Yorkies with Bigger Dogs...
 

Hi Everyone,
Just looking for any advice or feedback on this situation. My yorkie, Miles, is almost a year and a half now. My boyfriend got a Weimaraner puppy today. We do not live together, but the relationship is eventually heading that direction, so we want to be sure we get the dogs aquainted and comfortable with each other as soon as possible.
I REFUSE to put Miles in a bad situation, and ALL interaction with another dog will be monitored and I will be right there (yes, I'm extremely over-protective!). Does anyone here have experience with having a yorkie and a bigger dog? Any general advice would be appreciated. I would like for them to be able to get along, and I certainly don't want Miles to get hurt, or worse...
Thank you!

hi, im a new yorkie mom to my little webster who i have for about 2 weeks now. i have two female golden retrievers each about 90 lbs. my little guy climbs all over them and just loves to nip and tuck at them. they tolerate it as any big sister would. keeva, my younger golden (2 yrs old) will actually play with him and its so funny to watch. he runs after her in the yard and she is so gentle with him. (although he is a tiny terror to my cats :-) hope this helps. of course your boyfriend's puppy will probably play harder than my older dogs. good luck.

[QUOTE=murphstheme;2735272]hi, im a new yorkie mom to my little webster who i have for about 2 weeks now. i have two female golden retrievers each about 90 lbs. my little guy climbs all over them and just loves to nip and tuck at them. they tolerate it as any big sister would. keeva, my younger golden (2 yrs old) will actually play with him and its so funny to watch. he runs after her in the yard and she is so gentle with him. (although he is a tiny terror to my cats :-) hope this helps. of course your boyfriend's puppy will probably play harder than my older dogs. good luck.[/QUOTE]

This scares me, only because he is a puppy and will jump and want to play rough.

I wouldn't leave them alone. As the above poster said...and larger pup will play harder...I would be concerned more about the larger pup/dog hurting yours by either playing too rough or stepping on them. We had a member post, not long ago, about her bull terrier injuring her yorkie,,,I believe it was an adult yorkie,,(correct me if I am wrong please) and the yorkie died from it's injuries.

I think they will be fine. Just be sure to supervise since a larger clumsy puppy could easily injure a tiny Yorkie by mistake.
Since the big dog is a puppy and will grow up around Miles, he should be excellent around him. Jackson adores bigger
dogs but he's also a bigger Yorkie at 14lbs!

We have three dogs, our yorkie and two 60-70 lb dogs. They get along great. We've never had a problem, even from the beginning. Just monitor them closely at first.

Our yorkie is not afraid of anything. While on a walk once she walked up to a great dane and growled in his face. :rolleyes:

We're not 100% sure that is what happen, that was my assumption at first since when they did play together sometimes my bully got a little rough. But we are not sure that my bully hurt her, she may of gotten hurt or may of just passed from a seizure since my fiancee explaining everything to me of how she was and acted right when she passed, it was very very similar to her seizures when she stopped breathing but CPR worked those times and unfortunately not this time.

But of course I would be super careful for the first year with the larger dog. My dog an older puppy and still can get a bit rough. We will not be adding another dog into the mix for at least a few months and another heat cycle until she "calms down". Of course anything can happen infront of you. This incident was right in front of my fiancee, he had just left the room for a second to get something out of the kitchen.

it would not be the intention of the big dog puppy to hurt a yorkie, however, they do not know the size of their paws and body. Should they pounce on the yorkie in the wrong place it could be devastating. Please watch them very carefully. Older big dogs are easier as they seem to know to be gentle, at least my lab did.

My sister has an 8yr old pit and a 4 mo old yorkie pup. I was terrified at first, until one time I went over to her house and the pit was looking out the window and where was the puppy? Sitting ON TOP OF THE PITS HEAD so he could see out too! I couldn't believe that big dog would allow him to climb up there and sit. Of course knowing yorkies it probably was easier for the pit to allow him to do that than to try to stop him lol. The pit is not very playful, being older. I don't know if it would work as well if the pit was younger. Probably not. I say get them together often and supervise 100% of the time.

