First time Doodle owner and 3 yr old yorkie is being mean. Help!!

[Trixie]

Hi all, new here and looking forward to many years of joy with our new golden doodle.    First, some history.   Female yorkie is 3, we lost our 13 year old lab in the fall.   Lab was awesome with yorkie and they were best buddies.  Slept together and hung out all day long in the same space.
Now we have a beautiful female golden doodle.  Just got her yesterday, and the yorkie is snipping at her.   I make the yorkie submit and lay flat each time she snarls/nips, but I see the puppy is afraid of her.  The puppy will try to come back to play at a later time, and I don't want to have the new puppy cower from the yorkie.
I want to make sure we do all the correct things to aid the relationship along in the right direction.
Any suggestions?

[Trixie]

At one point the yorkie did hurt the puppy. i think she hurt her mouth..... what should i do if that happens again?

Thanks for your response, just reading that there won't be positive association with the puppy is so true. i was so worried about the puppy that i didn't even realize what i was doing. (i was making yorkie submit to me) my reasoning was i am the leader and i won't allow it.... she is trained really well and always responds to my commands. she can be snarly and territorial at times but i can always get her to relax with commands. i see that i need to chill and let it be.

i had them out walking together today. that went excellent.

what about feeding? yorkie is a grazer should i feed them in different spaces?

Thank You!!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Taquito runs to his crate when he is tired of Peri. Still does it from time to time, even though he generally loves his sister =)

[Tamara & Giada]

I agree the eldest female should be the leader, so your little yorkie is only doing what come natural..... You should actually support her!

[Deirdre]

I agree with Jane, it's all about boundaries. I had just the opposite 125 pound 10 yr old Chessie and a 14 lb puppy. Oh Bear hated that new little squirt in the house. His big jowls going after "my little puppy" then I realized Bear was my BABY for 10 years and Gus had to adjust. Once I stopped intervening on their battles they worked it out. After that Bear would let Gus chew on his ears, grab his tail and jump all over him It's been 2 /12 years now and they are the best of friends. Bear has this little growl or a big sigh when Gus isn't listening and Gus stops doing what Bear is telling him not to do. The hardest thing, let them work it out on their own.

[Linda, Webber and Seda]

This situation sounds very much like my 17 year old Lhasa, Lizzy, and my Labradoodle, Webber. Lizzy would bite Webber in the face. She let him know she wanted to be left alone, did not want to play endlessly, and needed for him to respect her. She had a six year relationship with the Labradoodle that preceeded Webber, and she loved Beta, who passed from cancer. I was ready for a new doodle, but Lizzy wasn't. Webber had to learn to leave Lizzy alone. And yes, Webber did get snapped at, and growled at, and a small cut under his eye. It wasn't what I had planned, but they worked it out. Lizzy still does not seem to love Webber like she did Beta, but they peacefully coexist after a year! Webber has learned to watch after Lizzy and Lizzy has remained the "boss" even though she is a short little thing! I did, and still do, feed them in different corners of the same room and they each have their own food and water bowls. Good luck. Walking them together sounds like a great idea.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

This is normal. Taquito (my 6 yr old chihuahua) was not overly thrilled with Peri (mini goldendoodle) when we brought her home. He definitely snapped at her a few times for the first week or so. He had to put her in her place. They are now best friends - it will get better. Don't punish your yorkie for acting this way - you should be paying some extra attention to her right now. This is going to take some time.

As for feeding, Taquito was a grazer also. I say WAS because there is no way I can just leave his food out - Peri is very food driven and would polish his off. Plus I feed them different brands. Peri is fed morning and night and eats immediately. Taquito is either fed in a separate room or he eats while we are away and Peri is crated. You will just have to see what works for you - your yorkie will stop grazing as much because she will realize it's "now or never" for eating!

And check out some of our discussions in the "Multiple Doodles or Dogs" group - lots of behavioral issues in there. I will post the link.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/multipledoodlesordogs/forum
Lots of good discussions in there. You will get some tips there also!

[Trixie]

Good morning everyone and thanks for the replies.

Thank you for the link. Some good topics for me to read.

I am still learning to navigate this site. Last night I was looking for topics like those, but it didn't bring me to multiples....

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

You will find so many great topics on the entire Doodle Kisses site. Welcome! And feel free to message me if you have specific questions. We have a similar situation (both having toy breeds as the older dog).

[Lynda Kamrath]

Try to keep out of the dog psychology area. They will work it out. The Yorkie is just trying to establish the roles in the family. She probably does resent the puppy right now but will start to love him with a little time. If the puppy is cowering right now, that is probably the right thing to do. Let them work it out doggie style. Our dogs are both very large but the younger dog has been alpha from the start. Who enters the house first? Who leaves a bite of food in their bowl for the other dog? There are all kinds of questions that dogs need to settle among themselves and you will probably not understand how they do this. Relax. It is not your job to establish their roles.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Trixie, I am so glad you asked this question and got such good advice. We are getting a new puppy the end of March and I was concerned about our resident doodle and how to react, etc. What a great learning tool this website is for all of our experiences with our doodles.

[Trixie]

Update on the girls....

Yorkie and Doodle are having several romps per day now. It is beautiful to watch. It is amazing how the puppy follows the yorkie's instructions.

Doodle is already three times the yorkie in size and sometimes her paws send the yorkie flying. It is pretty funny. When the yorkie came home a few years ago my lab was already nine and playtime wasn't this physical. So playtime with the puppy is very different. But the yorkie is having fun with it.

There are still some times when yorkie is territorial towards me. If we are in my office (she always lays by my feet while i work) she growls and won't let doodle in the room. What do I do when that happens?

Thanks!