Hello! I'm new to the forums....I was seeking out assistance/tips when I came across this site. My background:
I have an almost 2 year old Yorkie, Sammy, who I've raised since he was 8 wks. He is very affectionate and thinks everyone is his friend, people and other dogs/cats. Recently, I was offered to take in a rescue, Zeus. Zeus is 3 years old and the story is that his previous owners left him home a lot and didn't want to keep doing it. He was bounced between a few shelters before I got him. I thought it would be good for Sammy to have a companion. Plus, they were about the same size as Sammy is a larger Yorkie (12 pounds) and so is Zeus.
Zeus is very lovable, but very, very clingy. He basically wants to be held, close to the chest, almost continuously. With toys, he destroys them... I mean, within minutes, completely destroys them; you would think he's a giant dog by the amount of damage he does to them. He destroyed 11 toys within 2 days. He also has anxiety with the toys... he'll let you take them maybe once or twice, then goes into snarling and snapping if you try again.
From day 1, Zeus is trying to be alpha and keeps trying to hump Sammy and trying to get on my lap first, in the bed first, grab the toys first, etc. After a few days, Sammy took exception to this and has become jealous and combative with Zeus, snapping at him at bedtime so I have to try to hide Zeus until Sammy settles down and then put Zeus on the other side so Sammy doesn't see him. He's also starting to growl and snap at Zeus if he sees him trying to get in my lap. With the humping, Zeus does listen if you say no and will stop but will start again as soon as you look away.
I'm thinking I may need a behaviorist but not sure how long I should give it for them to work things out; it's just been about a week-ish. Are there steps I can take now to 1) alleviate the jealousy 2) stop the toy aggression 3) alleviate the clinginess (not sure of the word I'm looking for) Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
