Small Dog Guide:Dobermans & Small Breeds:
Introducing a Puppy
A practical guide to bringing a Doberman puppy home to small-breed adult dogs, or introducing a small-breed puppy to an adult Doberman.
Who is coming home?
The first steps are shared. The size and age differences deserve their own attention.
Start from the beginningA Doberman puppy
Joining a resident small-breed adult dog.
A small-breed puppy
Joining a resident adult Doberman.
In this guideContents
When you bring home a puppy, try to remember who has already had ample time to think about the new puppy and who hasn’t. I’ll assume you’ve given the decision to add another dog to the family plenty of thought. Your resident dog, of course, may have missed a few points in the enthusiastic presentation you’ve given him.
We will discuss two scenarios in this article: bringing home a Doberman puppy to a resident small-breed dog and introducing a small-breed puppy to an adult Doberman.
Let’s begin.
Our Dobermans and small dogs
In my wife Marie’s article on our Dobermans living with small dogs, she describes relationships involving a great deal of play and others where we deliberately took a more reserved approach1. I am sure many of our readers are immediately worried that introducing a Doberman, puppy or adult, to, say, an eight-pound Pomeranian through play is too dangerous. I share the underlying concern for safety.
Veterinary behaviorist Stephanie Borns-Weil warns that excessive wrestling, pouncing and biting during play can cause injury2. We do not need to pretend that David against Goliath cannot end in someone getting hurt. Of course it can, and that is why I, and as she outlines as well, would take sensible precautions and give the dogs room to get to know each other.
Start with considerations about your resident dog
Before choosing a puppy, tell the breeder or rescue honestly how your dogs actually live. “Good with dogs” tells them very little, and it won’t ease any small dog breeder’s mind about having their tiny pal move in with a fully grown Doberman.
An older Doberman or a small dog who enjoys a quiet walk with a familiar human companion may have no interest in being wrestled by a puppy before breakfast.
Each combination of scenarios come with their own concerns.
Describe to the breeder or rescue what your resident dogs enjoy, what annoys them and how active they are. Even though a rescue might find it harder than a quality breeder to accommodate such a request, ask for help choosing a puppy who is more likely to fit your household. In our experience, rescues and breeders are also much more hesitant to place a small dog with a Doberman than a quality Doberman breeder is to place a puppy with small dogs.
“He has never fought” is another piece of information that cannot establish what might happen when you bring home a puppy. Have you ever had the opportunity to experience your dog’s reaction to an unfamiliar dog in your house? Can he stop playing when asked? Has he spent time comfortably with dogs as small as the new arrival? If your Doberman has grabbed, injured or persistently targeted smaller dogs in the past, that is a red flag that needs your attention, but it does not necessarily mean that he cannot live with a small dog.
Sir Francis Drake had a fierce dislike of small dogs that bared their ‘small dog attitude’ at him. He never attacked or injured anyone, but he did let them know about his preferences. Despite that, he was the gentlest of boys with our small dog crew at home. However, if you are inexperienced, my recommendation is to have a professional assess the situation before you decide to bring a small puppy into your house. Bringing home a small puppy is a poor way to test whether your Doberman’s problems with small dogs (insert whatever irks him about them) have gone away.
Another consideration that you might overlook is your resident dog’s physical health. Veterinary behavior researcher Daniel Mills and his colleagues describe pain contributing to defensive behavior, including aggression when a resting dog is approached3. If your dog has recently become unusually intolerant or sensitive to touch, get him examined. A puppy climbing over him is a particularly unfortunate way to discover that his back hurts, especially when we are talking about a Doberman puppy and a small dog. Doberman puppies are, on average, rather rambunctious, even if they differ in how they express it. If you would like to read about the different ways we have introduced Dobermans to small dogs, I recommend Marie’s article1. It will give you an idea of what you might need to consider before venturing into your own scenario.
