Are Snickers & Reesie ready to be left home alone together???
 

Hey everyone!!!!

So Reesie (our 17.5 week old Biewer) has been home for about 6-7 weeks and things with Snick (2.5 yr old 1st yorkie) are progressing well. They are typical brothers, a mixture of playing, chasing, spatting, competing etc. They still once a day get into it where it sounds scary but many have told me this never goes away. They play well together, esp tug of war together. THEY ARE NOT CUDDLING or SLEEPING together yet. Snick does try to hump Reesie every now and then.

Are they ready to stay home alone together while we are at work???? We would block off the hallway or space and they would stay in there with all their things. Toys, pads in case they can't hold it (both are outside trained-ing), beds etc.

Right now they are in separate pens.

Thanks a million friends!!!!
Smiles- :)
Vivian

If you do leave them home I wouldn't let them be together. Sounds like they haven't completely bonded to each other yet.

Have you tried leaving them alone together for just a few minutes? That's how we started ~ just a little bit at a time.

There was a good bit of size difference though - so we probably took more time than most.

If you have ANY doubts; then I wouldn't trust them yet. They have a lifetime to be alone together ~ why rush it.

Oh yes, they are home out and about unsupervised all the time. We took a trip last week and the nanny said she would catch them sleeping together in one of their open pens. They do want to sit together with us on the couch, but won't cuddle with each, but will with us, very close to one another. They both sleep in bed with us, inches away from each other. Snickers does like his alone time though and will run off when Reesie approaches sometimes. I def won't rush it....just wanted to hear what other thought and their experiences.

Thanks!!!!
-Viv

No, I would not leave them together alone.
Whoever told you that the once a day getting into it and sounding scary may never go away was not accurate IMO. That behavior will diminish to occasional scrapping between them once Reesie has learned the appropriate canine manners. My three have an argument maybe once in a while like any family member annoying another would. Your boys need time, and this process can take months. Stop trying to rush the love between them, it is Snick's choice when he will want to butter up to Reesie. I know it is not what you want to hear, but trust me in the end all will be well between them.

Personally, I'd allow them to sleep together, but I'd make sure it was in my room. I'd put them in the same pen to sleep but again I'd make sure it was when I was there. Teddy slept with the others, it was the only time he didnt act like a little annoying piranha with his jaws snapping in Barney's face. It helped them to bond, without stress. Perhaps your boys need more time together. By now, Snick realizes that the little intruder is not going away, and he will soon accept him fully......He already has done so (tug of war, playing, etc).....

Good luck!

Thanks Cathy....always appreciate your input, but again, I am not forcing anything, just inquiring b/c I do not know things and need to ask questions so I know when and what is ok. Snick has always slept in our bed with us and I don't want to change that so Reesie is in bed with us too and it's working great. We are all getting rest and it works for us.

Thanks-
Viv

Seems like we need more time and bonding. Makes perfect sense!!! Please let me know your experiences if you would be so kind to share!!! I'm thrilled with their progress so far and excited to see them bond further as time goes on.

Hugs-
Vivian

I wouldn't leave them out together yet. I brought Calvin home last May, and I still put him and Chase in their seperate pens when we are gone. I would worry too much about a fight if they were together.

Glad things are progressing Viv. I would wait a bit longer before I left them together while I was gone. It took several months before I left Maddie and her sis together completely free and unsupervised (and this was just while I was in and out of the house) Now, a year and a half later, I don't worry about them being together alone.
I gave myself plenty time to see how they interacted with eachother:)
Good luck!

It really sounds like they are progressing Viv!! I agree with the others though... My two don't really ever have scraps, so I disagree with whoever told you it was normal to happen once a day... I think that tells you that they are not 100% there and should be in their separate areas when you leave for extended periods.

I'm glad to hear that Snick seems to be accepting his little brother :)

I'm a little confused what you mean by scrapping. Are they playing or actually more like escalating into a fight? Doodlebug is my little instigator and loves to cause a little commotion but it is very rarely become an actual fight. When I say rarely it might happen once every several months that there is any type of issue. They can get very loud while playing~is this what is happening? Or is it an aggressive fight where one ends of being submissive and on their back? I would be very careful if it is the later of these scenarios.

