Quote:
Originally Posted by Ringo1  Both your dogs are adorable and there is not much cuter than a maltese puppy!
I don't think there is a lot you can do to determine alpha - that is something the dogs will have to work out on their own. You can 'reinforce' your yorkie's status by doing the things that you are doing . . . but as your Maltese grows olders . . they will determine their own status and you will have to be ok with that! I know it's hard.
Sometimes I think my little Lucy has gained the alpha status over my 15 lb - very rough and tough Westie.
I had a maltese and generally he was very mild. My westie can get very excited in play and then he will start playing too rough by pulling Lucy's ponytail . . exactly the things you were talking about. That's when I step in and re-direct their attention with a pull toy or a ball . . . anything to calm things down a bit. I can tell when she's had enough because she will be trying to hide rather than play and yelp a lot too. However, I note that she bites Ringo's face like crazy but she yelps like the devil if he would even think about trying that with her!
I would not leave them alone together yet if you are concerned that your new maltese is too rough . . you have plenty of time for that later. I think that they will become best of friends . . just give it a little time. |
thank you so much for your input.
i think you are right, i will not be able to determine who is the alpha dog, i just really wanted milu to be the alpha dog because she is very well behaved. davinci is a love bug and a good dog, but i think he tries to be a bully sometimes. i had other dogs come visit, and when davinci tried to bully the bigger dog, the dog did an alpha roll and put davinci on his back, after the dog did that, davinci never tried to bully her again. i kind of wish milu would do the same thing, but i don't think it's going to happen.
davinci doesn't bit ME very hard, but when he plays with milu, he bites so hard, i know because he drags her by her hair, and also because i stick my hand between them when they are playing to monitor how hard he is biting her, and he bites her hard. sigh~ i hope he is just going through a phase and will chill out and be nicer to his sister.
Milu is too nice for her own good.