Help!! It's Yorkie Wars at our House!!
 

Our daughter's 8 year old Yorkie, Chase, has about had his fill of our 6.5 month old Yorkie, Zoe who's about had it with Chase!!! They've had their ups and downs since we brought Zoe home, lots of jealousy and resentment.....but today has been awful!! Zoe always sleeps with us and a couple of nights ago, my husband tried to put Chase in bed with us, and I warned him there would be a dog fight :eek: , and sure enough there was. Today, Chase tried to get into Zoe's crate, I think there must have been a piece of leftover treat in there, and Zoe wouldn't let him in. I wasn't home, but from what I heard, quite a fight insued. I've been trying to help them learn to be friends, and rare occasions they do play, but most of the time, when they pass each other there are snarls and growls. Zoe will sometimes get after Chase and keep barking and jumping at him until he's had all he can stand & he growls and bites at her. Zoe can hold her own even though Chase is about 4 times her size.

I don't expect any one here to solve this problem for me. I just had to vent!!

We love them both and just wish they would bet along!!! They fight worse than our daughters ever did!!!

Oh, poor Zoe and Chase! It sounds like they both want to be "top dog" of the house. Is there anything they like to do together at all besides fight? They're just so adorable it's hard to believe they can fight like that. I really hope they can get along soon for ya!

Sorry to hear they fight. Maybe they will get along better as Zoe gets a little older. My friend's 2 yorkies dont get along at all and they used to have big fights, now they just ignore each other.

I agree with the person that said you should try and find something that they like to do together. Perhaps you could start taking them for lots and lots of walks together if you arent already. I just bought a "coupler" for walking my dogs on one leash and it is GREAT! They love it, and they walk side by side so nice. Good luck hun and let us know how it goes.

Are you sure they aren't trying to play/fight?

Has either one drawn blood yet?

Are you taking them to dog obedience classes? They say that's one of the best things you can do to help this problem.

Where did you get your 'coupler' from? i have been wanting to get one for ages! to make walkies easier as my yorkies have some 'friendship' issues that need to be addressed! lol :)

Yes, where did you get the coupler? I've been looking and the only one I could find was at Pet Smart, but it was so big and heavy. They didn't carry smaller ones.

Mac & Mellie play fight all the time, if you didn't know better you would swear they were trying to kill each other. My two will growl, nip, jump on each other but they are playing. It starts with the butt up front down thing, then they growl then it's an all out chase, attack. If one wants to sleep the other will persist until it's play time. Are their tails wagging, do they nip but NOT actually bite to hurt? Good Luck.

Chase is not happy to have a new buddy in the house. I have seen 2 females get at it and it is a horrid sight! I took in a 4 year old yorkie because she needed a good home..... my 2 top girls did not like her because she was extremely yippy and she always wanted my attention.... she was set inher ways and did not like dogs and thought she was human. So my girls would fight with her....... REALLY BAD.... I tried soooo hard to get them to get along..... it got so bad a few times that blood was drawn.... mine and from the new girl. I didn't have a choice but to place her in a single child home...... she went to a really good friend who I can see and she is happy now.
But Zoe is still young... try to roll him on his belly in front of Chase.... it establishes that Chase is top dog. Do you babysite Chase often?

Oh, Marilyn! That sucks! :( I'm sorry that they are fighting so much. You'd think they would've gotten over this by now. :(

We brought Chance home in Feb and Remmy does not care much for him. Chance is always in his face wanting to lick him and play but Remmy is a grump. They have not gotten into a knock down drag out yet but I think that is because Chance is a puppy and he knows that Remmy is boss. Although he loves to pester him and will sit there and watch him eat his food. Even though he has his own food in his bowl. If Remmy is playing with a toy he will go off on Chance if he goes near it...not bite but sure makes a lot of noise. As long as he is not hurting Chance I am happy. I do let him know when I am not happy with him when he is mean to Chance. But Remmy has been under the weather with surgery so it is almost like having to reconnect them all over again. :(

I agree - roll him over on his back and lightly place your hand on his upper chest and neck area.

Hold him there until he stops wiggling.

I did this the very day we went to look at puppies and got Missy. She didn't wiggle at all!

Thank you all so much for your comments, encouragement and suggestions. I will try some of your ideas and see what happens. Our daughter still lives with us while she is in college, nursing school. She plans to leave in a couple of years to pursue her masters. I doubt that she will take Chase with her then, so he will be with us a while longer.

Zoe is just so dominant. She does not want Chase to eat, she gets between him and his bowl and barks at him, so we have to separate them at feeding time. She does not want me or my husband to pet Chase at all. If we do she starts barking and gets very agressive, and Chase growls and nips back.

When Chase finds a sock or toy, he trys to hoard it, and Zoe is after him barking and growling trying to take it away.

No, I don't think it is playful. Sometimes they do play, but not often.

It is hard to walk them together due to the big difference in their size, but I will try this, and putting Zoe on her back, and look for obedience training. We have a new PetSmart. Maybe they will offer a class. Haven't heard, but will check into it.

Our daughter tried to do obedience training with Chase in 4H when both of them were much younger, and she failed, but perhaps there is hope.

No blood has been drawn yet, that I know of, but their fighting is getting more vicious. Usually one of them backs down, and the fight ends for a while.

For some reason, I hadn't thought that this would be a big problem once they got to know each other. Hopefully things will calm down when Zoe gets a bit older. I don't think Chase will really hurt her, but we keep Zoe in a separate room or in her crate when no one is home, just in case. She seems to like her crate. She's in control there.

Again, thank you all. It's so good we have this forum to share and help each other!!

I personally think they need to have some training. That will help immensely.

I've heard that PetsMart uses their employees to do the dog training classes.

You may need someone with lots more training than that.

I would look for another trainer - maybe for a small class or even a trainer that will come to your home.

We had a personal trainer come to the house and it was wonderful.

Please do not use the Alpha Roll theory with your little ones :( . While you can determine how aggressive some puppies will be by rolling them on their backs it should not be used for correction in a dog. If you type in Alpha Roll in the YT Search link you will see many discussions about this. You can also do a google search on Alpha Roll to learn more.

HISTORY & MISCONCEPTIONS OF DOMINANCE THEORY
[ABOUT THE ALPHA ROLL]


Note: The information in the following article came from an interview with Dr. Ian Dunbar, who spent nine years studying the social behavior of dogs during the study mentioned below. In an earlier version of this article, Dr. L. David Mech was credited with the 30-year study. This was a mistake. The researcher who conducted the study was Dr. Frank Beach. An effort has been made to correct this error. However, if you know of a place where the original article was published, please notify the editor and request a correction.
The original alpha/dominance model was born out of short-term studies of wolf packs done in the 1940s. These were the first studies of their kind. These studies were a good start, but later research has essentially disproved most of the findings. There were three major flaws in these studies:
These were short-term studies, so the researchers concentrated on the most obvious, overt parts of wolf life, such as hunting. The studies are therefore unrepresentative -- drawing conclusions about "wolf behavior" based on about 1% of wolf life.
The studies observed what are now known to be ritualistic displays and misinterpreted them. Unfortunately, this is where the bulk of the "dominance model" comes from, and though the information has been soundly disproved, it still thrives in the dog training mythos.

For example, alpha rolls. The early researchers saw this behavior and concluded that the higher-ranking wolf was forcibly rolling the subordinate to exert his dominance. Well, not exactly. This is actually an "appeasement ritual" instigated by the SUBORDINATE wolf. The subordinate offers his muzzle, and when the higher-ranking wolf "pins" it, the lower-ranking wolf voluntarily rolls and presents his belly. There is NO force. It is all entirely voluntary.

