HELP!!
I have a 3yo female Pom, Nomi, who is bullying our newly adopted female puppy, Ali.
Backstory: We had a senior Beagle (who recently passed away) and our current 3yo Pom. They got along very well tho the beagle was not in to playing with toys, he would play “wrestle” with Nomi. Nomi never had any aggression toward him (other than don’t go after my food) but she did like to boss him around….stay out of the garbage, don’t lick the dishes when the dishwasher is open sort of stuff. As said, our Beagle recently passed and we just (like yesterday) adopted a puppy, wanting to give Nomi another companion. Nomi is bullying the new pup; will not allow her to play with the toys…(.and we did buy new toys as we knew not to just give Nomi’s toys up for grabs)….will not allow her play freely, nips at pup if she makes sudden movements around her. Normally, Nomi is a very social dog with humans but has never been around dogs other than her beagle brother who was already here when Nomi came to us at 12 weeks old.

I need to know how to calm Nomi down and teach her it is ok for the new pup to play both with toys and in general. I need to know how to effectively “discipline” Nomi when she is mean to the pup without using tactics such as striking her or yelling. I have been giving her lots of praise in the moments when she doesn’t nip or growl at the pup, even treats. We’ve been very cautious to make sure we show Nomi affection right along with the new girl and we do not leave them alone together, and do not feed them together.

ANY help/advice would be so welcome as we want these two girls to get along and be pals for their sake and ours!

Hello! What a great site this is. I’m really hoping someone can help us here, as we’re stuck with our dog situation!

We have a 10 year old female Maltese called Yuca. She is the light of our lives but is getting old 🙁
She’s healthy but tends to sleep a lot, and we read that keeping older dogs active is essential to keeping them alive!

We both work, and although she’s totally happy by herself, we decided it might be good to get her a companion for the times we’re not around. We hoped this might keep her entertained and engaged more during the day. As we’re both working from home at the moment, we thought now might be a good time to grow our little pack…

So we got another Maltese female, Coco, who is about 5 months old now. We’ve had her for just over 4 weeks. She’s amazing. A really cute little ball of fluff. But things don’t seem to be improving with regards to their relationship.

Of course, Coco is totally obsessed with Yuca. She will run to her and try to lick and play, but Yuca seems terrified of her. She backs away quickly and hides. Yuca has never been an aggressive dog, never. She doesn’t growl or bark or bite, ever. But she also has never been a dog dog, always avoiding them in public when out for walks.
We thought this was just a matter of them being strangers.
She has never once growled or barked or bitten Coco, she chooses to simply run away from her, even when Coco is trying to bite her playfully.

When Coco is calm, usually in the evenings and midday, Yuca is better. They will sit in the same areas, with Yuca sometimes letting Coco get quite close, but always with a cautious eye on her. The best moments we’ve had have been in bed in the evenings, with both of them sleeping almost touching! But then the day comes around and Yuca goes back to being her timid self again.

We’ve tried a lot of things to get them closer, and to help Yuca get used to her being around. They both have their own beds, food and water, and Yuca has a space she can be alone when she wants it. The problem is, she would choose to stay there the whole time! SHe seems anxious about walking around the house, which is not ok for us. We want her to feel dominant and have no fear of being anywhere at home.

We’ve tried using treats to bring them together, which works well in the moment. Yuca is a greedy lil thing and Coco’s existence doesn’t make the slightest bit of difference when there’s a treat around. She would take the treat from our hand even with Coco being right there next to her. But once the treat has gone, Yuca reverts back to scared mode.

We’re being firm with Coco on the rough play, although she’s tiny and couldn’t hurt a fly if she tried! We’re separating them for periods of time, so Yuca has her space and then trying controlled meet-ups several times a day. Of course, with us both working full time, this has been difficult and we’re very concerned about when we have to go back to the office.

We’ve made sure to give Yuca extra love and attention, always treating her as the alpha and giving her attention and food first. She doesn’t appear jealous at all.

As time goes on, we really hoped they would become close but we’re not seeing much improvement. There’s some improvement for sure, but it’s very slow progress. We really just want them to be friends. That was the whole point in getting Coco in the first place.

I really hope someone can help us. We love them both and just want them to get along.

Thank you for reading.