And forget the idea that every adult dog will tolerate a puppy because it is a puppy. Veterinarian Jacqueline Brister explains that an adult may become uncomfortable when a puppy ignores his attempts to move away, and may escalate his warnings4. I would absolutely not rely on supposed Welpenschutz, or “puppy protection,” to protect a puppy meeting an unfamiliar dog. Even a mother’s tolerance of nursing changes as her puppies grow. Scott and Fuller described mothers growling and snapping without making contact to stop their puppies from nursing during weaning5. Thus, if the adult dog is trying to leave, do help the puppy leave him alone instead of trying to shoot a ‘cute’ video that might turn into proof that your assumptions were wrong.
Set up the house before arrival
Decide where each dog will eat and sleep, and how you will separate them when one needs a break. Borns-Weil recommends separate meals and valuable chews when managing conflict between household dogs2. In Kathryn Wrubel and colleagues’ clinical series, food, valued objects and access to resting places were among the reported fight triggers6. One caveat: the dogs in that study were already having problems. Nonetheless, I would remove those opportunities for a dispute, at least while the newcomer settles in. Brister also recommends giving each dog a separate resting place where the other cannot disturb him4. Do this before you arrive home holding the puppy and possibly an array of other valuable objects, while the resident dog stands in the doorway wondering, in Fräulein Effie’s words, what fresh hell this is.
Give the puppy a room or pen where he can settle, and keep a place where the resident dog can go without being followed. The resident dog may benefit from an area only he can enter, preferably his established resting area or where he usually spends his time with you. The resident dog should also be able to get there without having to squeeze past the new arrival. If you use a baby or pet gate to protect the smaller dog’s space, check that the Doberman cannot reach through the gaps with his head or paws.
Veterinary behaviorists Ellen Lindell and her colleagues emphasize that confinement must be secure and comfortable for the dog7. A gate can let the dogs see and smell each other while limiting contact, but then again, check its height, spacing and stability for your particular dogs, and supervise them. If they spend the whole time barking, staring or pawing through the bars, move them farther apart or close a door so they can rest.
Put away prized toys and chews before bringing the dogs together. They can have those separately. Leave water where either dog can reach it without passing the other. For the first meetings, I would choose a roomy area with clear routes around furniture and a floor they can stand on without their feet going in four directions.
A home with room for both.
Show the pairing
Doberman puppy
Small-breed adult dog
Adult Doberman
Small-breed puppy
Example layout, not a floor plan to scale. Blue-gray dots mark water. Adapt gates, spacing, and routes to your dogs and your home. Based on Mike’s advice above. The shapes show illustrative size differences; actual proportions vary with age and breed.
I see a lot of advice against introducing the new arrival on your own property, and I will discuss that concern next.
The first meeting
Applied animal behaviorist Patricia McConnell describes outdoor meetings and shared walks as part of introducing two of her own dogs8. For a first meeting, I would indeed choose quiet neutral ground if both dogs can comfortably go for a walk, with a capable adult handling each dog. Walk in the same direction with space between the dogs, closing the distance gradually if both remain comfortable. There is truly no reason to begin with their noses pressed together. McConnell also describes keeping dogs moving when a greeting becomes tense8. I prefer not to let the dogs fully meet during the leashed walk, but more on that in a minute.
Here are the ifs and buts regarding the walk. A very young or tiny puppy may be better off in a suitable private outdoor space or a large room you have prepared for a first meeting. Ask your veterinarian how vaccination status, the known resident dogs and local infection risks affect your choice of a neutral place outside your home. The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior supports positive socialization before the vaccination series is complete, with appropriate precautions9.
In his Concentric Circles exercise, Ian Dunbar has dogs practice being near and passing other dogs, with their attention rewarded10. In that group exercise, greetings come later and remain optional. I would borrow the order for two dogs you are trying to introduce within your family: let them get comfortable near each other and practice turning back to the people handling them before asking them to meet. The puppy can do this without knowing much obedience.
Begin far enough apart that each dog can notice the other and still respond to the person handling them. Let them look around and sniff. Reward a dog when he turns his attention back to you. Each person should feed treats to the dog they are handling, with plenty of room between the dogs. Holding out one handful for both dogs to investigate introduces a completely unnecessary dispute.
