We had our border collie Jessie for almost 14 years when we introduced Tia our yorkie to her.
The first time we brought Tia home I was worried especially the size difference. Tia was barely 2lb and Jess was 35lb but I plonked Tia on the floor and Jess just sniffed her and walked away. That first night Tia slept in a shoe box next to our bed( no I wasn't prepared for a new puppy lol)
The first few days I watched closely and as Tia was getting more confident in her surroundings the more interest she showed in Jess.There were a few raised lips from Jess and that was to be expected her being our only baby for so long. It wasn't long before Tia was taking bones from Jess and Jess being the lovely personality she was let her.I never seperated them, Tia was crate trained for a few months in the same room as Jess until I could 100% trust them together when I was at work. I always fed them together too. In fact I changed Jessies feeding schedule from once a day to 4 smaller meals because that is what Tia was eating .Then when I started walking them together the bond just grew.
The thing is Jessie was an older dog and that had negatives and positives.
1. she wasn't bouncing all over Tia (positive)
2. She wanted her rest times away from Tia (negative, impossible to stop a yorkie baby from playing lol)
Unfortunately they only had 6 months together as Jessie had her second stroke and we had to make a painful decision to have her put to sleep. The bond had already formed between the 2 of them and Tia sulked for days afterwards.
My tip is always include the other dog, just like kids give attention to that one more than the pup. Ive included a pic of my two .
Good luck and I hope this helps.
