Big dogs and Yorkies?

[Harrysmum]

Well, 'over here' we're not allowed guns - so we don't have that dilemma!!!!

I used to keep a hammer by my front door (just in case) - but a girlfriends husband taught me that it should be a hand SAW - an intruder can't grab hold of that....

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by BorderKelpie

I have medium sized, high prey drive, active dogs and a pack of little dogs. I have actually cross fenced my yard so I can run dogs outside while keeping them in compatible groups. I do not allow my bigs loose with my littles, they are allowed to pass through to go outside, etc, but never to interact on a casual basis. I will allow house time, but no playing/rough-housing with big dogs in the house. Big dogs are expected to down or sit/stay while loose in the house. And before anyone thinks my big dogs are neglected - I have converted the Master bedroom for their comfort with beds, crates, a stereo, fans, and a cat (lol) for times they need to be confined. The little dogs are blocked from that room. And I take turns daily with who gets to run errands with me.

Seems not real fair to the dog because dogs generally want to be with owners the whole time they are home.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by JackiesZoo

When I had big dogs, I had a gate across the kitchen/living room doorway. Big dogs on one side, little dogs on the other. The little dogs could come in the living room with me if I were going to sit down, so I could watch them. I would never let one of the really little ones play with the big ones.

But if you have a big dog with a high prey drive that gates not going to do much.

[chickensmith]

We have a husky and a yorkie.....misha is 11 yrs. Winnie is the newbie at 10 months. Misha was our second as adults. Cassie was our first...a tiny 3 # chihuahua mix. Misha came into the house when cassie was almost 3....she was the queen. While even at 4 months misha had 17# on cassie....she knew who was the boss. A trend that has been set between our dogs is that misha has her part of the house and the smaller dog (winnie now) has her part. They are both welcome in any part of the house they please ....but they have their "spots". That being said....if there is a time we are not home....the gate that is typically open that separates the two areas is closed. Misha is old now....and really has no interest in winnie the way she did when she was a pup and cassie was around. They never fought. And play time was very closely supervised....still is. Large dogs and small dogs do work but take extreme attention to keeping the two separate when there is No one around....even when someone is supervising accidents can and do happen....while we've been blessed that in almost 12 years we have never had an accident between the two....it is still risky.

[laurenchristine]

Thanks everyone for the input! I'm afraid I mislead everyone when I made mention that I'll be living alone.
I mostly mentioned it to let everyone know I'm not planning on living with anyone, so my Yorkie won't have anyone during the day. But my response to all the self defense remarks:

1. I plan on getting an alarm system.
2. The house I plan to buy is a home some family of mine has inherited and are not going to occupy, not a shady apartment, Yada yada.
3. I'm not afraid of guns, I was raised around them. I'm not saying I'm going to shoot anyone that walks In the door. Just that I'm comfortable around guns and own 2, myself.
4. My wanting a big dog is not for the sole purpose of "protection", my family raised Labradors, so I love big dogs. I would have one now, but my Yorkie was a gift from my now late grandfather.
5. Since I live at home, my parents have their own dog. My mom owns a 3 year old 50# pit bull and she and my Yorkie adore one another. They've been left alone since I got my puppy over a year ago, and it's been smooth sailing so far. (But our pit is extremely laid back)

Thank you all for the feedback, and I hope that cleared some things up. Also, I planned on getting my second dog before I graduated and moved out. But I still have almost 2 years until graduation to weigh my options. Thanks all!

[gemy]

Originally Posted by laurenchristine

Thanks everyone for the input! I'm afraid I mislead everyone when I made mention that I'll be living alone.
I mostly mentioned it to let everyone know I'm not planning on living with anyone, so my Yorkie won't have anyone during the day. But my response to all the self defense remarks:

1. I plan on getting an alarm system.
2. The house I plan to buy is a home some family of mine has inherited and are not going to occupy, not a shady apartment, Yada yada.
3. I'm not afraid of guns, I was raised around them. I'm not saying I'm going to shoot anyone that walks In the door. Just that I'm comfortable around guns and own 2, myself.
4. My wanting a big dog is not for the sole purpose of "protection", my family raised Labradors, so I love big dogs. I would have one now, but my Yorkie was a gift from my now late grandfather.
5. Since I live at home, my parents have their own dog. My mom owns a 3 year old 50# pit bull and she and my Yorkie adore one another. They've been left alone since I got my puppy over a year ago, and it's been smooth sailing so far. (But our pit is extremely laid back)

Thank you all for the feedback, and I hope that cleared some things up. Also, I planned on getting my second dog before I graduated and moved out. But I still have almost 2 years until graduation to weigh my options. Thanks all!

It is good you are in no rush. I wish you the best. And for me a Lab is at most a medium sized dog..lol... I own a large guard and protect, yet they are not in the Giant sized dogs. But Labs from puppies take some amount of training, they stay goofey and young for maybe 3-4 yrs so I have heard from breeders and owners of Labs.