Returning to that walk, which I prefer it as the first step of the introduction (no, I am not a fan of Cesar Millan). After the walk, if both dogs seem ready to approach each other, I prefer to let them meet off leash in a secure, enclosed outdoor space. They can investigate each other and move away when they want distance. As trainer Pat Miller warns, a dog prevented from retreating by a leash may feel trapped and respond defensively11. She also points out that leash tension can alter a dog’s posture, making him appear more confrontational11. I have made similar observations.
If the outdoor area is not enclosed, or you need to prevent one dog from crowding the other, keep hold of the leash with enough slack for normal movement and room to turn away. In an enclosed space, leaving the leashes attached and trailing is another option Miller recommends11. Use a leash to guide a dog away calmly when a break is needed. Do not jerk the dogs apart or pull them nose to nose11. Do not hold a frightened puppy still while the adult inspects him.
See what they do with the space you give them. One may invite another greeting. The other may have urgent business with a patch of grass. Let that happen. They can spend some of the meeting simply being near each other. If either dog keeps retreating, stiffens or becomes harder to call away, increase the distance. Bringing the other dog closer to a timid puppy because you or anyone else feels like “he needs to get used to it” can make him more afraid12. If he cannot move away, he may growl or snap to keep the other dog at a distance12. Give him more space and let him decide when to approach.
Room to approach. Room to leave.
Show the pairing
Doberman puppy
Small-breed adult dog
Adult Doberman
Small-breed puppy
Blue-gray arrows show room to turn away; curved black lines are leashes. A very young or tiny puppy may need the private-space alternative described above. Read the conditions in the surrounding text. The shapes show illustrative size differences; actual proportions vary with age and breed.
If you have several resident dogs, I would introduce them individually first. You can see how each responds and give either dog a break without having to account for everybody else at once. Bring the group together after those separate meetings are going well.
Back inside
Some of you might have heard that the order in which you go through a door matters. Some people use the outdated alpha theory to justify their recommendations. However, I agree with veterinary behaviorists Debra Horwitz and Gary Landsberg, who explicitly reject going through doorways first as a way to establish human authority. They explain doorway training in terms of manners and safety13. Ohio State’s veterinary guidance emphasizes avoiding jostling in the doorway and getting both dogs inside without a prolonged interval between their entrances, without prescribing that the resident dog must go first14.
Thus, my recommendation is to avoid a gathering in the doorway. If you do not feel comfortable bringing both dogs in at the same time yet, let the puppy explore a prepared area while the resident dog is elsewhere, then bring them together for a while under supervision. Dogs who are already relaxed can begin spending ordinary time together, but under continued supervision. If one is overwhelmed, use more distance or a barrier. Fit the arrangements to what the dogs are doing; an easy introduction does not need extra complications.
You can let the puppy explore while the adult rests nearby. Or each dog can spend time with a person in the same room. The adult can approach and go away again. There is no need to produce an interaction every time they look at each other.
We have already discussed the use of a leash and its potential drawbacks when introducing the dogs, but let’s return to the topic for subsequent interactions. Lindell and her colleagues describe a leash held by a responsible adult as one way to prevent unwanted access, provided the restrained dog can remain relaxed7. For early introductions that you feel need more guidance, you can choose a light leash suited to the puppy’s size and use it to guide him away before he lands on the resident dog again, for example, if the adult has already shown displeasure. If both dogs are on slack leashes, watch for tangles and remove the leashes whenever the dogs are unattended. If they start wrestling with a leash between them, they risk getting tangled, which can frighten them or cause injury11,15. Remove the leashes if they seem comfortable with one another, and instruct a resident adult Doberman to lie down to “wrestle.” If you do not yet trust the situation, change the interaction completely. Marie’s article describes what we did to get our fully grown Doberman Persephone to begin interacting with our Pomeranian Henry Fitzroy1.
With one person handling each dog, practice calling them away while it is still easy. Reward each dog for coming, and sometimes let them go back to what they were doing. If coming to you always means the end of everything they enjoy, do not be astonished when they start considering their options.
Keep meals and valuable chews separate. Spend time alone with each dog and let both sleep. A suitable adult dog can teach a puppy quite a lot, but expecting him to be on duty every waking hour is asking too much. Step in before the puppy makes a nuisance of himself again. Use a gate or door instead if that works better to restrict unwanted interactions.
