Also have a new rescue issue
 

Hello! I'm new to the forums....I was seeking out assistance/tips when I came across this site. My background:

I have an almost 2 year old Yorkie, Sammy, who I've raised since he was 8 wks. He is very affectionate and thinks everyone is his friend, people and other dogs/cats. Recently, I was offered to take in a rescue, Zeus. Zeus is 3 years old and the story is that his previous owners left him home a lot and didn't want to keep doing it. He was bounced between a few shelters before I got him. I thought it would be good for Sammy to have a companion. Plus, they were about the same size as Sammy is a larger Yorkie (12 pounds) and so is Zeus.

Zeus is very lovable, but very, very clingy. He basically wants to be held, close to the chest, almost continuously. With toys, he destroys them... I mean, within minutes, completely destroys them; you would think he's a giant dog by the amount of damage he does to them. He destroyed 11 toys within 2 days. He also has anxiety with the toys... he'll let you take them maybe once or twice, then goes into snarling and snapping if you try again.

From day 1, Zeus is trying to be alpha and keeps trying to hump Sammy and trying to get on my lap first, in the bed first, grab the toys first, etc. After a few days, Sammy took exception to this and has become jealous and combative with Zeus, snapping at him at bedtime so I have to try to hide Zeus until Sammy settles down and then put Zeus on the other side so Sammy doesn't see him. He's also starting to growl and snap at Zeus if he sees him trying to get in my lap. With the humping, Zeus does listen if you say no and will stop but will start again as soon as you look away.

I'm thinking I may need a behaviorist but not sure how long I should give it for them to work things out; it's just been about a week-ish. Are there steps I can take now to 1) alleviate the jealousy 2) stop the toy aggression 3) alleviate the clinginess (not sure of the word I'm looking for) Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. :aimeeyork

Welcome to YT
Before any advice / suggestions can be given we need to know if both dogs have been neutered and how long you have had Zeus.
I can't offer up much advice or suggestions, I have only had females that I raised as pups. The only alpha in my pack of 3 was me.
My girls killed every toy I ever bought them. If it was a latex squeaky toy, the squeaker was out with-in 15 minutes, if it was a stuffed toy it was ripped apart in mear minutes with stuffing throughout the house. The only thing they couldn't kill were balls, needles to say they had all size balls. It's not unusual for a yorkie to destroy any or all toys.
Keep in mind this poor baby was in several shelters before coming to you, he's insecure and more than likely reason he is so clingy.
Not knowing how long you have Zues I would not wait too long to seek help, Sammy's personality is now changing, before long they will be fighting each other. I have a male 12 pound yorkie, they can cause a lot of damage to each other if they get into a fight.
In my opinion a behaviorist is the route I would take to get Zeus under control.
I would not take this dog to obedience classes, he is beyond that.
Hopefully other members that may have had issues such as yours will chime in with suggestions / advise.

I am thinking you may have a very serious situation on your hands. I would immediately start separating the 2 boys if you have a way to do that. Yorkshire terriers are cute dogs but they do have the instinct to kill - they were bred as vermin hunters and they still have that genetic instinct. I would be very concerned that the 2 boys could get into a fight. When they do that, the one with the larger head will lock onto the one with the smaller head and won't let go - trying to kill the other one. I am sorry to be so forthright but feel as though it needs to be said. You may need to rehome one in order to avoid this. I am so sorry you are going through this but you need to protect them both. Best of luck

That’s not toy anxiety it’s actual resource guarding. If you have to take the toy you should trade him something of equal or greater value like another toy or a special treat only used for that. Many articles I have read on resource guarding says having a lot of what they guard might help too. He must have not had a lot of toys or they possibly got taken away often. A trainer or behavioralist might be a good option. Alpha is not actually what we think it is and the original theory has been debunked. In most cases the oldest is what would technically be considered alpha. Humping is a dominance thing but not necessarily in the alpha way you think. You need to build them as a pack and do pack things together like walks and even training to sit and such. Sammy should always be the first to receive things because he was there first so he should be handed his treat before Zeus, he should be given his dinner bowl first and so on. Snapping is just a warning which isn’t necessarily terrible it is them setting their boundaries the issue is if they actually start biting each other. Them setting boundaries with each other is ok. The only thing that worked with any of mine with humping is a squirt bottle with water and squirt them and say no or to completely pick one up and remove them. It will take awhile for them to get used to each other.

Yorkies were bred to kill rodents not each other or even others dogs. Unless there is a huge size difference or age difference it would be rare for a yorkie to kill another yorkie. Yes they could injure each other but kill is a bit over the top. Snapping is not the same as bitting and fighting. If they wanted to bite they would bite not just snap. Snapping and growling is how they set boundaries and communicate with each other.

Size makes no difference. I have seen yorkies kill other yorkies...it can and does happen!!!
I actually had one as a foster and she almost killed one of my pups right in front or me one day. She came to me as a puppy (8 mos) and had killed another pup in her home. My vet thought it unusual as did I. Were we ever wrong! I had never seen anything like it...in a matter of seconds, my girl ended up in intensive care. I NEVER leave my pups alone together if they have shown any signs of aggression towards another.
I also have seen others...just using the one as an example....
I may have posted it here...I am going to search to see if I did.

