[DesertChildAZ]

Are you sure that Sugar "attacked" the puppy as opposed with merely trying to "play" with him? My 6 month old yorkie, Johnny Cash, has one heck of a yelp and he's a rough player and he loves to taunt my 1 year old cat. (A cat who is HUGE and about twice the size of Cash) They are best friends and after pouncing pouncing nudging nipping barking nipping...back and forth, the cat will completely immobilize Johnny Cash and pin him to the floor and Johnny will yelp like he's been injured. I run over screaming, thinking Johnny's been injured, and the cat bolts away. And everytime Johnny comes to a full stop, looks at me with that tilted head for a split second (like I'm crazy) and almost immediately, Johnny bolts right back after the cat and continues taunting and playing with the cat as if nothing happened. "Ah, Mom, relax already!!!"

Could you have overreacted and the puppy got frightened by your reaction and kept crying? (I know my instinct is to run over and separate them so I freak out sometimes...but in the end I see that they are just playing and I'm overreacting.) Or was this clearly a serious injury? Was Sugar growling while on top of the puppy or vicious, exposing his teeth and growling?

My 14 year old yorkie, Tahoe, wasn't thrilled with Johnny Cash after the first day or two of Cash being here...but it's been about 3 months and Tahoe has set the boundries as the Master of the House. He growls at Cash when Cash is getting irritating and he growls at Cash whenever Cash tries to lay next to Tahoe. But, for the most part, Tahoe has accepted this little nuisance that has come into our life (LOL!) and deals. However, I have made extra efforts to make Tahoe feel the change less. When Tahoe is obviously getting annoyed by Cash, I will take Tahoe separately into the bedroom and put him on the bed (which is too high for Cash to jump onto) so we can be alone. I stroke him and pet him and tell him how much I love him. I lay next to him on the bed and we have "alone time" for about 20 minutes and he seems to appreciate it. Also, whenever a guest comes into the house, they're nature is to go to greet the puppy first. I always greet them by saying "Say hello to Tahoe first" and they do. Tahoe feels good about that and wags his tail away. I also have rules where Tahoe is always the first to be put on the bed at night when we all go to bed. Cash has to wait by the bed until Tahoe finally arrives and I put Tahoe on the bed and then Cash follows once Tahoe is on the bed. Also, I'm very clear to push Cash away from Tahoe when Cash is "getting in Tahoe's face" too much. I say "No, Cash!" and push him away. By doing so, Tahoe knows that I'm protecting him and that I acknowledge the invasion in his life.

As far as your two dogs, I wonder if it is counterproductive to separate them. They'll never bond if you keep them separated. Sugar just needs to learn how to deal and I don't think Sugar will if you keep them apart.

~ Kelly