Brister recommends calling the puppy away when the adult wants space, and advises against punishing the adult’s warning signals4. Let me be very clear here: never punish a dog for growling or giving other warning signals unless you want to risk teaching him to skip the warning and bite “out of nowhere”16. If the adult walks away and the puppy follows, take the puppy off his hands. If he growls a warning, give him space. Again, punishing the growl does nothing to relieve him of the puppy. It may just teach him to stop giving a warning when his boundary is overstepped16. Removing the puppy for ten seconds and then putting him straight back does nothing to help the situation either.
Let them play and watch what happens
Play between dogs who live together can be one of the pleasures of having more than one. When both enjoy it and the game suits them physically, let them get on with it. You do not have to stop the fun with every growl or call a meeting about every burst of enthusiasm.
Dunbar describes bouncy movements, play bows and repeated pauses in friendly play, contrasting them with rigid stillness10. In a study of 16 dogs, Sarah-Elizabeth Byosiere and her colleagues found that play bows commonly followed pauses and preceded renewed activity17. That makes the sequence worth watching. A bow is no guarantee that the next collision will suit a tiny playmate. In particular, watch what happens when one dog tries to pause. Does the other let him?
I would stop a game if one dog keeps trying to escape, gets repeatedly pinned or knocked over, or cannot get the other to stop chasing him. Obviously, whether a Doberman puppy can get knocked over depends on the size of the resident adult dog you consider small. However, if a dog has gone under the furniture to get away, end the pursuit. The other dog’s disappointment is not a reason to coerce the one hiding to come out and continue playing.
Dunbar recommends frequent breaks in play so you can see whether a dog comes back for more or takes the opportunity to leave10. Here is how I would do it at home:
Call the more insistent dog away and keep him occupied with you. Have the other handler help, or use the separation you prepared, before the game becomes hard to stop.
Leave the other dog free to choose. Do not call him toward his playmate or pick him up and return him to the encounter.
If he comes back looking relaxed and invites more play, allow another round if the game suits them. If he wanders off or lies down, let him.
Check both dogs during the session. The little one may be the enthusiast who keeps restarting a game the bigger dog has had enough of. The smaller dog must also moderate his play: his speed and bites at the legs can overwhelm or hurt his larger partner18. The larger dog must control his strength18.
Coming back tells you that a dog wants more. You still need to judge the force of the game. A little dog may be keen to repeat something that keeps knocking him off his feet. I would slow that game down or give them something else to do.
Practice these breaks while play is going well, so the dogs learn to come away before you urgently need them to. If they are already fighting, keep your hands out from between them. The play check belongs earlier.
Watch what happens after a pause.
- 01Call one dog away.
Keep the more insistent dog occupied with you.
- 02Leave the other a choice.
Let him approach, wander off, or settle.
- 03Watch his answer.
Notice both his choice and the force of renewed play.
Show the pairing
Call away the more persistent dog
Doberman puppy
Small-breed adult dog
Doberman puppy called away
Adult Doberman
Small-breed puppy
Small-breed puppy called away
Practice breaks while play is going well. Either dog can be the more persistent partner. Based on Mike’s adaptation of Dunbar’s play breaks. The shapes show illustrative size differences; actual proportions vary with age and breed.
A few considerations depending on who is who
Your resident small-breed adult dog may turn out to be an excellent playmate for a Doberman puppy. He may also prefer to watch from a distance. Let him show you. Being the older dog does not oblige him to spend his days teaching a large puppy how to behave. His willingness to join in may also depend on his age.
As Marie has told you in her article, our senior dogs were not really keen on Persephone’s spitfire puppy attitude1. It is relatively easy to underestimate how spunky and challenging a Doberman puppy can be, especially if you have never had one, or it has been a while and the rest of the pack has been calmer for years. Your memories of the earlier years might lead you to overestimate how much interaction your now older dog wants in his life.
Keep watching as the puppy grows. The game that suited both dogs a few weeks ago may now involve considerably more weight hitting the smaller dog. Can the little one still get away easily? Does the puppy stop when the little one pauses? Pay attention to the force of the contact as well as whether they seem eager to continue.
