[yorkietalkjilly]

My first Yorkie hated other dogs play-biting and crowding him. He was a tiny Yorkie and very conscious of his inadequacies in play situations with other dogs so he just began to avoid our miniature poodle and miniature Schnauzer, both of whom were larger and more powerful. Trying to slow those two down and train them to be as cautious and delicate in playing with Scotty as he required soon proved to be futile and was taking the fun out of both Chantal and Jock's playlife as they wanted to include Scotty and loved getting their way with him at every chance. Scotty was so frustrated by never "winning" in any play situation and in time, he began to get extremely frustrated and I feared he would become aggressive or begin to have a level of stress he could no longer handle. He was only 3 lbs. grown and very fragile. But Scotty was unlike any dog I'd ever had and my total soulmate so when he started to leave the room when either of the other dogs came in it, I realized I had created a big problem for all the dogs.

In time I rehomed both of the other dogs, realizing all of the 3 deserved better in their lives than I was providing trying to mix this group, one of which was a "tiny". I realized I had made a bad mistake trying to do it and hadn't the skills to better the situation for all of them anytime soon. From then on, Scotty had a wonderful life and had no more dogs biting or crowding him, overpowering or frustrating him. Chantal, an absolutely perfect creme miniature with wonderful lineage, conformation, coat and spirit, wound up with a divorcee who loved poodles and had the time, money and nature to give that lovely poodle the life she deserved. Jock went to a couple with a 12 year old son who badly needed a best friend who could match him energy-wise and was hardy enough to keep up with him step-for-step, sleep with him and make him laugh a lot.

Scotty and I lived our quiet little life together after that and I learned all of the fun it is to have a Yorkie who is happy and at peace in its own home. Had I kept the other two dogs and not stopped their constantly rough play and hounding him, I don't believe my frail little Scotty would have ever enjoyed his life anywhere near as much as he did just being an "only" dog who went everywhere with and did every thing with me from then on. I can't imagine what Scotty would have been like had either of my other two dogs grown into a dog over 60 lbs. who played too rough with him, maybe even drew blood on occasion, when I turned my back at the fridge or took a phone call - but I think I can. I think he would have hated that life. He was far too macho in spirit to enjoy always being a play toy to another dog.

Same thing happened when I got my Jilly, another tiny Yorkie, a playmate, Teddy, who was a regular-sized Yorkie puppy. That puppy quickly grew to be larger and far rougher with Jilly than she could enjoy and she started getting ill, decompensating. Once Teddy was placed in another home, Jilly returned to her normal, happy self. So I learned some Yorkies just have too much ego and pride to be treated roughly by another dog and just can't happily adjust to it ever.