How do I get my older dog to not eat my boyfriend's puppy?

My boyfriend and I live together, and I have 3 dogs and he just got a puppy last week. My older dog doesn't really get along with other dogs besides the ones that already live here. The puppy is only 7 weeks old and she is tiny and so far my older dog has been ignoring her and when the puppy chases her, she just runs away, but she has snarled her teeth a few times. I know that if I wasn't watching, my older dog would eat her if she could. I can't carry the puppy around all day long though!





Also, the puppy won't sleep alone. She will only sleep with my boyfriend in the bed. If we try to crate her with a teddy bear, she freaks out and cries all night long.





Anyone know how to fix these issues?

How do I get my older dog to not eat my boyfriend's puppy?
What are the sexes of the two involved.





One thing is introducing a new pup to older dogs, there will be an "alpha dog" type reaction, the older dogs will try to put the puppy in it's place, lower in the "pack".





One thing, I would definitely crate the pup, even if it is right beside you at night, and you can still put your hand down for her to sniff, just to give her comfort.





The snarling, to me, doesn't seem abnormal, just, again, pack behaviour.





When your older dog is being nice with the puppy, give her a treat. Make sure you always give the older dogs treats first, prior to the puppy. It will help with the pack leadership.





Give it some time, and patience, and things should work out. Of course intervene if you think there is a danger.





Oh, holding the pup constantly, will make the other dogs upset, because she is "higher" then them and trying to be pack leader.





Edit. . .try to completely ignore her in the crate. . .no eye contact nothing. Only take her out after a few seconds of quiet.





Females, (I have two), do seem to try for the alpha more than the boys. Also, she could be mothering. . .sometimes it looks rough, but she is again, putting the pup in it's place. Just keep an eye on the interaction though, maybe put the pup on a leash and the older female on leash (let them drag it around inside the house), so if there is a problem, a pop of the leash can help. Nothing mean, just to be able to control what is happening.
Reply:I hate to say this but try humming or singing to her while she is in crate ..And when she quiets down let her out ..Not while she is crying ..Thats how i got mine used to their crate ..SOUNDS STUPID BUT IT WORKED ..
Reply:cover the puppy in hot sauce.
Reply:Are the other dogs ok with her? If one is pretty good with her try to make it a buddy. Let them sleep in the crate together. She's probably just lonely. We had our older dog do that with our puppy. It also helped with potty training the puppy.
Reply:Put a worn t-shirt of yours or your boyfriends in the crate with her (just like you would a baby) so she has the comfort of your scent. We put the crate on our bed the first night and I had my hand in the door on my little guy all night but the next night he did better. Our older dog is doing the same thing and I was scared she would hurt or even kill the puppy in the first couple days. We spent a lot of time last week sitting on the floor holding the puppy on our laps and petting our other dog. Our's is still snarling at the puppy, but not as bad after a week. Oh yea, females are VERY teritorial!!
Reply:Of course she will cry in her crate for a while, that's why there is crate training...


No dog likes it at first.
Reply:There is going to be a time where "Pecking Order" is established in the pack. One of you adults had better be on top of that order before the older dog takes command and kills the puppy. Get some books and read how dogs form packs with humans and who leads them.
Reply:she just needs to relax. poor baby. i would buy a puppy pen, like a baby pen but more for dogs. and she could stay in there. plus she is in the potty training stage anyway so that would be helpful to you. i did that with a puppy i fostered for a while, he got adopted before i started with the crate training. but they can't hold it very well during the night so a play pen like that would be great! plus if you just got her shes not used to you guys yet so of course she wants to be close to you. she just has to learn she can't be 24/7
Reply:With the crating thing we put a small radio around his crate so he could hear the music and someone talking to him and a stuffed animal so he wouldn't feel so lonely, then he has one of my old shirts, so he can have the scent of something familiar with him. Then when we first started the crate training he freaked out too, and whined, but we just had to keep him in there and he eventually stopped. It about killed me to hear him making all those pitiful noises, but its the best.



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