A dog owner brought a new puppy home to her 13-year-old Tibetan spaniel, but the surprise didn’t go as planned, and internet users can’t stop laughing at the senior dog’s reaction to meeting the Bernese mountain puppy for the first time.
In a video shared on TikTok in September by the pups’ owner, under the username @marielouise.kanon, the senior dog, Alice, can be seen growling at her 8-week-old brother, Hercules, who doesn’t understand why she won’t accept him already. Newsweek reached out to @marielouise.kanon for comment via TikTok comments.
“Introducing a new family member. She was 13 years, he was 8 weeks, and all he wanted was to be close to her,” reads layover text in the clip. And a caption adds: “It was not love at first sight, at least not for Alice. She thought he was such an annoying oversized baby.”
A good introduction is what sets the basis for a smooth cohabitation between two dogs, so it should never be overlooked. And if done well, it can also lead to the most-beautiful friendship between your two pups.
One thing you should avoid doing is bringing your new puppy home without giving your older dog some cues first; this could make them feel betrayed and threatened, making it harder for them to ever develop a good relationship.
The U.K. charity Dogs Trust says that the first thing you should do instead is to start by swapping scents. You can do so by taking an item, a toy or a blanket, with the puppy’s smell on it, and leaving it in the older dog’s environment, allowing them to get used to it.
You should also set up the house correctly before allowing them to meet face to face, making sure that each dog has their own toys, bowls, and blankets, to avoid competition. See to it that they both have an allocated safe area to isolate as needed.
When it is time for them to finally meet, do it outside; for example, at the dog park or in a safe place near your home. Arranging their first meeting indoors could make your older dog territorial, and scare your puppy off.
The stock image above shows a Bernese mountain dog (left) trying to play with a smaller-sized pup. An owner brought a big puppy home to her senior canine, and it is safe to say that it didn’t exactly go as planned.
Getty Images
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says that, while this type of introduction usually works smoothly, things can still go wrong; if that’s the case, you should seek help from your veterinarian or animal behavior expert to get a more tailored plan of action. You may also want to invest in a puppy training class.
In the poster’s case, training was indeed successful; in fact, she reassured users in the comment section that her two pups immediately became best pals: “They became friends quickly and she left my bed for his already after a week.”
The video quickly went viral on social media, getting viewers from across TikTok. It has so far received over 3.5 million views and more than 159,000 likes on the platform.
One user, Sara Wolfe, commented: “She just wanted peace and quiet in her old age.”
Hopes_Rest posted: “He was away from his mother and siblings, he was looking for comfort. it’s a very difficult thing putting older dogs and puppies together.”
Theo added: “I heard getting a puppy when having an old dog can be good because it makes the older dog act younger and get more energy actually.”
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