Reward the behavior you will want from a grown Doberman. Notice when he approaches without landing on the other dog, comes when called or lies down while his housemate rests. Give him a reward then. If a chase is getting too rough, offer something quieter before the situation deteriorates further and your small dog feels he actually needs to defend himself with force.
I would be careful with running games around chair legs, sharp corners and slippery floors15. If the puppy starts plowing through the smaller dog, stop that game. They can spend quieter time together while you work on calling him away and settling him down.
The little dog needs rules too. If he keeps climbing on the puppy, biting at him or waking him, intervene. A puppy trying to sleep is entitled to finish the job, even when the dog bothering him weighs almost nothing.
The same playmates.
A changing size difference.
The other way around
Most people are likely more concerned about pairing an adult Doberman with a tiny puppy. With an adult Doberman and a tiny puppy, watch how the adult handles the size difference. Look for gentle approaches and pauses when the puppy stops interacting. Check that you can call your Doberman away. Keep their early contact brief and easy to interrupt, so you can see how he responds before allowing an extended game of chase. Again, Marie’s article supplies a few examples from our varied pack1. Over 14 years, we have lived with two Dobermans and a total of eight other dogs of different sizes.
An adult who is relaxed and lies down can be easier for a small puppy to approach and less likely to pounce on him. Let your Doberman get up and leave when he wants to. Do not push him down or hold him there for any type of interaction. Do not bring the puppy to his face.
Have somewhere the puppy can retreat before allowing play. I prefer to sit on the floor and offer the small puppy a safe lap or a place behind my back to hide. In any case, the adult should be unable to enter the puppy’s retreat or reach in, and you should remain close enough to stop pursuit. Again, if the puppy comes to you for shelter, give it to him, but avoid scooping him up in a sudden movement if you do not have to. That may trigger your Doberman to jump up on you, with all the consequences you can imagine. Try contact again when your puppy is ready and you can keep the adult from overwhelming him.
Dunbar describes his very large dog Claude playing with a ten-week-old Malinois and stopping whenever the puppy disengaged or became still10. Look for that restraint in the Doberman in front of you. Your assumption that “he loves little dogs,” based on a few previous interactions, is reassuring only when you can see your Doberman behaving accordingly in the longer run.
I would let gentle contact develop and keep heavy wrestling and fast pursuit out of the early meetings. If you are continually having to stop the adult from overwhelming the puppy, separate them and return to quieter time together, possibly after a good long walk. Get help from a family member if you cannot reach a point where both are comfortable and you can interrupt them easily. If you live by yourself, you need to understand before getting another dog that handling two dogs, especially a Doberman and a small puppy, may exceed your arms, hours and solo patience.
Let the puppy withdraw.
Keep early contact brief and easy to interrupt. If the puppy withdraws, prevent pursuit and give him shelter. Let the adult leave when he wants to, too.
Schematic retreat, not a barrier design: the adult must be unable to enter or reach into it, and a person must remain close enough to stop pursuit. Based on Mike’s advice above.
When you are worried about injury
The size difference can make you nervous. There is a lot more dog on one side of the scale. Arrange meetings you can manage, instead of pressing on while you clutch both leashes and wait for something awful to happen.
Dunbar describes a cycle in which small-dog owners fear injury, large-dog owners fear their dog causing it, and both restrict contact more and more19. I think he has a point, and in this scenario you have both concerns. Keep finding suitable opportunities for the dogs to spend time together. If wrestling is too much for your nerves, try quiet company at a distance where they can relax. However, understand that from my experience, a Doberman puppy or a non-senior Doberman wants to play wrestle and from further experience with 7 smaller dogs in constellation with Dobermans, so do their companions. Not allowing them to do so because you are afraid may create more problems down the road.
