Adult dog wants nothing to do with new puppy

So we just added a new puppy to our household this past weekend and with that we knew there would be some growing pains. We have a 3.5y/o shepherd mix who’s been with us since she was a puppy and felt it was time to expand our family, not only for us wanting another dog but so our first could have a companion to play with. We read up on proper introduction methods, giving them space through out the day, feeding separately, keeping the puppies toys separate from the adult dog’s toys, etc. So far I give us a B-, we would’ve liked the introduction to be in a more neutral spot but we had to do it in our house/backyard because we had arrived fairly late at night on Saturday from an 8 hour drive to pick our little guy up. Other than that we’ve been keeping the puppy downstairs while the adult has free reign of the house, puppy is too small to get up steps so they act as a natural barrier both headed up to our bedroom and down into our basement family room.

Here’s where we could use some extra advice outside of what standard training recommends: the adult dog avoids the puppy 95% of the time with the exception of giving him a quick sniff. Otherwise she either stays upstairs in our room or hangs out in our carpeted basement which is one of her hangout/safe space from fireworks spots. When she does decide to pass through the area where the puppy is she hugs the wall and bolts past him as if she’s afraid of him. We obviously know that this process is meant to take a few weeks at least for them to get comfortable but we’re wondering if there’s anything we can do in the meantime to make the adult dog feel more at ease. We’ve been praising her for acknowledging him, as well as when she asserts herself when the puppy over steps his boundaries, special rewards at night before going to bed, and making sure to spend quality time with her so she doesn’t think she’s being replaced. We’ve also been keeping the puppy out of her favorite spots aside from our living room. Any tips or corrections that need to be made are greatly appreciated.

submitted by /u/SDoller1728
[link] [comments]

from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/q6sbw3/adult_dog_wants_nothing_to_do_with_new_puppy/