Thank you, everyone, for your replies. I'm feeling better about the whole thing. I will definitely supervise and be with them 100% of the time. The minute the Weim starts to get rowdy or aggresive, it's over! Right now, he appears to be a very laid-back puppy, so that is reassuring. Ultimately, it's all about Miles' safety, so if I'm not feeling good about the situation, they won't be playing together. Thanks again!!!

Yorkie puppy and Bullboxer puppy
 

They are 1 1/2 years old now, and were born 2 weeks apart. Yes, we're nuts for getting 2 puppies at the same time. Abbie, our boxer and bulldog mix is 45 lbs. and Sophie, our Yorkie, is under 6 lbs.

As they grew up, they were supervised 100% of the time as Abbie seemed to be so rough! We had to get it across to her that Sophie wasn't a toy for her to toss and drag as she wanted. I was sure Abbie would break her.

Now Abbie lays down and lets Sophie chew on her ear and take away any toy Abbie happens to have. They chew on the same bone at the same time, too! They are truly BFFs! We still monitor them, but I don't worrry as much as I used to.

I have a boxer that thinks he's a yorkie and 2 yorkies that think they are boxers. I got my boxer when he was smaller than my first yorkie so she taught him who was boss before he was bigger than her. Now he's super gentle with both of them it's cute. He plays rough with my DH but knows better than to do that with the dogs. If your yorkie is anything like most yorkies he/she (sorry!) will let your bf's dog know who's boss!

I have a 2 1/2 yr old yorkie, a 5month old yorkie and an almost 9 month old boxer. I feel like we're crazy. I don't really have to supervise the boxer and my older yorkie (10lbs) because my boxer only plays when Lucky plays with him, which is rare. Since Lucky is older he really isn't in to playing. But when my little one is out, Bella (3lbs), I have to always supervise, because she is so playful. It's cute but I don't let her play with our boxer too much because she's at the age of biting and she gets his ears and lips. Then he wants to start playing with her. We let them, but only if he is laying down and she isn't being too rough. When she starts running around him and leaping over him, he moves as if he wants to catch her, and that is too scary for me, so the minute he lifts his head or makes some type of fast movement, even if he is laying down, I stop Bella from playing or my husband sends our boxer to the kitchen or a further location. I feel like it isn't fare, but our boxer is still a playful puppy and he is just too heavy! I think he is about 55lbs now, and I have to make sure my little ones are safe, I can't imagine losing them. I can't even walk my boxer and my 10lb yorkie together, because if there is any type of excitement my boxer is just too strong, I've had to let go of my Lucky's leash just to control our boxer. So plenty of supervision and no aggresive playing. JMO.:)

what size is your yorkie
 

it's not so much your yorkies age as size. my 80lb bear is gentle as can be, very careful, won't even move a chair leg to get a tennis ball. Lets 10lb baxter hang from his jowls during play. But even he can have a clumsy moment and has been known to inadvertently step on my foot, and it is painful. I would be afraid of him accidently stepping on a very small yorkie. My pups are just over 1lb and so he is not allowed on the floor when they are. One misstep could break their back. Hopefully, they'll get to at least 4lbs and be less vulnerable. I don't know. 3mths and they are 1.7 and 1.3 respectively. I'd say a large puppy would be even more clumsy than my 7yr old mutt....100% supervision, unless your yorkie is good sized.

bigger dogs
 

my son just moved back in with us and i have a puppy 5mo. and he has 2 large dogs and they are pretty good. they are just mixed dogs from the rescue dogs they seem to be adjusting But it is me i am a nervous wreck i watch her like a crazy person. i just don't know what to do about me.
thanks raina

The potential risk for disaster with two dogs who although one day may reside in the same home (when you marry)...do not live together there now. If these two dogs are not together 24-7 and able to grow up together...I'd be concerned.

