My older dog is submissive to the younger. Is this normal behavior?

Hello, thank you for your question about Koba. It is possible that the behavior Koba is exhibiting is to exert his dominance or because he would like you're other dog to play with him but Koba is being to rough. In these types of situations it is usually necessary for the older dog to set boundaries for Koba - i.e. if Koba bites his ear your other dog barks/growls at Koba, letting him know that this behavior is not ok. If your older dog is not demonstrating any of this assertive behavior to help Koba set boundaries one thing you could try would be redirecting him. If he begins to play rough and you are concerned that he is hurting your other dog remove Koba from the situation. I would recommend disciplining him to let him know this behavior is not ok. Then after a few minutes you could give him something else to entertain him such as an interactive toy. Hope this helps, good luck!

Younger dogs often want to become dominant when the lead dog gets older. This unfortunately is natural behavior. I recommend you crate the younger dog at night to prevent injury to your older dog. He will get his time to lead when the older one is gone but you need to protect your older dog from injury and let him enjoy his final time without stress. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for your dogs.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Pip. From the pictures, her behavior appears playful. Puppies will commonly nip and mouth around the necks and muzzles of adult dogs. As long as her tail is wagging and she is not forcefully growly, then I suspect this is normal play behavior. You can always enroll her in puppy classes as this will help her socialization and to learn how to appropriately play with other dogs. I hope this information helps!

Hi There. It sounds like Bobby is trying to establish his dominance over the new puppy. This is quite normal and provided there are no fights, may resolve with time. There are some great resources on Dr. Sophia Yins website (draophiatin.com) that discuss dominance aggression. You may also want to consider working with a certified trainer or a veterinary behaviorist. You can find one in your area on www.acvb.org.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. The development of aggression as a dog gets older is not something I would consider to be normal. This behavioral change could be due to canine cognitive dysfunction (think of this as doggy dementia) or potentially something more neurological (brain tumor or degenerative change to the brain). I would recommend having Buddy examined by a veterinarian so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. There may be something systemic going on so having his blood tested would be a good idea. There are drugs that you can use for doggy dementia such as Selegiline. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

This can be a difficult question to answer because it will vary from dog to dog. The dog's personality will determine whether or not they adjust well to a new housemate. It does not necessarily matter whether the dog is older or younger. Some things you can do in the home when introducing new dogs are keeping the interactions very limited and making sure the dogs are under supervision the whole time they are getting to know each other. Also avoid feeding the dogs or giving them treats while they are together as this can sometimes cause aggressive behavior. Just be patient and work with the dogs individually and together and they should be able to get along fine. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It could just be that Gina is a submissive animal and she is making sure that she isn't competing with your other dog. There are many reasons why a dog has certain behaviours, however if she is eating normally afterwards and is otherwise playing and doing well, then I wouldn't worry about it. She is just a polite puppy. Best of luck with Gina!