preventing aggression

ok so i have a bitch at the moment,4 years old,spayed,lives indoors,pretty laid back placid dog and im getting a male pup in about 2 months and am looking for some advice regarding preventing aggression between the two....(she displays some aggression usually connected with food and toys with other dogs),for instance when if at all would you feel the need to intervene with a pup and dog interacting? eg the pup is testing his boundaries with her should i step in or just observe.. should i treat one dog which i believe will be the dominant dog as such or both as equal ? ive heard many different opinions so would appreciate some of the vast experience you all have ps.these dogs no matter how well they get on will never be left un supervised but im just trying to keep the peace for obvious reasons...any advice is much appreciated

 

Both dogs should be treated equal and both be corrected for undesirable actions. However, you should probably give more weight of correction to the older dog depending upon how old the pup is and its maturity level. You have to remember that you are the alpha and have to make both dogs understand that they are not in control. The pup will test his boundaries as puppies will do, depending on how far he goes with it, he may require some correcting as well. You will definitely need to step in on every situation that could possibly lead to aggression because just observing may potentially prove to be eventually fatal.

 

hey shon,yeh this is what i thought but a lot of people seem to think the older dog will "teach" the pup,whenever she's around pups and they step out of line she growls and sometimes shows teeth but has never snapped at them and only gets irritated if they go near her stuff doesn't mind them chewin on her face tho:rolleyes: