Can I train her to tolerate my GSD better? I have a 7 yr old, 3.5 lb Yorkie as well as my 2 yr old GSD and I would like to be able to have them out together in the house and backyard at some point (supervised obviously). However, my Yorkie is a little bit older and doesn't really like dogs getting all up in her face. She's fine going up to Kody and sniffing/licking noses through his crate, or when I put him in a down-stay and make sure he can't inch his face toward hers too much. But he will occasionally break the stay and try to sniff her face, which she doesn't like, and will try to nip his nose for it! I've even had times where I've (gently)pushed her out of the way with my foot if Kody was pushing through the door and Miley was right there, and she'd actually bite my foot (not hard enough to hurt, but I could feel teeth). I'm pretty sure it's just some fear aggression and not liking big, hyper dogs all up in her face. It's weird cause she used to love every big dog she'd meet but has always been scared of the smaller dogs.
Anyways, should I just proof Kody's leave it command and practice with Miley until I can get him to not put his face too close to hers? What could I do with Miley to get her to tolerate him more? Thank you so much!! |