In any case...you will need constant supervision for both dogs to avoid injury. Oddly enough it's not always the BIG dog either who instigates conflict. Since many Yorkies have the strange impression that they are bigger than life :rolleyes: they can often be the one to incite an innocent enough brawl.

My youngest daughter & her husband have two ginormous Neopolitan Mastiff's and although they are big babies...I wouldn't risk my girls welfare to even a gentle nip or the slightest misstep of their giant paws.

I, personally do not care to mix my Yorkies with BIG dogs but, that's just me. Having to constantly supervise and be nervous for the welfare of my dog is not worth the hassle.

Another consideration is simply the cost of repair for an injury should one be inflicted...a couple thousand $$$ could create a real financial nightmare for many a pet owner who is not prepared.

Since becoming a Foster Mom for YTNR...it's not uncommon to see & hear about pet owners abandoning or needing to surrender their beloved pets because they were overwhelmed when a Veterinary financial burden fell upon their shoulders.

My motherly advise to anyone adding a larger breed dog into the mix with a Yorkie...think very carefully first & be financially prepared with at least a couple $$ thousand in savings set aside!

Good luck to you & your babies! :)

I think a lot of it depends on the dogs temperment. Scooter's best friend is a standard poodle named Roscoe. He is my parents dog so it was very important to me that they get along. Lucky for us, Roscoe is the sweetest big guy we know (he would not hurt a fly). Scooter is almost two and met Roscoe about a month after I got him when we went home for Thanksgiving. We watched them like crazy together because we were staying at my parents house. Long story short, they have now spent numerous vacations together and know exactly how to play with each other. Roscoe will lay on the ground so that he and Scooter are the same size. They will play tug-a-war and wrestle (I think Scooter can be rougher than Roscoe). We throw toys in the back yard and they take turns catching them. We no longer worry about them being together. They even nap together which is SO cute!

If you teach them from the beginning to be gentle with each other, you shouldn't have a problem. If they snap at each other and want to cause injury, that would be a totally different story.

Side note: My parents are a 10 hour drive away. It takes us at least 2 hours to fly home depending on the airline and flights.

Roscoe and Scooter see each other a couple times a year. They are such good friends that they both spend a few days depressed after we leave. They truly love each other and do so well together. I really believe it all depends on the dogs temperment.

My brother has a Cairn Terrier who also plays well with Scooter and Roscoe.

I am worried about my new little puppy as well. My husband's family all have big (or at least bigger) dogs. It isn't an issue except at holidays when we go and stay at his grandparents for a couple of nights. Usually there is a crazy boston terrier, a French Bulldog, a s**tzu mix, and a Great Dane puppy who was 6 months old last Christmas (and was scared to death of the boston terrier)!! I can't decide if it will be worse on Chloe to leave her with my mom for a couple of days and chance separation anxiety or to take her with us to Christmas and expose to all these goofy dogs! She really loves other dogs, but, like the OP, I worry she'll be accidentally hurt. I'm planning to just play it by ear and see how she is doing as we get closer to December.

-C

Thanks again, everyone, for your replies! I greatly appreciate everyone's opinions and input! I was so happy to hear about your situations where big dogs and yorkies are able to get along and be in the same household! I also appreciate your honesty about potentially tragic circumstances resulting from injury from a bigger dog.
I am happy to report that Miles and Brinkley's first weekend together went very well. Brinkley is definitely the epitome of a puppy--very playful, clumsy, and awkward. Miles is still in the puppy phase, too, and tends to instigate things a bit (just as you said, "miabellaamore"!). Their play time was carefully monitored by me (I was right down on the floor with them!), and Brinkley learned very quickly that he better be gentle with Miles, or else!!! Obviously, we have a long ways to go, and they will always be monitored. But this weekend made me feel a little better about the whole thing.

We recently added a 75lb black lab to our family. Our two Yorkies LOVE him! They like to play with him (and they rarely play with each other!), give him TONS of kisses and lay next to him. Its a blast watching them lick each other, roll around, etc. Dozer (lab) is such a gentle giant. :) They are all adult dogs so I don't know how a puppy would react.