Expert: Delores Beck - 1/1/2008

Question
i have a 7 month old cocker and just bought a 13 wk old cocker.my concern is that the older one is being aggressive towards the younger one.the younger one is kinda finding her way around our home but the older keeps following her and the will growl and snap at the younger one.bot are females and both are cockers.is there any suggestions on how to deal with the aggression.thxs in advance.

Answer
This should sort itself out but don't leave them alone together until things settle down.
Most adult dogs are pretty tolerant of puppies but make sure your older girl gets lots of attention.  And make sure she's not constantly bothered by the puppy.

One good way to create some tolerance is to walk them together...one on either side of you and not allowing any interaction on the walk.

Usually an older dog WILL let the puppy know who the top dog is and this isn't a bad thing.  It's the puppy's first lesson on "the order of the pack"...so supervise - give puppy some crate time & allow your older girl some peace - walk them together and probably pretty quickly they'll be getting along just fine.
Delores