My 5yr old boxer spends several hours per day plus the occasional night at my neighbours, due to my health problems. This week they brought home their new 8 week old boxer pup. Introductions have gone very well other than my dog being a little jealous when I cuddle the pup but he just insists on cuddles too, rather than showing any aggression.

I've been surprised by how confident the new pup is. He plays happily by himself with his toys and if we try to play with him he takes the toys back to his bed straight away, although he comes for cuddles all the time. He also jumps up and butts my dog in the face, chews his tail and ears and trys to take his toys away. My dog is a big softie and has only growled once when his tail was nipped a bit hard. I was hoping the new pup would learn play boundaries from the older dog before he meets other dogs on the field, but it looks like he's just going to learn that he can be the boss. He was the biggest of the litter and I think he might have ruled the roost with his siblings.

Any tips appreciated!

Don't let your dog be bullied we have a fine line here with bossy Betty Chihuahua and have to make sure laid back dopey Elsie Labrador doesn't get bullied. That means watching their play and intervening if it gets too rough, making sure Elsie has peace to eat etc

They do find their own level but you have to be ready to jump in and protect the less feisty one.

We also walk them separately a few times a week so they get one on one time with us both. They both seem to benefit from that.

Your dog may simply be acknowledging that the pup is 8 weeks old. Just because he's accommodating the behaviour of a comparitively vulnerable babe doesn't mean he'll be so accommodating when the pup is 6 months old. But it will also be up to the responsible adult present to ensure that the older dog doesn't have to do all the teaching itself. The older dog should be protected from the younger dog if necessary but there will be a pack hierarchy to be established at some point.

Is the older dog neutered? And will the pup be neutered? Two entire dogs not in the same household (and therefore used to sharing and living together) may get a bit over boisterous.

In my experience, puppies always try to get the better of older dogs.

Thing is, if the older dog has accepted the puppy then it's probably adopted a guardian-role which means it will put up with an awful lot from a boisterous puppy.
Unless the older dog is ridiculously timid, however, it'll also know exactly when enough's enough and won't hesitate to snarl or snap at the puppy to put it in it's place should it be required.

I think you need to be careful about getting involved unnecessarily because dogs have a habit of "learning" things which you didn't intend to teach them.
In a situation like this, for example, if you step in to control the puppy too often you could end up "teaching" the puppy that it doesn't have to respect the older dog because you will step in when required, you could end up "teaching" the older dog that it doesn't need to stand up for itself and you could "teach" the puppy that it's okay to be unruly as long as you're not around to discipline it.

Unless the older dog is a bit antisocial and likely to be too aggressive, or it's very timid and will never stand up for itself, I'd just let the older dog decide, for itself, when the puppy needs putting in it's place.

Bear in mind, as well, that in nature play between dogs can appear quite violent so you shouldn't be particularly shocked to see ears, noses, lips, paws or tails getting chewed.
When the older dog decides the puppy has gone too far, he'll soon let it know.

Thanks for the advice. Baxter is neutered and little Stanley will be as soon as he is old enough. In fact the vet commented that he already has a descending testicle at 8 weeks and is obviously quite precocious lol.

Baxter plays very well with puppies on our local field but does start to put them in their place when they are around neutering age so perhaps it will be the same here.

They are a joy to watch at the moment. Stanley's back legs haven't figured out how the front ones work yet and he bombs around bumping into everything, including Baxter. Fortunately he can't get onto the sofa on his own yet so Bax gets some respite there.

Sounds like it's going well, if anything, Yorkie.

My pup was (and still is at 7 months) constantly put in her place by my neighbour's collie - collie doesn't hesitate to snap at her, but has never drawn blood (pup lets out a bloodcurdling yelp when it happens, but never has a mark on her). And my pup was most definitely not the most dominant in her litter. She went to training class with her brother and he sat on her every time he saw her - she instantly rolls on her back for most dogs and people. But the day we took her to be spayed, her sister was there and the relationship was totally the other way - my pup was the confident, dominant one. We watched the litter a while before we chose, and I aimed at getting one in the middle - think I got it right.