I didn’t say it didn’t happen I said it wasn’t common and generally it’s not due to just having a high prey drive it is related to actual aggression. Just snapping though is not necessarily aggression it is one way that dogs communicate with each other. Punishing for snapping which is a warning could cause a dog to not give a warning anymore and just start biting.

It's now been 10 days. I brought Zeus home on Dec. 11th, and things are starting to settle down.. a bit. They are both neutered. Sam will be 2 Jan. 20th and Zeus turned 3 this past Oct. 24th. Zeus is still growling and snapping if you try to take toys away from him; however, using a water bottle, he will eventually, very reluctantly, let go. I make sure to pet him and sometimes treat, afterwards. As for Sammy, he's accepted Zeus, but only to a point. He still gets upset if Zeus tries to get in my lap first, so I have to hold Zeus back and let Sam up first, then invite Zeus up and he seems to accept that. Sammy has started to refuse to get in the bed if Zeus is there and last night, slept in his plush bed instead, even when I tried to put him in bed first, he insisted on leaving so I let him. They have started chasing each other around the house but it seems to be more play and they don't seem to be trying to hurt each other. The only things that really concern me is the toy thing and possibly making Sam feel left out with the new dog. (in the pic, Sam is on the left, Zeus is on the right)

I just felt it needed to be said. Doesn't matter how rare it is if it happens to you.
I didn't refer to punishing for behavior. I NEVER advocate punishment....only positive training methods are good.

I just don’t think the one poster saying they were bred to kill was quite the way to put it per say, it just didn’t sit well with me. They were born to kill rats and vermin there is usually an underlying issue that causes an attack on another dog is not a “yorkie” thing in my opinion. Maybe I should have worded my reply better. I was thrown off a bit by others thinking snapping automatically meant aggression and that it was automatically bad not you. I always tell people who like to use negative training methods that if the zoo and places like that can train huge animals like elephants, apes and so on by positive reinforcement training that there is no reason a person can’t with a dog.

Hi, If you read the history about yorkies back in the early days, yorkies were bred specifically to kill rats -and rats can be quite violent when attacked - so the "successful" yorkies were the ones that continued the line. When reading some of the stories of what humans did to the Yorkshire terriers back in those days, it makes me sick. I think todays Yorkshire terriers are bred to be more lap dogs but those other genes are still present in the 100% Yorkie lines. Some yorkies need to be raised as "only" dogs and others are fine sharing. I had one that was very difficult to raise, so I understand the dynamics. I hope these 2 beautiful pups find a way to get along and live peaceful, happy lives. Hoping nobody got upset and maybe I didn't phrase it right, I just want to make sure nobody gets hurt. Hope everyone enjoys the holidays!

:thumbup:

Happy Holidays to you as well!

Thank you, you too Lady Jane.

Awww they are so cute and so close in age. Thanks for the info I asked for, it's important to know in order to help you. So now it sounds like Sammy is starting to accept zeus except for bedtime, sounds like Sammy is sulking even if you put Sammy on the bed first. As lovetodream advised, Sammy is to be the first dog to get anything which is what you are doing, this helps with Sammy not feeling jealous or feeling he's taken the back seat so to say. But it does sound like they are getting along better, chasing and playing is a very good sign. As far as toys, again, like lovetodream wrote, its very possible he never had any toys with the prev. owners and it is called resource guarding, also possible his prev. would take things away from him. Now that you have two dogs always buy two toys, one for each dog, they could be the same toy or two different ones, let Sammy select which one he wants, then give the other to Zeus.
I will tell you this, whatever Sammy has, Zeus will want, that is kinda natural with dogs. My pack of 3 girls were always doing that and would come whining to me if the other dog didn't give up the toy lol. Why are you taking the toys away from Zues? Are you playing fetch and Zues will not release the toy? If Zues is playing nice with a toy, leave him be. If for whatever reason you want the toy, like lovetodream suggested offer him one of higher value if Zues drops the toy you want then give him high verbal praise. He's still kinda new to his new home, still getting use to all new things especially you as a human. My Cody is a rescue, we're together 8 years. When I first got him he was like a 5 year old testing the new babysitter, "let me see how many buttons I can push before she explodes" lol. I am very fortunate because Cody was a surrender and relatives wanted updates if possible from the ppl or person that adopted him. After 3 weeks of having him I was given their number and spoke with them. Seems there were a lot of things Cody was not allowed to do, like be on the sofa, he could sleep on the foot of the bed only, never near or against the prev. owner. The first day the entered the house he jumped on the sofa and looked at like he was saying "hey whatta you gonna do about this" I said Goooodddd bbboooyyy, then he jumped and ran all over my bed, again the look, again I praised him lol. But it took me one year to get him to sleep near me.
You not knowing his background, everything is going to be trial and error, all baby steps. Before you know it, Zues and Sammy will be BFF, they are just starting to know one another.

They are adorable! Hope things work out well. :)