Pat Miller describes growling and play-biting as normal behavior and acceptable if both dogs are enjoying it11. Dunbar also argues that social behavior can deteriorate when people restrict contact between dogs, producing a cycle of increasing conflict and further restriction20. A 2019 paper by McPeake and colleagues explicitly uses an owner preventing expected play with another dog as an example of a situation that can produce frustration21. Dunbar argues that social behavior can deteriorate, producing a cycle of increasing conflict and further restriction20. In a 2019 paper, McPeake and colleagues’ explicitly uses an owner preventing expected play with another dog as an example of a situation that can produce frustration21. Sommerville specifically discusses dog–dog play as an opportunity to develop social skills and relationships22. My concern about interfering with play wrestling the dogs want to express is that preventing it removes a potentially rewarding shared activity and opportunities to communicate through play and it may cause frustration.
Ultimately, your verbal and physical clues may also not act in a vacuum. In an experiment with 19 dogs, Salamon and colleagues found that more dogs approached an unfamiliar person when the owners stepped forward and spoke reassuringly than when they stepped back and spoke worriedly23. The stranger was human, so this research does not establish what an owner’s nervousness does during a dog introduction or rougher play. It may nevertheless give us a reason to pay attention to our own movements and voice.
Moreover, dogs may be able to read your emotions more readily than you think. Very recent research has found remarkable evidence that pet dogs can distinguish not only positive from negative human facial expressions, but also fear from anger and sadness24. Researchers detected these distinctions in the dogs’ brain activity while they viewed photographs of faces alone. In everyday life, your dog also has your voice, body language, and scent to draw on. As the researchers directionally suggest for further research24, those additional cues may make your emotional state even easier to read.
And your dog's ability to read your emotions may also affect them in ways that matter, also to the introductory phase. In a study of 21 dogs, fearful human faces elicited more stress-related behavior and stronger heart-rate responses than neutral faces25. In another experiment, dogs hearing recorded human fear vocalizations showed more stress-related behavior than when they heard sounds expressing happiness or sadness26. Your own alarm may therefore add stress to an introduction, even when the dogs are engaging in normal play. A frightened expression or alarmed voice could make it harder for your dog to remain comfortable during the encounter.
My recommendation is, stand where you can move and let the dogs move without constantly interrupting or hovering. Speak normally. If you cannot get through a few seconds without holding your breath, put more distance between them or take a break. Simply recommending that you “make the next attempt easier on yourself as well as on the dogs” will not truly help you when dogs want to play wrestle, because it may only delay the interaction you cannot avoid if you want the dogs to integrate into your home. My preferred suggestion is to have someone with more experience or steadier nerves oversee the first interactions if you are too afraid. However, I also recommend that you watch the interactions from a distance rather than relying on someone else’s account of how they went. It is better for you to calmly watch and potentially learn, unless watching still prompts you to interrupt by yelling or physically interfering otherwise.
Once the dogs are comfortable and the contact suits their sizes, let them communicate. They should be able to approach or turn away without us directing every inch of the encounter. Sometimes the most helpful thing you can do is stop interfering for a moment and watch. Over time, you will become more comfortable and relaxed and you will need to guide the interactions less often. However, I believe that responsible dog guardianship will always require you to keep an eye on your dogs’ interactions, just like you’d watch your children.
Puppy classes and other dogs
Puppy classes might seem unrelated to getting your two dogs comfortable with one another, but the topic does come up. Sometimes, people resort to having their puppy play with other puppies as part of settling him into the household, for example, when they feel their older dog is not interested in him. If this scenario applies to you, let me establish one thing first: puppy classes or an hour of interaction with a dog from another household may not change the challenges you face at home. That is why you need to understand what you are asking of your resident dog before you bring home another dog. I am not going to discuss buying another puppy for your puppy in these situations beyond saying this: it is not a solution, for many reasons that I may address in another article.
With that being said, I prefer individual training and carefully chosen dog contacts to group puppy classes. I want to choose who my puppy meets and how long the meeting lasts. I also want him to be comfortable around dogs he never gets to play with. An unfamiliar dog across the street should not require an audience with him.
Trainer Cindy Rhodes objects to mismatched puppy play and encounters that frighten puppies or leave them overexcited and frustrated about reaching other dogs27. Those concerns make sense to me. I would rather choose a suitable partner and stop when either dog has had enough than continue because the class has allotted time for play.
