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Originally Posted by HereWeAreAtLast Hi, I just registered to this group and was about to post about a similar issue. My sister just received an eight-month-old Yorkie female after she was cared for by me and my family for the past month (the dog was a Christmas gift for my sister and my niece). Tonight, as soon as they brought the Yorkie home, she saw my sister's dog, a 15-year-old American Eskimo (small white sled dog), barked and jumped on her to play with her. The American Eskimo was scared and the Yorkie just kept on chasing her and running under her and so on until the American Eskimo started to nip at the Yorkie. This is when my sister separated the two of them.
My question is if this issue has been discussed at length here before. That is, where an existing dog doesn't like the new baby Yorkie brought into the home. Is there a way to help the two dogs compromise--to train the Yorkie to stop chasing the other older dog and to show the older dog the Yorkie is just trying to play? **The American Eskimo is not familiar interacting with other dogs--this, I feel, is a big part of the problem.**
Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas : )
-Tom Roach, NJ |
Welcome,
When you introduce new dogs to each other you have to take it very slow and watch their body language. Unfortuntetly, many a young dog has died because all it takes is 2 seconds for the big dog to grab the little one and shake it and break its neck. Now having said this it can be done and many members have big and small and they live very well together. As noted by the attached thread:
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sho...light=big+dogs
Usually big dogs know they are dealing with babies but in your sisters case you are also dealing with an older dog who might not tolerate this little one as noted by your comments. Your sister did the right thing by stepping in and separating the two. When I bring in a new dog into the pack I first place the new dog in an excercise pen so everyone can walk around and sniff each other and mark the pen but they are separate from harm with the pen and I always do this outside. Once the pack is done and starts going off to do their thing then I let the new one out of the pen and watch for the least little signs of a problem. Do not assume all dogs like each other as they don't just like human's.
My best advice for your sister is to go very slow and do not allow the baby to bug the older dog. Always be ready to move in a New York Second if you can see the older dog is very uncomfortable. I would not allow the baby to run after the older dog in the house because if she corners the older dog she will react. I think if your sister holds the baby and lets the older dog sniff it will be safer for everyone. I would also setup an excercise pen in the family gathering room so everyone gets used to each other over a number of days.
Good Luck with the new adventure.