I think I am the one that said it would be to stressful and that is because after owning 5 dogs I know I am still not equipped to deal with the situation the OP has going on, nor do I want to invest the time it would take to make it work.
Can a large prey driven dog live with a small prey driven dog, sure but it would require a ton of effort on the part of every human living in the house, one mistake could be fatal in less than a heartbeat. Gail is a wealth of knowledge on this because she she has taken the time to learn what to do, she also had her first large dog before she brought the small one home and by that time had several years of training classes and experience under her belt. Her husband is as committed to making this work as much as she is, he to had years of experience with other large breeds. While I can't speak for the OP I doubt she has the background to make this work, if she did she would not be talking about keeping the dog outside so it does not mess up her home or hitting it for playing rough. I also doubt she has the desire to make it work because if she did she would be trying to get as much knowledge here and asking questions and even PMing those that gave her advice, has anyone gotten a PM from her? Anyway like I said earlier I doubt the OP is taking our advice but hopefully the next person thinking about this type of arrangement might give it a second thought. |