There is also evidence in favor of puppy classes. In a study of 80 dogs, González-Martínez and colleagues found lower owner-reported aggression toward familiar household dogs among class attendees than among nonattendees a year after the course28. I would not base my decision on that finding alone. Attendance was not randomly assigned, so differences between the owners and how they raised their dogs could have contributed to the results. The classes also combined supervised play with training, handling exercises and advice for owners. The study did not establish which parts of the program contributed to the better scores28.
For me, the relevant question is whether a group class offers an advantage over individual training and carefully chosen contact with other dogs. The study did not directly compare those approaches28. Its findings therefore give me insufficient reason to change my preference for arranging the training and dog contacts individually.
Still, my preference means getting out with the puppy. Take him to suitable places where he can watch unfamiliar dogs from a comfortable distance, and arrange contact with known dogs who suit him. Overall, your puppy’s housemate cannot supply every experience he needs. By getting out, he can also learn to pass a stranger quietly and continue his walk. I see no reason to make play the standard introduction between dogs who will probably never meet again.
As they settle in
Give the dogs more time together as daily life becomes easier. They should be able to leave each other alone, settle in the same room and respond when you call. Watch how they recover after excitement. A game that both enjoy is encouraging; being able to stop and get some rest matters tremendously too. Puppies need a lot of sleep.
Leave a gate in place as long as it has a job. There is no schedule you have to beat. Equally, if the dogs are comfortable and the arrangements work, there is no need to invent another stage. Adjust things as the puppy grows and as you learn more about the pair.
With a substantial size difference, I would separate the dogs whenever nobody can actively supervise. Our Dobermans do spend time with the other smaller dogs unsupervised, but how and when still varies. McConnell’s approach to risk assessment considers how serious the consequences would be if management failed29. For me, the possibility of an injurious encounter without anyone there to interrupt it is reason enough to keep that precaution. I am quite happy for it to remain part of the routine. They can enjoy each other when someone is home and sleep in separate areas when everyone is out. However, when Sir Francis Drake and Hank were middle-aged and later seniors, they would also spend time together in our house when we ran errands. After years of watching them interact, we felt comfortable doing so. Our experience cannot serve as a universal recommendation about what you should or should not do in your own circumstances.
If a meeting becomes tense, separate the dogs for a proper break. Try again later with more distance or a quieter activity. Repeated lunging, cornering, persistent targeting or contact that causes injury calls for an individual plan. Borns-Weil explains that predatory attacks may occur without warning and can involve stalking and pursuit2. Do not wait for growling before taking persistent targeting seriously, or keep repeating a meeting that produces the same worrying result.
Borns-Weil advises ruling out medical contributors when assessing a behavior problem2. Have your veterinarian assess the dog, and seek a qualified behavior professional who uses reward-based methods and has experience with conflict between household dogs. Describe what happened, including what each dog was doing beforehand and how they responded when you intervened. Do not stage another dangerous encounter for a video, no matter how helpful you deem it for the professional to see.
McConnell warns that people can be seriously injured breaking up fights and discusses using a door or board to separate dogs29. Yes, you can get injured even when the Doberman puppy is still small or an adult Doberman is trying to grab a tiny puppy. It does not take a fight between two large adult dogs. Keep your hands out from between them; use a solid barrier only if you can do so without putting yourself in reach of a bite. Veterinarian Courtney Barnes and her coauthors advise contacting your veterinarian immediately after a fight because damage beneath the skin may be worse than the visible wound suggests30. Tammy Hunter and her veterinary coauthors identify breathing difficulty, collapse and uncontrolled bleeding as reasons for emergency veterinary care31.
Some dogs will become close friends, as Drake and Hank did. The same dog, perhaps now older, may happily share a room and leave the wrestling to someone else, as Hank did when Persephone arrived as a puppy. I can live with either. In any case, many of the considerations in this conversation need to be addressed before you decide whether entering the world of a blended Doberman and small-dog family is something you can realistically accommodate throughout both dogs’ lives, not only in their first few days, weeks, or months together.
References
31 sources
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For reading.
For real life.
Keep the complete guide, or print a short companion for preparing the house and observing the first interactions.
