[Holly_Wood]

I met my wife about 2 and a half years ago and she had/has a black lab ... the lab has been the pack leader so to speak as my wife pretty much let Nala (the lab) run the schedule for meals/walks/play time etc ... when I came on the scene more permanently (when your dating you don't see the whole picture) I was dumbfounded that she'd get up out of bed anywhere between 4am and 6am when ever Nala woke her up to go feed her then came back to bed .... my point her is she ran the roost so to speak ....

She bought Holly for me about 3 months ago now as a present after surviving a massive heart attack ... from the 2nd day in Holly has been trying to make friends with Nala and Nala wants nothing to do with her ... pretty much growling if she gets with in 3 steps of her .... to Hollys credit she takes it in her stride and goes and tries to lay down with her in her bed ... or "kissing" her at every chance she gets .... Nala sometimes will get really cross and snap at her .. we've only had one time when she's snapped and made Holly squeal (even my wife scolded her that time) ... 3 months on an Nala (who I've renamed Forest Grump) till grumps and growls ... she's doing it as I type this ..... so I do think its a normal thing for this type of thing to happen .. I was hoping that Nala would have stopped all this nonsense by now but no such luck ... maybe she never will and will just tolerate Holly

I personally would not worry about Minnie in the disposition to the puppy aspect but would keep an eye out for health concerns as has been mentioned ... its a change in the family dynamics and its a normal thing for her to feel a little threatened ... on the other hand its all part of proper socialization for a dog (with other dogs) .... Nala had never been to a dog park or played with other dogs ... so I'm hoping this will help Nala with that issue .... we went camping once with friends who had 2 dogs and Nala just sulked behind one of the tents most of the time .... the other 2 dogs didn't know what to make of the growling grumbling weirdo behind the tent :-)

Again if there are no health concerns then I think it has to take its natural course ... when the puppy is old enough and had all his shots maybe you can take them both to a dog park or have other people with smaller does (or any gentle dogs) to come over for a play date to get them both used to socializing with dogs?

I'm really just thinking out loud as I know every ones situation and circumstances are different ... what works for one doesn't always work for another ...

Hope they become best friends soon and you feel better about it too and I know we don't like seeing out babies unhappy