Tomas and Fernanda. Yuca and Coco.

We recently got a 5 month old Great Dane. She was in several homes before we got her. She wants nothing to do with us and after 4 days of working with her she refuses to go outside and growls when I come near her, but she continues to lay down. She will not take treats from me either. I want to try to make this work but don’t know how to gain her trust. I’ve tried setting and talking to her.. ignoring her… positive reinforcement.. petting her when she comes up to me but all she wants to do tonight is lay there and growl at me. I would love some help and don’t think I can wait to get a trainer to come.

Having difficulty with our new pup and cat.
About two months ago I introduced a new puppy to our family. We have an 8 month old kitten, and a 2 year old German Shepherd, and the new guy, 6 month old Chance, an American Bully.
We rescued Chance from an abusive situation, and he is just a sweet and snuggly boy with us and our German Shepherd. The problem we face now is that we’re worried about our cat. They have been separated by a baby gate. He doesn’t bark or growl at her, but rather whines and stares at her. He does chase her, but we’ve always nabbed him. When she is on the other side of a regular door, she’ll put her paw under as any cat would to play. He hasn’t attacked it at this point. He just gets very still and quiet and just stares at her paw and begins to tremble/shake. He has broken a bar on the baby gate to be near her.
She is unenthused to meet him, after he’s chased her, which makes her run, which makes him chase. We aren’t really sure what to make of all of this behavior or what to do. I feel over saturated in information.
Our german Shepherd was happy to be with her within a week or two. He chases her once in awhile, but all in all they co-exist and like each other. I don’t know if I need to find a new home for bully puppy.
Please help

My 14 year old female cat had surgery yesterday to remove a tumor on her right side. She has been doing very well until about 1 hour ago. Something about the surgical site is bothering her. It may be itchy or something, but she tries not to bite at the bandages at first. She will growl & run around, but will bite at the surgical area. Is there anything I can do to help her?

Hello I got a Rottweiler puppy and I have had him for 7 weeks now. His name is rocky and he’s 15 weeks old and my question is: whenever I go to a park with him and I run around he always bites me and jumps at me and bites furiously and growls. Do you guys know how to fix it because ive been thinking of getting a new dog. Is it the fact that he’s a Rottweiler he does this?

Hi. My Cocker Spaniel sleeps with us and has done since she was 6 months old, she is now nine. Lately if my hubby gets up to use the bathroom she begins to growl at him. She loves him to bits, why is this?

I just got an 8 week old puppy. I just picked him up today and took him to meet my other dogs he started acting aggressive he started growling and snapping at them. How do but an end to this aggressive behaviour before it turns into a problem?

My new cat (have had for 3 weeks) and resident cat refuse to tolerate each other. I brought Louie home with the knowledge that they might never like each other but they would at least learn to tolerate. The first week seemed to go pretty well because when we let Louie roam and get a feel for the house Mia avoided him… but now… things seem to be getting aggressive. It doesnt matter where Louie goes or what hes doing (even just sleeping) Mia wants to attack him. Granted, as soon as he sees her he starts growling… but he only started doing that after she batted at him the first time. The episodes seem to be getting more and more aggressive. I would keep him in my room but its clear he wants to roam. And i find it unfair to lock her in a room after 6 years of letting her roam around the whole house. Before we got mia 6 years ago we had an older male cat, they got along well but he passed about 2 years ago. And according to the shelter Louie was surrendered with a sister but she was adopted without him. I need help on this one

I have a very heavy heart right now, BlackJack is acting up again, well I don’t think he ever stopped, he has been growling and snapping at my husband and he did it to my daughter as she walked by him one night in was in our bedroom on the floor sleeping, he is no longer allowed to sleep in the bedroom, last night he snapped at my husband Jack was downstairs my husband went to the kitchen jack got on the steps and wouldn’t move for my husband to come back up stairs when he grabs his collar he snapped at him. I called the gentlemen you guys told me about back in May, but his cost is 2,300.00 to try and fix him I just don’t have that kinda of money. Is there any type of medications I can give him? I really don’t want to put him down it is killing me to think about it but him growling at my daughter was a little to much. I keep him away from guest when them come become I never know how he will react. Please if there is anything I can give him I will try.