Adult Female Boston Terrier- Fighting with Yorkshire Terrier

Question
QUESTION: When we got our Spaded female boston terrier missy, we had an old male mixed terrier. After he passed away, missy just wasn't the same. We went out and bought a female Yorkshire Terrier Puppy.  Everything was great for 2/3 years, the dogs got along fine. Missy, who is now 6 or 7 years old, and the yorkshire terrier (whom not spaded by the way) have had their 5th fight, and we are giving the yorkshire terrier away to relatives.  We plan on getting a second dog, yet again. However, we do not want a repeat of this past year, all those horrible fights.  What kind of dog do we get? Male or Female? What precautions should be taken? How should they be introduced? Should we even get a second dog? Any help is greatly appreciated.

ANSWER: Hello James thanks for emailing,

Yorkies are rather nasty tempered with other dogs and having an unspayed female yorkie with another female dog that is or is not spayed wouldn't make a difference yorkies are one person dogs generally and prefer to be the only dog. Boston Terriers on the otherhand enjoy having another dog to play with but still are very loving to the whole family. You ask what kind of dog but I need some more details....do you want another small dog a toy/a medium or a large? Getting a dog that matches perfectly is very important as you by now know all too well...you should aim for a dog with an easy going temperament that is *Not noted for being dog aggressive most small and toy dogs are rather dog aggressive there are few that aren't...Beagles love other dogs but like to Bay(prolonged howlXbark sound) Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are fairly easy going and do ok with other dogs as do American Cocker Spaniels, Then There are medium/large breeds... all gundogs are good with other dogs thou the Chesapeake Bay Retriever can be a be dog aggressive, Hounds in general like other dogs but Dachshunds or wiener dogs are dog aggressive. Siberian huskies also love to live in packs and relish the company of dogs and humans alike. If you can give me some stats on what your looking for...ie coat type..size, shape, color ect ect I would be able to help much more in selecting a breed that fits. I recommend a Male but two females can get along well I have two females dogs and a male dog if you check my profile page and they get along rather well...my female dogs never fight each other perhaps this is because of the size difference....also all my dogs are spayed/neutered which greatly helps. please see my website for information on multiple dogs adding the second dog and some dog breeds its still in working progress so please bare with me   http://www.freewebs.com/dustycovens/

Again get back to me with details on what your looking for in another dog and I'll be able to help select a breed better.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for answering so quickly.  The decision has been made to not give the Yorkshire terrier away (we didn't ask the relatives yet).  We want to try spaying the yorkie, and try to establish the role of dominance, with us humans as the pack leader.  Will extensive training, walks to get rid of excess energy in both dogs, and spaying the yorkie be of any help to us? (we also separate the dogs when we aren't home, or when company comes.) The dogs seem the wag their tales and get along.. but then every now and then they fight. I just wish we knew why. Do you have any ideas? Thanks for everything- james.

Answer
Hello, Spaying Will help somewhat but the problem still lies...you have two dog aggressive female dogs who both want to be the leader.....they fight to establish dominance but its apparent the loser keeps trying to be the leader when the fights break out over and over again. If there has been bloodshed one dog must go you cant have these dogs living together if they are going to shred each other to bits..also the bostons eyes are very vulnerable and can easily be blinded by a snapping yorkie. Both dogs exercise requirements are rather low to stay fit the Boston terrier however often loves to chase toys and whatnot and doesn't mind some extra exercise I can not say for sure about the yorkie since I never had one but they are active dogs as well and an extra walk wouldn't hurt but doubt this will rebound all there energy and stop them from fighting. Now you say they fight is it a real fight I'm not acusing you of being dumb I just want to be sure its real fighting...hair on back raised..teeth barred, snarling/growling and savage tussling are fights...blood is often shed in real fights. Play fights are mostly used to establish dominance and they go like this...dogs start running together playing nicely then they come in to each other grab the other neck skin or fur and they wreasle basically rolling and tussling around grumbling/yapping but not doing any Real harm the warning signs for a fight are raised hair on back/neck...barred teeth staring down the other dog and being extremely still and or course if they are play fighting and it suddenly gets ugly if they are re just play fighting theres really nothing to fuss about but real fights can be tricky and like I said one dog may have to go but first have the yorkie spayed and see how that plays out.  

please see my behavior/dominance page also for more info on what behaviors mean Its a working progress but getting them so please bare with me:

http://www.freewebs.com/dustycovens/behaviordominance.htm

and you are very welcome if you need anything else feel free to ask anytime I'll always answer as soon as I can.