puppy aggressive to adult dog

[newjerseylab]

a puppy I am caring for is very aggressive to my older dog but only with food. if you give them both a treat, the puppy will finish her treat and then look for the other dog and attack her. she is not playing. should I tell the puppy no? remove her? thanks

[emmabeth]

Don't give them treats together - telling her off at this point isn't really going to help, shes worried about losing her treat or losing out on something, shes focussing on the older dog so shes far more likely to associate the telling off with him, than she is with her own behaviour.

Avoiding the issue might seem like you are not addressing it, but for the time being it is the safest thing to do as it prevents the problem escalating.

Separately, you should teach the pup self control (see the articles section, 'Its Yer Choice') around food and toys, so she gets the idea that waiting calmly is much more beneficial to her than getting stroppy about things.

Once you have done that on her own, then have someone else handling your older dog, and work with the puppy in his presence, (on a lead!) so she starts to associate him being around again with self control and rewarding, fun games, rather than chucking her weight about, or being worried htat he will steal from her.