Bully

[Bellabean]

What do you do when your Yorkie terrorizes an older dog?
I have 4 dogs; a Choc. Lab, Shih Tzu , a chihuahua, and my Bella. Bella plays and rough houses with Lacey, the Shih Tzu, is tolerated by Myla, the lab, but she just terrorizes Daisy, the chihuahua. Daisy is 9 yrs old, I inherited her from my mom when she died, she just wants to sleep.
I just don't know how to get Bella to leave her alone. Bella has lots of play time with Lacey and with me.

[Ldyrev1]

We have been going through this ever since we brought our Princess Sophie. We have an older dog and she just terrorizes him. Jumps on his face, bites at his beard, ears, tail. We feel so sorry for him. What we discovered is that he can get away from her if he gets up on the sofa or a chair. She hasn't figured out how to jump up on furniture yet so that is his safe place. I also let him outside without her to potty or she just chased him around and he can't get any peace. This works out really well for us. Maybe it might work for you too. Good luck!!

[Bellabean]

Originally Posted by Ldyrev1

We have been going through this ever since we brought our Princess Sophie. We have an older dog and she just terrorizes him. Jumps on his face, bites at his beard, ears, tail. We feel so sorry for him. What we discovered is that he can get away from her if he gets up on the sofa or a chair. She hasn't figured out how to jump up on furniture yet so that is his safe place. I also let him outside without her to potty or she just chased him around and he can't get any peace. This works out really well for us. Maybe it might work for you too. Good luck!!

That is exactly what I am doing. Bella can't get on the furniture yet either, but it won't be long. I just feel so bad for poor Daisy, she lost my mom and has really settled in nicely here. Now she has to deal with naughty Bella.

[Ldyrev1]

They will get it figured out. Don't worry too much, as long as the other dogs don't feel like they are backed into a corner and they have an "escape" they all should be ok. A lot of what your yorkie is exhibiting could be attributed to her being a puppy. It may be a while but she will settle down in a year or two.

[The 4 M]

Hi,
When Molly was a pup she did the same with Merlin for a little while, he was really tolerant but then one day Molly went too far a Merlin grumbled at her, she left him alone after that, well almost, but we also just say "No leave him/her alone" and then get a toy for who ever is been a bit over the top... it just takes time for the "puppy-ness" to calm

[DBlain]

I wish I had an answer but I would definitely make sure that the puppy knows this is not OK. This might never be the case with your puppy but some dogs like yorkies can be very very dog aggressive as they get older. This is a problem if they meet up with another dog that will not take their BS, that is what happened with one of my past yorkies and the outcome was awful. Had my dog not gotten in the face trying to attack a bigger dog he would still be with me today. Some puppies grow out of this play type attacking, some don't. Lola is an only dog and I have always bragged that she gets on with all other dogs, however something recently happened that really scared me. We stopped to converse with a year old Westie male, he and the owners were very friendly. Lola was doing her normal happy tail wag sniffing going in circles greeting when out of blue she bit into and hung on to the Westies whisker area. The Westie pulled back afraid, but had that dog decided to bite back it would not have been nice. So all along I have been more concerned in asking people if their dog is nice, now I am afraid Lola will do this again to a not so friendly dog. I tell you sometimes having a small dog is very nerve wracking when out in public

[DBlain]

the more I think about this the more I feel that puppies should not be allowed to terrorize an older dog even under the guise of playing. First it is not fair to the older dog. Second I think you are giving your puppy a false sense of security that he or she can get away with anything and other dogs will take it. Most people in this situation will say the best thing that every happened is when the older dog finally said enough is enough. But what if your older dog never does that, do you want the first dog to teach that to your pup be one you don't know. When you think about this, a parent would never let a toddler pinch and bite an older child, and if they did can you imagine the brat they would be raising.

[Bellabean]

Originally Posted by DBlain

the more I think about this the more I feel that puppies should not be allowed to terrorize an older dog even under the guise of playing. First it is not fair to the older dog. Second I think you are giving your puppy a false sense of security that he or she can get away with anything and other dogs will take it. Most people in this situation will say the best thing that every happened is when the older dog finally said enough is enough. But what if your older dog never does that, do you want the first dog to teach that to your pup be one you don't know. When you think about this, a parent would never let a toddler pinch and bite an older child, and if they did can you imagine the brat they would be raising.

I agree. I don't allow her to continue to terrorize Daisy. I scold Bella and help Daisy get up on the couch. I have noticed when we are out that Bella has started aggressive behavior toward ANY animal we see.

[JasmineNoelle]

Until we brought Maggie Mae home things were quieter with just the two. We had brought the first two home at 8 weeks each (no I am not saying you should bring them home before 12 weeks old) so we have been with them pretty much from the get go. However, we didn't get Maggie Mae until she was almost 7 months and she had been the only dog. Boy, this made a difference with her. The 11 yr. old put her in her place pretty quick, not so much the 5 yr. old. She is still learning to stay out of their face, but it has been more difficult with her. I do agree with Donna, they need to be taught as soon as possible respect for other dogs space to avoid injury in the future. And very true, this type of "in your face behavior" would not be accepted from a child.