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Raising a pup with an older dog

Dear Sir or Madam,

I have a question regarding starting a new pup in the presence of an older dog. I will soon be purchasing a 7 week old lab and have heard opposing views about whether or not I should keep it with our older "yard dog". I had planned on letting them be together in the back yard when I'm at work and also letting them sleep together at night (it gets cold at night in SD and no pets allowed in the house). Some people have told me this is fine, as long as I separate them while training the new hunting dog. Others have said the new pup may pick up bad habitats from the older dog and may even imprint on it instead of me. I've heard that this is the worst thing you can do to a new pup, besides putting it in a kennel and never spending any time with it.

What's your opinion? Any studies to suggest either view is correct?
Thanks for your time,
Andy

Andy,

I agree with the opinion that you should not keep a 7 week old puppy with an older dog all day long and yes I do have studies to back this up in the late 50's. A Dr. JP Scott did studies on puppies development at the Roscoe B Jackson Memorial Laboretory in Maine and these studies are the foundation of all the modern training methods used today a puppy's development. It is broken down into several different stages which you can learn more about by buying the book "HOW TO RAISE A PUPPY YOU CAN LIVE WITH," by Rutherford and Neil from Alpine Books 1-800-777-7257. It will go through the deveolpment from birth to obedience and it even covers breeder's responsibility and what they can do to better socialize the litter if you can try to read this book before you get a puppy.

Jan Burkholder
Stonewall Kennels




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