Fighting or Playing

Question
Hello, I bought a female and male yorkie about a week ago. The female (Lexus) is 10 weeks and weighs 2 lbs and the male (Bentley) is 13 weeks and weighs .8 lbs. The female came on Wednesday and the Male on Friday. Saturday they started going back and forth nipping at each other and fighting with each other. I kept Lexi in the bathroom for the 2 days she was by herself so she wouldnt have to stay in her crate all day but now they fight constantly and I have to put them in separate crates because when I go to work because I'm afraid they will hurt each other. Lexi normally starts it with Bentley and Im constantly saying no to them. Please help!!!

Answer
Patrice,

I don't think that they are fighting.  If they were older I would be more concerned but because they are so young I suspect that what you are seeing is typical puppies playing.  They can look quite vicious and even look like they are trying to kill each other when they play.  Stop telling them no because you are trying to teach them not to play with each other.  Play is part of their socialization skills and they need to learn how to play.  

I have a male Yorkie that is about 18 month old and a female Westie who is about 14 months old.  The Yorkie weighs 5 pounds and the female westie weighs about 18 pounds.  They play constantly and if you didn't know they were playing you would swear they were trying to kill each other.  They do this constantly and sometimes in the afternoon I separate them so I can have a break from the constant commotion.  

Until you get used to them playing and can stop worrying about them hurting each other you should watch them play but don't interfere.  When they are playing you will see a lot of barring of the teeth, growling, barking and usually one on top of the other.  All of these things are normal puppy behavior when they are playing.  You may even see one biting the other and not letting go until the other one cries out.  What you should not see is blood or torn skin.  As long as their play does not cause physical harm to one or the other it is normal.  Dogs have a sense even when they are puppies of how far they can go without hurting each other.  Having a male female combination is another reason I don't think they are hurting each other.  Typically a male and female combination gets along better than a male to male combination.

Bottom line mom, stop worrying and let the children have some fun.