Senior Dog Gets New Lease on Life While Playing with Rescue Puppy Sibling for the First Time

A woman I know has a system when it comes to acquiring new canine companions. She always gets a puppy whenever her current dog is entering its senior years. In her opinion, this method has triple benefits. First, you’re never in a dotless house, because once you get out of that habit, it’s hard to get back in (ask me house I know). Second, the old dog is very good at showing the puppy the ropes, and keeping its more exuberant tendencies in check. Third, and probably most adorable of all, there is something about bringing a puppy into your home that manages to make even senior dogs start acting young again.

This tendency is certainly on display in this video, where a twelve year old senior dog shows she’s more than a match for the household’s new puppy.

“I was just recording them standing together,” reads the caption on this video of the two frolicing dogs, “and then…”

Related: Senior Chihuahua Trains Puppy to Follow Basic Commands in Heartwarming Video

The “and then” in this case was a full-on game of tag, with the pair of pups doing the zooms all over the backyard.

It can sometimes be a challenge introducing new pets to each other, especially if you’re dealing with an older dog who is set in her ways and likes things just so. But that clearly isn’t a problem in this instance.

If you have any doubts, just look at that flip!

Senior Dog Activity Levels

One unfortunate human behavior that anyone who works in dog rescue will tell you is far too common, is the practice of “dumping” senior dogs when owners get a new puppy. This baffling phenomenon occurs when people treat dogs like objects instead of human beings, the way you might get rid of an old couch when the new one arrives.

It’s cruel and tragic for the senior dogs abandoned by their families this way, and it’s utterly unnecessary too. In truth, it’s wonderful to raise old and new dogs side by side. An older dog might not have the endurance to join you on a jog the way he could in earlier years, but that doesn’t mean he should be relegated to the couch or the occasional short stroll around the block. Having a puppy he can play with can keep your dog safely active and entertained, and well as giving your puppy a role model to look up to an emulate.

But there’s always adjustments to be made.

Introducing a New Puppy To Your Other Pets

Vets and shelter workers who have seen older dogs brought in to be surrendered or even put down because of new puppies in the house say they often hear stories about how the old dog was “reactive” or aggressive to the new puppy. But if new pet introductions are handled responsibly, with training for dogs both old and new, then they should learn to live together nicely, and may even come to love one another.

Introductions should happen slowly, without the new dog taking over the old one’s space. The new dog should be restricted to a room or two of the house at first, so both parties can have time apart, and all meetings should be supervised until they get to know one another. In particular, meals should be served while the dogs are separated, as food can often be a trigger for aggression.

And, as is shown here, they should be allowed time to play together in a wide open space, where they have plenty of room to approach each other and also retreat if they are over stimulated.

It’s also important to “think like a dog” and understand that the way an older dog may “correct” a misbehaving puppy is through warning growls or little nips. It’s not really aggressive, it’s just natural.

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