A week after we brought Mona home, we asked a few friends to come meet her one-on-one to get her used to strangers.
During one of these visits, Drewbert finally felt relaxed enough to wrestle and play with Mona for the first time! It was a huge relief for me, because I had been stressed out feeling he was unsettled by the sudden (and continued) presence of a puppy in the house. Sometimes you’re lucky and your older dog will immediately take to the puppy, but often, it’ll take a few days (or weeks or months) for them to accept the new dog. It’s important to take as much time as needed and to let your older dog dictate the pace.
Drewbert has always been good and gentle with play with other dogs and he shows great restraint here by laying down on the floor and making himself seem smaller/less menacing to a tiny puppy. Whereas Mona uses Flop Attack! But it’s not very effective... She’s just thrilled to have an older brother to chew on!
