Dog being possessive over puppy?

I posted this on another forum but want as much advice as possible so I'm posting here as well hope you don't mind.

Since getting Sam Oscar and he have been bonding well and seem to be quite happy with each other, however the problem is when I walk them together Oscar has started to grumble and have a go at or barge into certain dogs that Sam is greeting.

The other day we were happily in a group of dogs we know when an unknown spaniel came charging over and Oscar chased him off, I was really embarrassed as he hasn't done this before.

Today he had a go at one of the dogs we often walk with and he has got on fine with for the past year or so. I'm feeling a bit fed up and feel like I have wrecked Oscar's good temperament by adopting Sam. The common denominators seem to be having Sam with us and it seems to be males he is targeting.

Now people are saying isn't it sweet he's protecting him however I'm more inclined to believe that Oscar is actually being possessive over Sam, it has only happened a couple of times but I want to nip this in the bud and I was wondering if you had any ideas on how to do this.

Until we get this sorted they will be being walked separately as he seems to be fine on his own.

Oscar is 4 and neutered and usually more than happy to meet all dogs and Sam is 13 weeks.

I walk my two seperately as two dogs is a pack so can lead to problems like too much dependency on each other in and out of the house. Plus, the bearcoat is a little bitch and despite having wonderful manners when on her own, she'll be naughty with other dogs just because she knows the TM will back her up.

Walking them seperately is a very good idea for other reasons too. It's nice to have some one on one time with each dog and it will do Sam a lot of good to be self confident with other dogs and not learn bad habits or be overshadowed by his 'big bruv' while he's in an important phase of his socialisation.

Rather than nip it in the bud and carry on walking them together, it will probably benefit the pup not to for the vast majority of their walks. Maybe you can introduce walking them together in a few months when Oscar is used to Sam going out of his sight and Sam has developed good social skills with other dogs. They will probably both be more relaxed.

Thank you DoKhyi that makes a lot of sense especially as Sam doesn't need long at the moment and is happy to go out on his own as they have been having their separate walks as well as together. I will definitely keep this going for the foreseeable future and use these as training and one on one time.

I'll maybe just take them out together occasionally at quite times so we can work on things when they are together as well as apart but will leave that for a while.

Hopefully we will be able to sort this as Oscar is fine when on his own and it would be nice to walk them together eventually when doing certain walks, but if this is not possible then so be it I will do whatever is necessary for my boys.

I always walk new puppies separately until they are about 6/7 months, partly because I don't want them over-extending young joints and partly to establish some sort of relationship with me.

Things like this really make me wish I knew what the dogs were thinking!

My pal in Cornwall always either walked her 2 JRTs separately or kept one on a lead and let one off lead. (Taking turns).

Separately they were very well behaved dogs. It wasn't other dog aggression or anything she had a problem with (we'd be walking on the carns and braes) it was because when they were offlead one at a time they both had good recall but, if she let them off together, they were not good at recall and often just disappeared off altogether and did not return for some time.

He is mostly walked separately and when they are together only for a maximum of 20 mins, I just thought it would be good to get them used to being outside and walking together. But I will definitely keep walking him on his own to establish that bond.

It would certainly make life easier sometimes it's like naughty children encouraging each other

I just find it strange as Oscar is usually so good with other dogs and always has been, I'm sure he has his reasons and if I knew them they'd probably make perfect sense but then I suppose where's the fun and challenge in that