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Paws & Claws

Jill Bowen has practiced veterinary medicine in England and Texas. She lives in Blacksburg now, and answers local pet owners' questions every week in The Roanoke Times and roanoke.com.

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Q I'm about to get a female Rottweiler puppy, and we already have a 2-year-old mostly hound dog. Chester is very sociable with other dogs. My son's male 2-year-old German shepherd and his wife's female 6-year-old red heeler often visit. Chester loves to see them come but after a while is happy to see them leave. Chester seems very much a loner, and I'm wondering if this will be a problem with a new dog. The puppy will be about 2 months old when/if we get her. Could you give me some guidelines for introducing them to each other and how I can mesh our pack.

A Normally there are not too many problems in getting an adult dog to accept a new puppy. Older dogs do not see a new puppy as a threat to their status or territory.

The initial introduction should take place outside, preferably on neutral ground, so the adult dog does not feel threatened. Dogs greet and identify each other by sniffing the other's genitalia, but sometimes an adult can become a little obsessive with sniffing and poking at a puppy, especially if the adult is a male. Have the adults on leashes so that you are in control of the situation should the sniffing of the puppy become too rough.

When going into the house, make sure that Chester goes through the door first and the puppy follows. This helps establish the pack hierarchy. It is normal for the adult dog to establish the pecking order by barking, swatting or even nipping at the puppy. Do not interfere or it will make matters worse, as the adult dog will try even harder to become the dominant dog.

Take the introduction of the puppy slowly. I recommend having a dog crate so that there is somewhere to put the puppy -- not only to rest, but also to keep her safe when you are busy or the older dogs seem to be getting too rough. Crate training is neither cruel nor a punishment. Instead it becomes a safe spot where the puppy sleeps, rests and gets away from it all.

Dogs will not soil where they sleep, so crate training is very helpful in house training. Make a comfortable bed in the crate, add a few toys and if necessary some food and water. Just remember to take her outside immediately whenever you let her out of the crate.

Rottweilers must be gently but firmly trained. Being crate-trained is a help to prevent chewing of both furniture and belongings when the puppy is home alone.

Unless trained early, this breed can easily try to become the alpha dog, so it is important from the start to establish who is the pack leader. This means that you and your husband, as well as Chester, get to do everything before the puppy. At feeding times she gets fed last, is not allowed to share with Chester, and has her own food and water bowl.

Q What exactly is a lipoma? My elderly golden retriever has two or three small fatty lumps on his hind leg. My vet said they were lipomas and not to worry.

A These lumps or lipomas are exactly that, fatty growths that are nonmalignant. It is not known why some dogs develop lipomas, and provided they remain as just small fat lumps, no action is called for. Sometimes these lumps can become quite large and interfere with walking or they may become sore and even infected because of rubbing and licking. In these cases surgical removal may be the only option. Unfortunately, lipomas often have a tendency to grow back after removal.