A situation I am unsure of...

[Marie Darrer]

Our Doodle, Othello, has been very easy to train, he follows basic and complex commands well on and off leash, he has learned "tricks", does some agility work already, as we have a great local park with an agility training area, he is eager to please and quite bright as we all know our Doodles are!!

He has done very well with integrating his new sister, our Chihuahua/Dachshund mix, Ophelia, into the family. 

We had on advice of a trainer (we do not formally use one with Othello, but do consult at times, I did all of his training myself) slowly introduced the two dogs.  We had a meet and greet, a few play dates, we brought Ophelia into the house crated because this was Othello's turf, etc.  Everything has gone well except......

We have separate toys, and separate kinds of toys for the two dogs, as you can imagine Othello's playthings are as big as his 7.5 lb sister! Othello plays outdoors with Frisbees and balls.  Ophelia is not much for playing outdoors, she watches her brother and she "claps" and gets excited when he does a good job, just as the rest of Othello's people do.  Indoors if we are in the downstairs family room the dogs are allowed to run about a bit.  Othello has some rope toys that he loves to fetch and he has his Kongs.  Ophelia has two tiny Nylabones (Othello will not touch a Nylabone!) and a cloth squeaky ball, etc. There is one large Kong in particular that we roll across the floor and Othello chases it and brings it back....SO here is the problem...yesterday Othello started picking up Ophelia's little ball and tossing it for her to retrieve...it was very cute....he would then play with his King until she was done making the ball squeak and wanted it tossed again...how sweet I thought as they played together...then I realized Othello was nudging his toy over for Ophelia to toss...well, the Kong is nearly as big and as heavy as she is...she sniffed it and looked at her BIG brother and he nudged it closer to her...she just kind of stared at him...so, Othello picked it up and went up to Ophelia and well, he dropped the Kong on her head trying to give it to her to play with...Ophelia was stunned and staggered a bit, Othello was puzzled, and I do not know what to do...I do not want to take the Kong away as it is one of Othello's favorite toys, but I cannot have Ophelia with a concussion or something...I will be more diligent in supervising when the Kong is involved, but what possible way can I make poor Othello understand that we cannot share the Kong with Ophelia??  My husband suggested I first come up with a suitable command and then teach Othello what it means...short of please don't concuss your sister I am at a loss...I have never had two dogs so mismatched in size before.  Any suggestions would be most welcome!  Thanks for reading my wordy story!!

[Traci -Bexter & Maggie]

I'm sorry that I can't help.  I only have one dog right now, and when I get my 2nd doodle, they will be close in size so it won't be a problem for me.  But...I couldn't help but comment that you painted a very good picture with your discussion.  It sounds like Othello (I LOVE the names by the way...) is such a good big brother.  Simply adorable to picture this in my head while reading!  Good luck! I hope that you get lots of great responses & advice!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Wow, this is a tough one.  I really don't know, but I think if I was facing the same situation I would not allow the "large toys" unless I was around.  Then I think I would just use my verbal correction if I saw Othello heading towards Ophelia with the Kong or another toy that might hurt her.  If he didn't stop with the verbal "no" or what you happen to use, then I would walk to him, move him away, and take the toy.  This would probably have to be repeated multiple times before he understood.  Maybe others will have more informed responses.

[Adina P]

A tough one indeed!  I'm not sure he will truly understand.  Perhaps Kong can only come out when they are separated.  Othello won't be 'hurt' if he can't play with his Kong ALL the time.  It sounds to me like it is mostly a management issue.  

[Marie Darrer]

Today we are doing Stop and Drop when he approaches her with the Kong...so far it is working like a charm and after two or three attempts to take it to her he gives up and grabs a rope toy and tries to share with her....I am still so amazed at how well he has taken to her....

 

We had a long walk together today...Othello discovered a snake...don't think he ever saw one before...he was surely puzzled by the moving rope...at which point Ophelia had to take a look too....she was not as amazed and ran to hide behind her mama...the snake was a bit longer than she is!!

 

Thanks for the replies...I am thinking if I keep doing stop and drop when Othello is getting too close to Ophelia with the heavier toys he will eventually just stop trying...in the mean time if they are not being well supervised the Kong does not come out of the toy basket (the dogs are not allowed to help themselves, they may only play with the toys we take out of the basket).

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Sounds like a plan.  They will be best friends in no time.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I have a chihuahua and a mini doodle, so the weight difference is not as staggering, but she is quite a rough-houser with him.  They are generally wonderful together and the main reason that Peri knows her boundaries is because Taquito barks at her and warns her if things are getting too rough or if she hurts him. 

One of their playtime rituals is Peri lying on her back with Taquito on her stomach and she gently bites his legs.  I know, this is weird.  But Taquito loves it and obviously doesn't mind.  If she gets too rough, T. barks and snaps at her. She backs off immediately.

In your situation, it sounds like Othello is WONDERFUL and just trying to play. It actually sounds very sweet.

My two cents:

1. Ophelia is just getting used to her new home and with time, will become more vocal and will probably warn/barn at Othella to let him know it hurt her. 

2. Don't let the kong be out when you are not around.

3. When you are supervising them and Othello is getting too close for comfort with his bigger toys, simply say "no" or even "leave it" and redirect him away from Ophelia. You should give him a lot of praise or a treat possibly when he redirects, drops the toy appropriately, etc....just play it by ear.

[Carol Brand]

I think Ophelia will be fine.  If she feels like it is too much, she will remove herself from the situation.

[Marie Darrer]

I am not sure Ophelia would ever complain or back down!  LOL  She and Othello have a new game, he dangles a large, long rope toy in front of her, she jumps up and latches onto it and he carries her a few feet, when she squirms he lets her get down and she dances and seems to almost laugh afterward...so very cute! 

 

The Kong issue seems to be resolving as Othello wants Ophelia to play with him and the Kong is just too big and too heavy so Ophelia will not touch it and will not play with him.  They seem to like to share the rope toys to the extent above, and they seem to like to be side by side, Othello munching on a beef trachea, or his Kong and Ophelia on a mini Nylabone...happy, tails wagging, and all.  Ophelia loves to jump and sort of cheer when Othello pays Frisbee in the yard and she will lay by the side of the pool while he swims...she is NOT a waterbaby!!

 

They do rough house a bit, but Othello seems to understand that he is much larger and never gets very rough...he is a very gentle soul almost always!!!

 

We will be going on a trip for a few days, there will be trails and a lake and some other fun....Ophelia will likey be snuggled into a carrier/sling while her brother does some more active things!