I am by no means an expert but can share my experience. Maddie, my Yorkie, is the boss. We did her an injustice when she was little and our only one, allowing her to think she was equal to us or even above at times. We have a American Stafforshire Terrier and Maddie has no problem trying to snap at him when he walks to close. We have had Ernie, the AmStaff in obedience and agility classes to keep him socialized and build the relationship with him in a positive way.
I don't think there is any way on earth to get Maddie to love Ernie, I realize that. I refuse to allow her to bully another family member though, especially one who can gobble her in one bite. We never allow them to be together unsupervised. Duing the days, Ernie stays in the office with hubby while Maddie has run of upstairs. In the evenings, when Ernie is with Maddie, I am always within reach of her and immedialty stop her negative behavior, in the beginning, this may have required me removing her from the room or placing her in a crate. She has learned that negative behavior toward Ernie gets her in time-out. Now, she will either go lay in her bed or in our bed to be away from him.
Lucky for us, Ernie ignores Maddie and usually goes out of his way to avoid crossing her path, poor guy and has never shown aggression of any kind. I hope you are able to find a solution that works for you all. We have great success with attending weekly classes at an obedience school. |