I’ve been asking around in various online pet communities, trying to find other stories of dogs teaching dogs. Here are a few of my favorites!
- I have a six year old shepherd mutt named Harley, and about a month ago I got a Jack Russell mix puppy, who I named Jeter. He’s constantly following her and trying to do what she does, usually with little success. She did kinda clue him in on the fact that when I let them out they usually have to pee, as soon as she went to go he’d go off a ways and go too, was very happy to see that. Being as small as he is though, he had problems going up and down stairs. I went down to the basement one night and my older dog easily followed, leaving him whining at the top. I tried coaxing him and he’d start to go down the first step, but he’d stop and whine again. So Harley ran up the stairs behind him and walked alongside him very slowly until he eventually moved on to the second step, then the third. She ran to the bottom again, and when he didn’t follow she’d go to him again and walk with him another few steps. She did this over and over until he made it down safely, and now he tears up and down the stairs with her with no problem whatsoever.
- My Border Collie Spike has taught my GSP Squish quite a few things – not by example so much as by a well-timed growlsnap when Squish does something wrong. He taught Squish not to jump up when greeting people and he taught him the limits of playing with my mother’s cat (Spike won’t let anyone upset his cat).
- I had a sweet pit bull puppy staying with me overnight as part of a transport to rescue, and he ADORED my parents’ dog, Midnight. He followed her around and copied her so well that he was pseudo-housetrained in TWO HOURS. It was awesome. It was definitely a good example of why you should wait until your first dog is a well-trained adult before bringing in another dog, especially a puppy–you want all the behaviors they copy to be good ones.