Older dog not playing with new pup - need suggestions!

Hello all,

this is my first post in these forums, so i'll start by introducing the dogs first!

Reese - Morkie, approaching 4 years old in march
Cali - Maltese, approaching 9 weeks old on saturday

my gf and i have had reese for a long time now, and have loved every minute of having him as our companion. Last week, my gf and i decided that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to get him a sister, so we started looking and found cali!

Now reese has never really been a very social dog, except for a few that he gets along with. When he meets other dogs at a pet store etc., he is usually showing submissive behaviors/shyness.

our new pup is about 1/4 the size of reese right now, but my gf is feeling a bit of "buyers remorse" now, after 5 days with the new pup. She is absolutely in love with her and everything, and so am i (who doesn't love a new puppy?), but whats making her sad and questioning everything is the interaction between the two dogs and also noticing a slight change in reese's behavior.

Cali is very playful and is eager to play with reese at any chance she gets, but right now reese is just not having any of it. He usually shows submissive behavior to cali as well, tail down etc., but most of the time reese will back away or move away when cali approaches. lately he has been letting her come up and at least have a sniff, and he has done a little sniffing back, but still the 2 wont get into playing together/wresting.

It also seems that Reese's mood has changed (of course i can understand that, as it is a change in his environment), but my gf is getting very worried that she is losing the dog that he used to be. Its harder to get him to play a game of fetch, although i personally think he still loves to get treats for tricks, go for car rides and other things he used to.

My gf is now thinking that she also is sad because she doesn't think that reese would like it if she was sharing her attention with another pup, that he thinks we might be neglecting him (which we aren't, we are giving him as much attention as possible to make him comfortable with cali in the house now).

So i ask for your help and suggestions, as my gf is now thinking that the only way she can get the old reese back is to have to give cali to another good home. Myself, and everyone else we have talked to have said that we need to give it WAY more time, as 5 days is no where near enough time for them to start socializing and playing together, however, the situation is starting to worry her and affect her schooling. If we do give this time and even if they do get along really well in the future, is there any way that reese would return to his normal behavior, and is there any way that he would still feel like he is getting the same amount of attention and care as before? (of course we would love to give them both the attention and care that they deserve). My gf is most worried about reese not feeling as much care and love as he did before, even though i think we are definitely capable of providing for both.

So sorry for the long first post, but we are eagerly looking for help, opinions, suggestions, and first hand experiences to ease our concerns and pains!

Thanks in advance!

OK.You are in exactly the same situation we were about three weeks ago.We had a 5 year old bitch Fudge who had always been a lone dog, very submissive with other dogs etc.

We then introduced Buttons into the family, an 8 week old cocker spaniel puppy.

Fudge certainly put him in his place very quickly and the two sort of lived together with no interaction....slowly but surely however they began to get to know each other. This week for the very first time we have had them play together, It has been magical to watch and I would certainly say you need to give then time and space and see how it goes.

If you want to show your girlfriend something that will give her a lift I have a video on here of the two of them playing for the fist time. It took four weeks to get to that stage and they are now doing it more and more.....

I have 2 dogs of the same breed and very rarely have they played together since I got them 7 years ago.

This doesn't mean they don't like each other or enjoy each other's company though! Parker really pined for Cherry when she had to stay at the vets for 10 days twice last year.

We got them when they were nearly 2 and nearly 3 years old and we have a photo of Cherry when she was 1 with a tiny Parker when he was a few weeks old and Parker is lying under Cherry waving his paws in the air and she is looking the other way trying to pretend he isn't there!

What amuses me about this picture is the caption they have put "Cherry and Parker-playing together from day one" This is clearly not the case when you look at Cherry's body language ha ha!

this is the worrysome part however. we would LOVE for them to play together, chase each other around, wrestle etc. When reese was younger, he would try to play with my gf's parents dog (bailey) who is now older ~14 yrs. She would ignore reese and snap at him, and ignore him no matter how much he tried and wanted to play.

To this day she still will not play with him, BUT, they do get along and they are pals. we can catch them napping together, they eat together and reese will even come and check on her if she's "growling in distress" while getting a toothbrushing/nail clipping etc.

of course we just want reese to be the dog he is, and with his small change in behavior since the arrival of the new dog, my gf is very worried that he might not ever be the same, and that he might feel that he isn't receiving as much love or attention as before (even though we are trying harder to give him even more!)

We have a 9 year old BC x JRT (Sadie) - she got on straight away with Louie at 9 weeks. But Sadie doesn't get on with the pup her owners got before Christmas.

Benjie - he doesn't get on with Louie at all, it's took him 6 months to walk past him in a door way. God knows when we'll have him stopping growling at him.

They'll be alright, siblings in a family don't get on with the new arrival straight away - why should dogs be any different? I didn't get on with some people straight away, I don't get on with some dogs sometimes - you haven't given them enough time.

Good luck and be patient.

Oh and give them EQUAL attention - no one should get more or less!

Hi give it time,I foster and have had pups with my 2 who are 6 & 7 most of the time they just annoy them and can make them grumpy then you'll find them curled up together ! Some dogs are more playfull than others,and with regard to the change in the older dog ,he has been used to your undivided attention and now this little thing is stealing the show , a bit like kids when a new baby comes along,I'm sure he'll adjust soon. Try and give him the attention before the pup ,most of the time, and try doing a bit of training together with them both and reward with special food treats so older dog associates the puppy with extra special food Good Luck and don't stress too much as your dog will pick that up.

Things take time....all part of the ''getting to know you''

Skye hated Tess for over 5 weeks...snarling and having collie nips at every chance, as I am typing Skye and Tess are wrestling a rope on the sofa
Bruce hated our latest jrt pup, Mojo, for 2 weeks they are now on the window seat fast asleep wrapped round one another.
It all takes time, just make sure that the pup gets time out and Reese gets lots of separate cuddles