If there have been fights while they are together and you are home I would not leave them home alone where they would be confined together. It would concern me that if they did scrap while you were not there to stop it before things got out of hand that you might come home to a injured pup.

Also, I would suggest if this is more than play that you look for triggers in their behavior and start to divert they attention prior to it happening.

Do you ever need to intervene when they are together? This was the biggest indication to me that my two were ready to stay home together. When I no longer need to step in to tell Armani to be gentle, or tell Chloe to stop being a pest. Once they were getting along fine, sharing toys, sleeping together, playing, etc. without any direction from me, I started leaving them together.

my two get into scuffles everyday and sadie will sometimes take it a little too far in play and make Bentley squeel, but they love each other and wouldn't do well seperated. i started out kenneling Bentley and letting Sadie out to roam, then after a few weeks or so they were in love, snuggle buddies and they both were always together with us and just playing and wrestled like normal dogs. so we put them together and have never had a problem. i like you are ready for an hour-three hours at a time for a couple days and if they are both good then you can start going for longer periods together. sounds like typical doggie play to me honestly.

it's normal for them to get into scuffles. my two at least a couple times a day get to really wrestling and it becomes a loud crazy scuffle. they aren't trying to kill each other or anything, just really rough playing.

sometimes Sadie bites Bentley too hard and he yelps, but she then stops and he walks away and all is fine.

good luck. glad it's going well!!

I think everyone knows their own dogs, but I don't think I would chance it yet. We have a 3 month old (that's hyper and 'in Gracie's face" - to play - all the time) and it irritates Gracie after a while and she snaps at her...which I don't exactly blame her. Knowing she could hurt her I always separate her and Gracie's 5 month daughter (to keep the 3 month old company) in an x-pen and let Gracie and Carly have the run (of the upstairs) if we all have to be gone and can't take them with us.
I think it's better safe than sorry. If you don't have an x-pen, maybe put the little one in the bathroom with a gate across the door and then they can see each other throughout the day and not have access to each other.
Just an idea

Their interactions are interesting. Usually they play by chasing each other, playing tag, wrestling, gentle mouthing, and some pouncing on one another. They LOVE to chase one another and hide and seek. So cute!! They also LOVE tug of war!! Other times I see Snick is ANNOYED and will sometimes make Reesie squeal out and I put an end to it right away. We are trying to break things up with we see Snick get annoyed, and also trying to get Reesie to be "less annoying" b/c he likes to nip at Snick and that's when the intersting noises come about creating scuffles. I thought for sometime that it was corrections Snick was giving Reesie but as soon as Reesie let out his 1st squeal, I knew Snick was being too mean. Reesie never makes Snick squeal, Reesie just barks and makes oinky noises.

They need more time. Thank you SO much for your opinions and experiences. Please let me know if I need to do anything else. No one has ever gotten hurt, thank goodness and Reesie does leave Snick alone SOMETIMES if warned enough by Snickers. If he doesn't leave Snick alone, thats when we hear a squeal from Reesie b/c Snick' had enough nipping.

XOX-
Viv

FYI--they have separate x-pen roight now and are separated when we are at work, only together when we are home. Then they have free reign of the house and Snick hops up onto the couch to get away from Reesie, so he has a place to go when wanting alone time.

:)
Viv

Hey Viv! I'm w/the others, thinking it's better to be safe than sorry...However, I wanted to tell you that Apple & Buzz have been together, well over a year, and they still don't snuggle...It's Apple, not Buzz :rolleyes:...She's not a snuggler w/anyone, although they do stay in close proximity of each other, and are, definitely, bonded...I was able to leave Buzz w/Apple, relatively soon, because Buzz is such a benevolent pup (and still is to this day), but it sound like you've got one fiesty little boy (Reesie), on your hands, and an elder, not willing to put up w/it...I think, one day, you won't even need to ask, you'll just have that mommy gut feeling! Have a great day, Viv!
m&a&b&c
xoxox

You have to know your own dogs but I find that when humans are NOT involved, dogs are usually fine together. Jackson has been left out alone with my dads two dogs since the time he was about 16 weeks old. They sleep the whole time we are gone (my dad had cameras at one point) and nobody bothers each other... they don't play with toys or do anything. When my moms dog was alive, Jackson and her stayed together alone and they were always fine. And she was a little brat and it took her a while to warm up to Jackson but when the two of them were alone without us, it was no issues.