A wolf would flip another wolf against his will ONLY if he were planning to kill it. Can you imagine what a forced alpha roll does to the psyche of our dogs?
.
Finally, after the studies, the researchers made cavalier extrapolations from wolf-dog, dog-dog, and dog-human based on their "findings." Unfortunately, this nonsense still abounds.
So what's the truth? The truth is dogs aren't wolves. Honestly, when you take into account the number of generations past, saying "I want to learn how to interact with my dog so I'll learn from the wolves" makes about as much sense as saying, "I want to improve my parenting -- let's see how the chimps do it!"

Dr. Frank Beach performed a 30-year study on dogs at Yale and UC Berkeley. Nineteen years of the study was devoted to social behavior of a dog pack. (Not a wolf pack. A DOG pack.) Some of his findings:

Male dogs have a rigid hierarchy.
Female dogs have a hierarchy, but it's more variable.
When you mix the sexes, the rules get mixed up. Males try to follow their constitution, but the females have "amendments."
Young puppies have what's called "puppy license." Basically, that license to do most anything. Bitches are more tolerant of puppy license than males are.
The puppy license is revoked at approximately four months of age. At that time, the older middle-ranked dogs literally give the puppy hell -- psychologically torturing it until it offers all of the appropriate appeasement behaviors and takes its place at the bottom of the social hierarchy. The top-ranked dogs ignore the whole thing.
There is NO physical domination. Everything is accomplished through psychological harassment. It's all ritualistic.
A small minority of "alpha" dogs assumed their position by bullying and force. Those that did were quickly deposed. No one likes a dictator.
The vast majority of alpha dogs rule benevolently. They are confident in their position. They do not stoop to squabbling to prove their point. To do so would lower their status because...
Middle-ranked animals squabble. They are insecure in their positions and want to advance over other middle-ranked animals.
Low-ranked animals do not squabble. They know they would lose. They know their position, and they accept it.
"Alpha" does not mean physically dominant. It means "in control of resources." Many, many alpha dogs are too small or too physically frail to physically dominate. But they have earned the right to control the valued resources. An individual dog determines which resources he considers important. Thus an alpha dog may give up a prime sleeping place because he simply couldn't care less.
So what does this mean for the dog-human relationship?

Using physical force of any kind reduces your "rank." Only middle-ranked animals insecure in their place squabble.
To be "alpha," control the resources. I don't mean hokey stuff like not allowing dogs on beds or preceding them through doorways. I mean making resources contingent on behavior. Does the dog want to be fed. Great -- ask him to sit first. Does the dog want to go outside? Sit first. Dog want to greet people? Sit first. Want to play a game? Sit first. Or whatever. If you are proactive enough to control the things your dogs want, *you* are alpha by definition.
Train your dog. This is the dog-human equivalent of the "revoking of puppy license" phase in dog development. Children, women, elderly people, handicapped people -- all are capable of training a dog. Very few people are capable of physical domination.
Reward deferential behavior, rather than pushy behavior. I have two dogs. If one pushes in front of the other, the other gets the attention, the food, whatever the first dog wanted. The first dog to sit gets treated. Pulling on lead goes nowhere. Doors don't open until dogs are seated and I say they may go out. Reward pushy, and you get pushy.
Your job is to be a leader, not a boss, not a dictator. Leadership is a huge responsibility. Your job is to provide for all of your dog's needs... food, water, vet care, social needs, security, etc. If you fail to provide what your dog needs, your dog will try to satisfy those needs on his own.

In a recent article in the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) newsletter, Dr. Ray Coppinger -- a biology professor at Hampshire College, co-founder of the Livestock Guarding Dog Project, author of several books including Dogs : A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior, and Evolution; and an extremely well-respected member of the dog training community -- says in regards to the dominance model (and alpha rolling)...

"I cannot think of many learning situations where I want my learning dogs responding with fear and lack of motion. I never want my animals to be thinking social hierarchy. Once they do, they will be spending their time trying to figure out how to move up in the hierarchy."

That pretty much sums it up, don't you think?

Melissa Alexander
mcalex@connectexpress.com
copyright 2001 Melissa C. Alexander