And while I appreciate that you have had so far good results with a young Pittie - sic 3 yrs old \I would still advise caution. Right now, my hubby has our 6lber on his lap, my big dogs all over 100 lbs are at my feet.. Razzle is on lead for his safety. This is so because I have a young female Blackie 15mths with high prey drive - she might never earn the priviledge of being out with our Yorkie. My champion male protection dog is a different story. Our female is just a baby and might never ever be protection trained - but she will be obedience trained to a CDX or above. Not all dogs are up to the rigors of protection training - and nor are their owners. Hopefully she will be able to be trained for my service dog.


One of my points are, if you elect to mix large and small you have a heightened responsibility to insure the safety of all. I don't find it stressfull but then again it has been a bit over 6yrs. But accidents can happen in the blink of an eye, you can do the best you can to insure those accidents don't happen. And as much as I am glad your Pittie gets along with your Yorkie - I would never let those two alone together as a matter of [practice.

[ironmike86]

Originally Posted by laurenchristine

Thanks everyone for the input! I'm afraid I mislead everyone when I made mention that I'll be living alone.
I mostly mentioned it to let everyone know I'm not planning on living with anyone, so my Yorkie won't have anyone during the day. But my response to all the self defense remarks:

1. I plan on getting an alarm system.
2. The house I plan to buy is a home some family of mine has inherited and are not going to occupy, not a shady apartment, Yada yada.
3. I'm not afraid of guns, I was raised around them. I'm not saying I'm going to shoot anyone that walks In the door. Just that I'm comfortable around guns and own 2, myself.
4. My wanting a big dog is not for the sole purpose of "protection", my family raised Labradors, so I love big dogs. I would have one now, but my Yorkie was a gift from my now late grandfather.
5. Since I live at home, my parents have their own dog. My mom owns a 3 year old 50# pit bull and she and my Yorkie adore one another. They've been left alone since I got my puppy over a year ago, and it's been smooth sailing so far. (But our pit is extremely laid back)

Thank you all for the feedback, and I hope that cleared some things up. Also, I planned on getting my second dog before I graduated and moved out. But I still have almost 2 years until graduation to weigh my options. Thanks all!

With more info. Just keep the dogs seperate when not home or not supervised. Labs get excited they may stomp the Yorki on accident. I know home alone a bigger dog brings comfort. t doesn't matter if you have a big dog for a pet to cuddle or protection an intruder may harm the dog. So that shouldn't be a reason not to get one. Since you are fimiliar with firearms I would have that also. I just never recommend them to someone who never been around them.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by laurenchristine

Thanks everyone for the input! I'm afraid I mislead everyone when I made mention that I'll be living alone.
I mostly mentioned it to let everyone know I'm not planning on living with anyone, so my Yorkie won't have anyone during the day. But my response to all the self defense remarks:

1. I plan on getting an alarm system.
2. The house I plan to buy is a home some family of mine has inherited and are not going to occupy, not a shady apartment, Yada yada.
3. I'm not afraid of guns, I was raised around them. I'm not saying I'm going to shoot anyone that walks In the door. Just that I'm comfortable around guns and own 2, myself.
4. My wanting a big dog is not for the sole purpose of "protection", my family raised Labradors, so I love big dogs. I would have one now, but my Yorkie was a gift from my now late grandfather.
5. Since I live at home, my parents have their own dog. My mom owns a 3 year old 50# pit bull and she and my Yorkie adore one another. They've been left alone since I got my puppy over a year ago, and it's been smooth sailing so far. (But our pit is extremely laid back)

Thank you all for the feedback, and I hope that cleared some things up. Also, I planned on getting my second dog before I graduated and moved out. But I still have almost 2 years until graduation to weigh my options. Thanks all!

They still need to be separated when you can not supervise. I love labs. They can be loyal to a fault. My dad grew up with one that would kill any animal that came on to his property and if you messed with an animal or person on his property he became aggressive. I have heard this many times. Just make sure you know the pros and cons of any dog you look at.

[AmberH]

When I got Bayleigh (yorkie mix), I had a Great Dane and a pit bull. Both were pretty good with other dogs. They did perfect with the puppy. Kaiser was especially tolerant.

After Kaiser died, (the great dane), I got another APBT puppy. He's also good with my dogs. I have since gotten two yorkies and my pack works really well together. For the most part, the big dogs (60 and 44 lbs) ignore the little dogs (13, 7, and 3.7 lbs). The roughest dog is Bayleigh the 13 lb yorkie mix. I have to constantly tell her to be gentle with the smaller dogs.

Long story short, it can work if you're careful and know your dogs.

[AmberH]

I wanted to also mention that my dogs are never left unsupervised together. We're especially careful because we have APBTs and they are prone to dog aggression. When we're not home, all dogs are crated and completely separate. Dog aggression might not show up until the dog is 3 or so years old. My male is just under 3 now and he's still really good with our other dogs but show him a strange dog and he's not happy. If and when the time comes that everyone needs to be permanently separated, we'll crate and rotate. We've done it before with our recent fosters (pit bull mom and six puppies). It's not fun or ideal but it is doable and for their protection it will be done.