[butchpoodle]

My yorkie puppy is now bigger than our young toy poodle. Yorkie is around 7 pounds (7 months) while the poodle is 5 pounds. They play really rough together. The yorkie is notorious for grabbing flappy poodle ears and hanging on for dear life. She does this to both of my poodles, actually. Our boy is 9 pounds (10 years).

We try to keep an eye on the playing and just use our usual Uh-Uh or OOPS for behavior we deem too wild. The same word we use for missing the mark in training. It took a while for everyone to catch on, but they have.

Every time we leave the house - even for a bit - I put the puppy in her pen so everyone is safe when there is no supervision.

I have noticed, as the puppy has grown, that the bigger, older dog has become a better suited playmate. The small one loved her at first, but now that the yorkie is bigger, the small one gets overwhelmed and - trying to slow or stop the play - ends up hurting the puppy, making her yelp. That puts a stop or gives a break.

Our older, 9# guy can blow her off or stop her without hurting her - he's not overwhelmed. So I've encouraged them to play more and the others to play less.