Would appreciate your comments.
 

As some of you know I have 2 Yorkies. Katie is 16 months and Suzi 5 months. (I've had Suzi since she was 9 weeks.)



They get on well mostly. Play fighting etc., Katie likes her own space when she goes to bed, but generally quite well.



Just recently, Suzi doesn't eat until Katie has finished. Although now they have separate dishes. Also if Suzi is in Katie's spot when they go to bed Katie will growl. She also takes things off Suzi if she gets the chance. Is this a dominance issue do you think? Is Katie dictating a pecking order? I should hate Suzi to be an underdog.

Will this change when she gets older?



Should I stop this or let them sort themselves out. Although Suzi sticks up for herself, I feel so sorry for her, cos she's so small.



Any comments please.

Hugs Shirl x x

You got it right. Katie is letting Suzi know who's #1 and that is totally normal. It will continue on for the rest of their lives probably.. from what i know it would be really hard for Suzi to get to #1.. but that's ok.. she's younger, smaller and hasn't been around as long so she should be #2. As long as no one is getting hurt.. just let them be. They'll work it out.

This is tough
 

Katie was there first, maybe she feels that she is not important to you since Suzie moved in. First, thing I would try is to feed them away from each other.
I have the same problem when we had two dogs. The younger one would wait until the older one was finished eating to eat. Secondly, with the bed situation I would try to put the younger one in her own bed. Please watch Katie with the Suzie sometime the pecking with become worst. This happen to us Sherlock the older one pick up Sal and threw him on the floor and walk away. I can understand your fear but if you do not correct this behavior quickly it may cause injury to the little one.

It is a domanance thing but remember you should be #1 not the dogs.
If the older dog does something that you think is not okay or even just kinda being pushy it could lead to something worse. I I perfer to egde on the side of caution b/c i have seen big dogs get into it pretty bad b/c the owners have let them run a muck.
Allot of ppl think this can't happen with little dogs but it can.

When you see something that you don't like (b/c your top dog ;)) then stop it and let both dogs know that your the boss.

Ceasar Millan uses Ch--- shound and it works with my bella. I only use it when she does something I don't want her to do.
Good luck.:)

Can't figure out what that word would be............:confused:

But I agree.You are the top dog (so to speak) in your house, so you are in charge, not Katie. I have 4 yorkies and they all have their little spats now and then....I am quick to stop the ones that get to heated. My eldest female Lexie (12 lbs) certainly shows dominancy over the younger female who is also the newest member of our family. She likes to pick on her, will stand over her and/or practically sit on her to let her know she comes first (or so she thinks). I ALWAYS set Lexie straight when I see her getting overly bossy.

As for the eating thing......mine have all done that (standing back, waiting....) at one time or another. I still haven't figured out exactly why yet. Since they've all done it, I don't think it's a dominace thing in this case anyway. It's got me baffled:confused:

it's a sound.. not a word... the sound is sometimes written as Tsssst...

I have three and don't have that problem, I make sure that they know I'm the pack leader so what I said goes. I think that your Katie want to be the leader. When I feed my girls I always there. In the begining if one try to eat the goodies of each other, I will say nono and put them back in their dish, now they don't even try only if one is finish then they will ck out the left over of each other. Now all of mine pile up to each other and share space, but I think if one of them don't want to share I will put her down and pick the other one and put her in the same spot or I will tell her NO and put them next to each other and monitor the situation jmo;)

I have 3 Yorkies too
 

I have 3 Yorkies too, my pack is made up of a Father, Mother & Daughter so the relationship may be different than others that are NOT related or the same sex so there is NO Competition between them. There is more competition if they are siblings from the same Litter or they are the same sex. They only eat dry dogfood and they all eat from the same bowls, they share their dogfood & water without any problems. Dominance is a constant
struggle and you should never leave them un-attended unless they are completely Trained and you trust them? Which for Yorkies is saying alot.
Unless you are Alpha and have complete control over them they will continue to try to dominate each other in every way possible, since you are NOT taking charge? Remember there is only one Leader position the rest are Followers. Which one are You?:confused:What kind of relationship do you have with them together and seperately?

Thanks so very much for your replies friends.
I appreciate it very much. I've never had two dogs
at once so it's a learning curve for me. I shall watch
them closely. (I'm retired so can do this.)

Once again thankyou.

Hugs Shirl x x

I think this is pretty normal and you should allow them to sort it out as long as neither is actually hurting the other. You should be the leader and step in if it gets out of hand. I have two Bichons, ages 11 and 9 and the older one, Lacy, a female, has always been the boss and she doesn't hesitate to put the male, Cosmo, in his place. If Cosmo is laying in one of the snuggle beds, Lacy can just walk up to him and look at him and he will get out of the bed and go lay down some place else. If Cosmo is laying on the couch or in a chair, Lacy can go up to him and he will move. Cosmo has never tested Lacy being the boss and he obviously doesn't care. Sometimes Lacy decides she wants a toy or chewy that Cosmo has and she will go up to him and look at him and maybe even bark at him, but he doesn't always let her have what she wants. Sometimes he will let her have it, but not often. Cosmo doesn't offer to fight with her, but will hang on to whatever he has and ignore her. She doesn't attack him, just looks at him and might bark. Lacy bosses Cosmo and corrects him if she thinks she is doing something he shouldn't, like barking at something he sees out the window. She will rush up to him and bark, obviously correcting him. Both Lacy and Cosmo have good manners and I am definitely the boss, but Lacy is the Queen Of The Castle. Cosmo isn't bothered by her. He acts like a tolerant kid putting up with a fussy older sister. He gives me a look that says "Oh, boy, here she goes again!" And Lacy gives me a look that says "Mom, do I really have to put up with him?" They are like siblings who have the normal amount of conflict with each other, but are attached to each other and miss each other if separated.