, gets a toy to distract him and plays with him. She loves playing tug and chase with him. If he gets too tired and fussy.....she nuzzles him until he goes to sleep. She never bonded to my Maxx like that. If Maxx looked at her sideways she would tear a strip off of him. Watching her patience with him, how she plays with him and teaches him has left me in such awe of her. Before we got the pup, Mika just wanted to sleep all day, wouldn't play, had kind of lost her spark. Baron has put a spring in her step, joy in her eyes (she is always smiling) and her appetite is back to normal.
I would have never dreamed this could have went so smoothly. I would have bet my next paycheque that I would have had to separate them much more. I'm in such awe of my good old girl. Maybe she needed to be a Mom all this time.