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Hi. Nina congratulations on getting your rescue puppy, I see
he is 16 weeks, how long have you actually had him? My thoughts with regard to
the potty training would be literally to start from scratch as if you have just
brought home an 8 weeks pup, it does sound as if you have tried just about
everything but are you using a crate to confine him when you aren't able to
watch him, because that is what you would do with an 8 week old, take him out
every hour when possible, on leash and give lots of encouragement by using a
"word", I personally say let's go "pee", when he does, give immediate
praise and maybe even a treat. Usually these problems do not last forever so
giving a treat for a performance doesn't have to be a life long
thing!
Our Pyr puppy Toby was not at all nippy nor did he bite us
once, he came into a household of 3 older dogs and as he grew he
became the "king", he was fairly passive with the older dogs until he and
our male Golden had a disagreement over a treat and Toby was a bit
tough on him from then on, shame because the Golden was not at all dominant but
just being another male didn't help the situation, I think that Pyrs have a
different mindset. Toby is 10 years old this year and our 3 other dogs are
long gone, but a year ago we brought into the home a Golden pup, Hannah, I
wanted to be absolutely sure that Toby would not be overly dominant with her so
we took bringing them together very, very slowly, more at Toby's pace than the
puppy because she was very keen from the beginning. They are now great together
and have lots of fun, Hannah is very good at knowing how to play with him, it is
quite uncanny, but he always ends the game by mounting her which she accepts
without a word, so it works well for these two.
Our situation is reverse to yours, in that our older dog
is the male and the more dominant breed whereas yours being a female lab would
probably be more passive. It is a pity that Harley doesn't reprimand Dilbert
when he gets too rambunctious, it would do so much more coming from the older
dog, but not to the point where war breaks out. So Dilbert needs for you guys to
step in when it gets too much for Harley, Dilbert has to learn some manners, if
necessary keep him on leash during some of these high energy times, I know it
can be difficult with such a large puppy but now is the time for him to learn
some boundaries. I also carry a "shake can" with me when outside with the dogs
playing, Toby hates the sound and I know it would distract him if he was getting
too "heavy" with her, maybe Dilbert might be stopped in his tracks when needed.
Sorry this is rather long but I wish you luck.
Jo, Toby and Hannah(Golden)
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