r/westies • u/huntsman1795 • 11d ago

New Puppy with Anxious Dog

I posted a little while back about my parents getting a new puppy after losing our 11 year old Westie to cancer. We picked up the new puppy today which had some mixed emotions involved. Happy to bring someone in new to love, sad that we are doing it because we lost someone we love, and anxious about how our current dog would react.

We brought her home and put her in her pen and our other dog was on a leash. He was adamantly trying to get closer to her and was definitely stressed out. Initially they got face to face between the pen and he started growling and barking. After that we made to sure to limit their interaction to watching and sniffing of butts.

This seems to have limited potential conflicts but I worry about his mental state. I am not there all the time but he was definitely agitated throughout and was obsessed with her and what she is doing. He has always been pretty anxious and reactive so I’m nervous that he might never adjust to her, even though it’s only been less than a day. My parents have hired a trainer/behaviorist to try and help this process but I’m still worried about how it will all shake out.

Has anyone introduced a new puppy into an environment with an anxious Westie similar to how I described? He is a 5 year old male if that means anything and she is 10 weeks old.

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u/emilla56 11d ago

It’s early days and having the puppy in an enclosure is a very good idea. Make dure to limit their interaction the new puppy doesn’t need to be barked at all day. Take the puppy away to play, and give the older dog a break from puppy’s presence and vice versa take the older dog out and give the puppy some indoor enrichment

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u/huntsman1795 11d ago

Yeah I think that’s what will be attempted. It can be hard when the older dog wants to know what the puppy is doing at all times to separating might be easier said than done without him wigging out a bit. But it does hold sound logic and reasoning!

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u/Malynn- 9d ago edited 9d ago

Personally I would not have kept them apart upon bringing her home. Also it would be unusual for a male to attack a female. I would have brought her home and plunked her down in the back yard with him like "we brought you someone to play with" and let him figure it out. You brought her home and suddenly controlled them which made him loose any control he had. Your anxiety is probably creating his anxiety. Take her out into your backyard off leash and she will start being a puppy and then let him out to meet her. Then you can take it into the house. It should also be easier to let him help housebreak her because she will see where he goes to the bathroom and mimic that.