fighting yorkies-HELP
 

HI,
My first question is what to do about my yorkies fighting. This is not just playing rough, they are drawing blood. We try and keep them apart, but they need to get outside once in a while. If not apart, they will tear into each other a couple of times a day. I really worry if they start and we are not home. It has been worse since the littlest one had babies. (Beautiful 7 weeks old) She is only about 3 1/2 pounds. The biggest one ,9 pounds, normally will just walk over to her and start in. She is becoming very timid now, but fights back ferociously. Is there anyway to stop this? I am thinking of muzzling them when ever they start to fight. Would this help? Spraying with water doesn't slow them down. Thanks for any and all help. I don't want to have to get rid of one of them.

Well, we know the smallest is female, what is the other one? Could it be she is just protecting her babies, especially if the other is male? I have to keep a close eye on my two at times also, but I think their problem is jealously. Mine are both males also, both still intact.

I'm a little confused, is the 3 1/2 lb girl a momma?

fighting yorkies
 

HI,
Altogether we have 7 yorkies. The oldest at 2 1/2 years is a female 9 pounds. She is the fighter. The next one is 1 1/2 years old, female, 3 1/2 pounds and the mom. She has a litter of 3 puppies that are now 7 weeks old. The next two are a male and a female, both approaching one year. The young female is in heat right now, also. The fighting is getting worse. They used to fight maybe once every other month, now it is daily. Seldom is the fight near the puppies and I have not noticed anything that sets them off. I am at wits end to stop this. thanks.

You absolutely need to keep these females separated. The momma and pups should be isolated from the tension and the youngest female in heat is adding to your problem. Hormones raging can have unexpected effects and can cause fighting tempers. Do not leave them together, you may return to a dead dog.

fighting yorkies
 

Thanks to everyone for the helpful advice. I am keeping everyone separated and things are calmer. Once the other female is out of heat and the puppies are gone, will they all calm down? I miss my happy household. thanks again.

Yes things should settle down after things return to normal. My girls will sometimes get aggressive when in heat or have pups. So be Careful. Good Luck :animal36

Im so sorry your having all this trouble with the kids. Im sure the female being in heat and Mommy wanting to protect her young is the cause of it.Its best to keep them all apart for now.Things should settle down some after the puppies are bigger or gone and the other female comes out of heat. Good luck. How many babies did the momma have?

fighting yorkies
 

Momma yorkie, Mini Pearl, had 3 beautiful babies. They are 7 weeks old now. One female and 2 males. Female is sold and maybe one of the boys. I will have to try and post pictures of them soon. I have a call in to a couple of different trainers to see if they can help me also. Thanks so much to everyone for their advice and time.

Hi and welcome to YT!!

I am sorry you are having the problems with agression but it is true that the females need to be separated when pregnant, in heat or after whelping as they become extremely protective. The bigger female may also be jealous, or if she is the alpha, she may sense the new resistance to submission by the momma. Some females will even eat another females pups. :eek:

I am aware of a recent situation where one female actually killed another. So sad. You are right to be concerned as this apparently happened when the owner wasn't home.

Congratulations on your litter and I don't want to throw you to the wolves so to speak, but I would love to hear your experience with breeding your little girl. There are mixed views on this board about the appropriate size for breeding and I wondered if you had her evaluated (pelvic capacity, etc)prior to mating? Did she free whelp? Were there any complications and how big was the male? I am guessing it was her first litter since she is 18 months old. If you would rather answer me privately, please feel free to PM (private message) me instead of posting the answer here.

Again, Congratulations and welcome!! :congrats:

Feeling Outnumbered? How to Manage and Enjoy Your Multi Dog Household, by Patricia McConnell

Just a thought.

Joy

This is a very volatile situation and as someone stated above, one or more of these dogs can end up seriously injured or worse yet, dead.

When you can't referee, I highly recommend crating everyone and exercising them outdoors individually. It is a big responsibility to have intact males and females. Crates can save lives.

Owners are most typically bitten by their own dogs when trying to break up a fight like this.

My male and female fought viciously when Zoe was about 4 weeks pregnant until the pups were about 8 weeks old (or so). Bronx drew blood several times, once badly injuring her eye. We kept them completely seperated all this time, it was such a pain. Not a happy household. Even switching them from inside to out or cage to cage, they would grab each other. I thought Zoe was sorta staring at Bronx prompting him to attack. When Zowie came into heat the following time, Bronx started again. I took him in to be fixed and no problem since. I have since had the other two boys fixed and have not had any bad fighting, just the little kind (where I can pick one up to make it stop). I am so sorry for you, It was absolutely horrible, but after 8 weeks, you can start monitoring them back together. I think we still had a couple of episodes, but not nearly as bad.

fighting yorkies
 

I guess we were just lucky with this breeding. Our male is small, just about 5 pounds. We had mama checked out before birth and the vet seemed OK about it. He did warn us if she was in labor for more than three hours, bring her in right away. She had the first puppy when we were not at home. The next two came within two hours. She is a great mom and even dad and the nice aunt play with the puppies..We keep the mean aunt and mom and pups apart in separate crates. Talked to a dog trainer for more tips. The most we can do at this time is keep them apart and hope that things slow down after the babies are gone. If she is still fighting, we will have to find a home for her. Thanks again for all the great information and this wonderful site

Multi Dog Household
 

I have a 5 yr old (spayed) female and will be getting a 3 month old male puppy in about 6 weeks, what has been your experience with an older yorkie and a puppy adjusting to one another? Any suggestions on adding a 2nd yorkie to the home?