Aggression?
 

First off, we have 3 yorkies already and absolutely love them. Two of them are below standard size, being about 2 and 2.5 lbs respectively and are over 1 year old. Neither are aggressive and they play wonderfully with each other and our bigger dogs.

We've recently found another little girl we're thinking of adopting into our family. She is 8 months old and weighs about the same as our smallest. She's at our local pet shop (they actually look into the places they get their puppies from) and has been adopted before. She was bought by a woman with 2 small children and returned because the woman didn't want to take care of her any more.

The pet shop is keeping her for a little while in order to update her shots and such since the woman didn't bother taking her to the vet. We went to the shop the other day and she was in with a little chiweenie and bichon. They were all playing together, but they started getting rough and she pinned the chiweenie to the floor and wouldn't let her get up.

I was wondering if this is a sign of aggression, and if I should be worried about bringing her home with my other yorkies. Its likely that she'll get to be as big, if not bigger, than the babies we already have and I don't want to subject our current dogs to aggressive behavior. Any help or insights would be highly appreciated.

The chi may have been irritating her all morning & she finally had to stop it out of self-defense or keep putting up with it. I wouldn't let a single instance of witnessing that stop me but I would return to observe how she is dealing with the chi on that visit & with one or two of your dogs.

That's what I was thinking, but my mom was worried so I decided to get someone else's opinion.

I was thinking about taking our 2 small yorkies with us to the shop today to see if they would let us introduce them to see how they got along. It would be a neutral place, with none of the dogs being in "their" territory.

As the Yorkie has been living there, she may have come to consider that her territory.

I would encourage you to get your next dog from a reputable Yorkshire Terrier breeder as many if not all of the dogs sold in pet stores come from puppymills & no amount of "looking into" will change that. Retail pet stores cannot afford to buy puppies from reputable breeders - only from people who are in a hurry to "turn a buck" & can sell dogs to them cheaply. I would not fall for their sales line.

What questions about your home and whole lifestyle, pet, vet history, etc., has the pet store asked you?

I am aware of the fact that many pet stores get their puppies from puppymills. That is why all but one of our other dogs have come directly from their respective breeders. This puppy comes fully registered from a woman who only has 1-2 litters a year.

The lady my mother dealt with at the store asked her various questions about our home/lifestyle. Such as where the dogs stayed, how big our yard was, whether we've owned dogs before, how long we're away each day, whether our dogs are up to date on their vaccines, if they receive haircuts, get their nails trimmed, what we do with our dogs when we go on vacation, whether anyone is allergic...

As for the puppy coming to think of the store as her territory. There is a separate area/room where she's never been. This area would be as new to her as it would be for our dogs.

That one to two litter line is dog-eared from age - we've all heard that one from just about every pet store at one time or another! Believe it at your own risk any time you might hear it from a pet store. At least they asked some questions of your mom but apparently they do no checking up on her answers. Shows they don't really care that much, just want to sell the dog.

That new area is still within the store the pup is used to & the smells will still permeate it so the puppy may still think of it as part of its territory & get a bit territorial but likely will be happy for a diversion & just have fun.

If your mom buys the dog, I'd purchase a good vet insurance policy on it if I were she. Not knowing its breeding lineage & any genetic issues the lines have, she may be a sitting duck for lots of vet bills.

I was just wondering about her seemingly aggressive behavior, but thanks for your other opinions. We got one of our other dogs from the same store, and thus far have had almost no problems in the 7 years he's been part of our family. When we bought him, his paperwork included all the information on his breeder, i.e contact info. My mom was able to see his parents and where they lived.

Their puppies come with a health guarantee and they pay the vet bills for any health problems the puppy has or may develop as a result of genetics and such. Our other dog we got there had an umbilical hernia (from his mother during whelping) and they paid for the surgery once he was old enough.

Sorry, since this is a public forum, the posts are intended not just for the OP but for any who might read the thread down the road so other things are sometimes said so that all don't get the idea pet shops are all appropriate places to buy dogs.

I was being sincere in my thanks there. I appreciate that you're concerned in where we get our puppy from. I was just saying that the pet shop I go to is fairly good about where they get their puppies, providing info about not only the puppy but the breeder, and their health guarantee. They have an average of about 3 puppies, when they actually have puppies that is.