Despite the ancient collie nipping at her and growling (collie is deaf so finds sudden assault by little terrier scary) she still wants to play with her, and tries and fails to engage the older dog in play.

From what you say I think the boys will be fine. Just keep an eye on them. Older dogs are good for pups as they continue to provide socialisation after pup has left mum, and that is a good thing even if it does involve spats.

That's the thing, IMO.

If you're constantly "moderating" how a puppy interacts with another dog it's never going to discover what's unacceptable behaviour.
Puppies play to find out how things work, to figure out what the pecking-order is and to test the limits of what they're allowed to do.
It's better that they do that with a dog who's prepared to put up with it, while they're a puppy (and be treated leniently because of that), rather than just getting those ideas when they're an adult dog interacting with another dog in public.

And, oddly enough, I think humans suffer with the same problem too, these days.
We're all so busy trying to "moderate" people's lives that we've created a generation who've never been forced to face up to the consequences of any wrongdoing and, as a result, lack much in the way of empathy or courtesy.

I did what was suggested here and let them sort a spat out themselves just now. Stanley was trying to steal Baxter's new toy (they'd both been given one each to play with) and Baxter knocked him over and growled. Stanley backed away and sat down for a minute then came back and gave Baxter a lick and they were playing fine again and he didn't try to steal the toy again. It was hard to just sit back and obviously if it had continued I would have intervened but I think they're going to be fine.

The funniest thing is that everytime the puppy wees on the carpet Baxter looks incredibly shocked then looks at me as if to say ''but i'm not allowed to do that Mum!''

I think it has to depend on sizes of dog, saying don't intervene when you have a huge Labrador puppy and a tiny 5lb Chihuahua could end up with a very nasty accident indeed. Betty has to be often got out of trouble when they roll around and Elsie needs rescuing from snappy Betty at times. Two the same size I think I would be less worried they would kill each other.

There was a strange dynamic between our lab' and our sprocker when she was a puppy.

Spaniels are bonkers at the best of times and Connie is cheeky, even for a spaniel.
She spent the first 6 months of her life almost continuously goading our lab' while the lab', for her part, spent her time stubbornly ignoring the annoying puppy... except for sudden snarls or snaps when she overstepped the mark.

And then, all of a sudden, they were like a bloody tag-team. Wherever one went, the other would follow, doing exactly the same thing.
When one started pestering me for a walk, the other would be doing it as well.
Same thing with food, cadging, wanting attention or barking at the postie.
Since then they've been inseparable.

It was as if the lab' was just "tolerating" the sprocker as a puppy and then, once she'd grown up a bit, the lab' decided to "let her into the club".

It's even odder the way a dog's personality changes depending on it's "rank".
Millie, our lab', used to happily cadge food, pester us for fusses, want to sleep on the bed and generally act like a dafty and then, when Connie arrived, it was as if Millie decided she should grow-up and she stopped doing a lot of that stuff, perhaps to set a good example.
And the sprocker, Connie, took over doing all that stuff.

And now we've got a third dog, who's younger than both Connie and Millie, I've noticed that Connie has done exactly the same thing; she's stopped cadging, stopped pestering people for fusses, doesn't bother sitting on the furniture as much and sleeps on her own bed.

It's as if dogs sort out a pecking order in their heads and they instinctively know there's only room for one "baby" in the hierarchy.

I don't think any of the dogs we've had have had a straightforward linear hierarchy tbh.

The dynamics in the household always depended on the the individuals' personalities and what was going on at the time.

Remember that the pup is in a crucial stage of development, what he learns now will stay with him forever and he may pick up bad habits if your older dog is allowing him to be pushy. They usually get their 'puppy license' up until 12-16 weeks, you may then see the older dog starting to chastise him more firmly, but personally, I intervene if play is becoming too rough or pup is becoming over stimulated.

Make sure he mixes with all kinds of other dogs asap too, you don't want a cocky pup pissing off to the wrong dog and getting hurt.

My friends pup was allowed to pester the older dog relentlessly, she was a really fiery little bitch (pup, not friend!) and tried it on with my older dog who swiftly brought her spoilt little paws into line!

Is he going to puppy parties and classes?