I've been leaveing my 10 month old yorkie and my 15 month old shorkie together for ages. They play rough sometimes but when they're in their coralle they're fine. I think it depends on the dogs. I would test it out for a short time at first. Thats what we did and it worked out fine. The only ones we keep seperated it our Basset hounds because they are so big and they can play really rough. We also have a 4 month old shih tzu who gets along great with the the other two but the reason we don't leave him with the other two is because my yorkie has a habit of chewing up the pee pad on the little one. The others are all outdoor trained.

When I first started leaving Mickey and Max alone at home together, I put Mickey in the exercise pen. That way they were together alone but not together.
Then I started leaving them both out for short times until it became anytime I was away.
The little "tiffs" are normal. My boys do it all the time. I only get involved when it gets obviously too rough.
Mickey and Max had a period of time when Mickey was smaller that they slept curled up together. Now they just sleep on the same couch sometimes :)
Anyway, they will be fine.

This sounds like thing at my place too. :aimeeyork:aimeeyork
I could have written that post :D

Also, like Britster said, my boys just sleep while we are away.

Mine def still scuffle as stated before. But I can tell they are starting to love each other too b/c SOMETIMES when I separate them and put Reesie in his pen, Snick will come over to it and scratch at it and stay by him. So sweet! I'll know when I should start the process of leaving one out while we are gone etc.

Viv

I would leave them together but I wouldn't let them free roam. Puppies are like kids, when they're alone they're mostly good but when two or more get together they seem to get into trouble. I can tell you from experience. That's why we bought a big corralle. It's really big and it take up the whole room if you expand it. I can put their beds, toys, and pee pads into it and they still have room to play. My cousin used to have one for her twin girls (human). That's where I got the idea.

I don't think I would leave them home alone together all day. I would wait a little bit longer, but thats just me! I don't leave Bella and Jett alone together yet either. Jett is 18 weeks and Bella is just about a year. Jett gets the x-pen and Bella gets the run of the house!

Princess was the pup and Scoobers my well he was still barely a dog and not a pup it started out really slowly like I would just go to the mail box in front of the house, and back, just going around the block to get kids from school and back etc. That was about 6 months ago, Scoobers and her can be in the same room or well it's a three room open area, Scoobers can easily jump into and out of her play yard.

However until the last 3 months Princess still goes in the play pen becuase she's a naughty monster whom cannot be trusted not to eat everything-well okay she doesn't eat anything but my shoes-she just gets everything from anywhere and puts it in a pile on the floor in a lil protest because she didn't get to go...she now occasionally can be in the open area without being in her pen...of course I still pick up everything pretty much and leave lots of toys out, my dogs have been together a year.

Elvis cannot stay out with the other dogs-he goes with me everywhere he can or he goes in my room alone (I'll be honest I have left him alone before with them-bad bad choice on my part though) as he has seizures so I don't trust the other dogs to not well be animals...they are much better in reacting the first time Scoobers growled at Elvis and avoided him for days...now he will actually run to me prior to Elvis having a seizure and run to Elvis...no training it's like he can just tell and tries to get help...but he doesn't really want to be close to Elvis still either, no growling or aggression, but still dogs will be dogs.

I'm going to wait....the 1st thing I will do is leave Reesie is an xpen and have Snick out and about in the house. Then later, much later, I will slowly leave them alone for short periods of time. I do go and get the mail and go out in the yard and leave them alone in the house and all they do is watch me from the window together. The cutest thing!!

I love them--just sayin:)

Viv