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yorkie started fighting

20 11:38:58

Question
Hi
I dont know if you can help me but maybe you can.
I have had a gorgeous yorkie female for 2 years now and we got a chihuahua pup a year ago.All was fine and dandy and they were best friends until we brought home another yorkie pup.he is now 4months old and the 2 bithes are killing each other.The yorkie seems to be the most jealous and needy of my attention and she is going to kill my chihuahua who is much smaller than her.The chihuahua has had a personlaity change and spends her time hiding away!I am at my wits end and cant have them in the house together!Can you suggest something?

Answer
Andy,

I can totally relate to what you are going through.  I have a 4 pound yorkie female and eight months ago I introduced a westie puppy into the mix.  The female yorkie and westie slept together for eight months and got along fine.  The westie is now 15 pounds.  Then my son came to visit (for two months) and thats when things got crazy.
He has a male yorkie who weighs about 5 pounds and is neutered.  I should mention that the female westie and yorkie are also spayed.  The female westie and the male yorkie became inseparable and played all the time.  I let my dogs out into the backyard to go to the bathroom and when I went back to check on them I saw the most horrible thing you can imagine.  My westie (who is white) was covered in bright red blood and she and the male yorkie were standing over the bloodied body of my female yorkie.

I rushed her to the vet barely alive.  She spent a week in the hospital with severe bite wounds.  They said they had never seen a dog come that was in that bad a shape make it.

I told you all of that so you would know that I had the same problem and that our solution was the best thing we could come up with in order to not have to get rid of the westie or the yorkie.  

The first thing I did was buy a shock collar.  They don't call them that anymore I think they are called behavior collars.  But I call them as I see them and it is a shock collar.  I have to tell you I was very upset about having to use a shock collar but it turned out to not be as bad as I thought it would be.  I put the collar on the westie because she had been the aggressor.  When she went near my female yorkie I would tell her NO! and push the button.  It emits a sound for the first two seconds and then if you do not let your finger off the button it will shock the dog.   I am happy to say I have only had to shock her three times.  Now when she sees the female yorkie coming she goes in the opposite direction.  It has also helped her to be better behaved because now when I say no she listens.

Some people think that shock collars are cruel (I used to be one of them) but if they prevent one dog from killing another and if you use it correctly and don't shock your dog more than you need to or harder than is recommended I no longer think they are cruel.  In our case it has become a necessary measure to protect both dogs.

We are not going to stop with the shock collar though.  When the dogs get let out the westie and yorkie will never be allowed to be outside alone together.  I also have an appointment next week with the vet so he can file down the canine teeth on the westie.  You see, the damage that is caused is due to the canine teeth exclusively.  They are the ones that puncture and tear the flesh.  By having them filed down so that they are even with the other teeth and making them flat across the top instead of pointed it will prevent the westie from seriously hurting the yorkie.  If she bites her again she will only be able to pinch her.  It was the deep bites and tearing of skin that caused my yorkie so much harm.  This way we can let our guard down a little and relax a bit more.  Even though I have the shock collar I cannot trust the westie to even be in the other room with the yorkie so it can be very stressful and annoying.

We have also eliminated my sons male yorkie from the mix.  I believe that the male is the reason that the westie attacked the yorkie.  She was close to the male and I think that she attacked the yorkie because she didn't want her near the male.

I know this has been a long answer but you are doing the right thing keeping them apart right now.  I would hate for you to go through what we did.  Your Chihuahua is smart, she knows that they could kill her and she is just protecting herself.  I wanted to ask, do you have a crate or cage?  When my yorkie first came home we took turns letting them out of their cages.  When one was out the other was in their cage.  It helped to relieve some of the stress to get a break from having to worry she was going to attack again.

I really don't know what else you could do except get rid of the male.  I do not believe that behavior or training classes will solve the problem.  I think it is an instinct thing.  People seem to forget that even though dogs are domesticated they still retain the genes that made them wild animals in the first place.

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