A very jealous chowspitz

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Pawchop
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A very jealous chowspitz

Post by Pawchop »

Hi there everyone,

I have a 3 month old Chow/Spitz mix (Pawchop) and a Yorkie (Barney 2 years old).

I love both of them so much. And I've had Barney for 2 years already and Pawchop for 3 weeks. But Pawchop gets very jealous when I pet Barney, or when even Barney approaches me when I call him. He usually bites (nibbles) on Barney's neck or body (knowing the size of a Yorkie and a Chowchow one can tell that Pawchop can easily bite Barney's body apart). Then Barney will pull back and just stare at me while Pawchop circles around my leg and "doggie hug" it.

I'm afraid that my Barney is really unhappy nowadays coz of this. He doesn't eat anymore when I'm not around, we used to play fetch all the time but this time when I throw the ball and Barney runs after it, Pawchop runs after him and jumps on him, Barney would stop and go to his crate.

Any suggestions on how to fix this? I love them both. I treat them as my sons and I want them to get along.
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Ursa's daddy
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Re: A very jealous chowspitz

Post by Ursa's daddy »

Sounds like your chow is very possessive of you and does not want the Yorkie to get close to you. Ursa was that way when Malachi was younger. When Malachi would get between Ursa and I, she would have at him. While this wasn't that great a situation, Malachi was almost her size. He is now 75 lbs to her 45 lbs. He can easily handle any thing she can dish out. In my case, my wife has the Yorkie, so there is not as much drama since it is her dog, and Ursa is bonded to me.
You are the big dog. You are going to have to moderate this. You are going to have to make Pawchop accept Barney being close to you. How old is Pawchop? I suspect that he is less than a year old. You are going to have to assure Pawchop that you love him, but that he has to accept Barney. You can make both dogs sit or lay down in front of you and try alternately petting each of them. Make them both remain in their positions while this happens. The object is to make the dogs obey you and see you as the leader, and to make them see that as leader, you can equally give attention to both dogs. You don't want Pawchop to bite Barney. I can say this with the knowledge that Ursa has bitten Cleo, and a chow can hurt a Yorkie with just a little snap. There also may be some dominance and pack hierarchy involved with this. Pawchop is assenting himself over Barney. From a physical aspect, the chow is larger than a Yorkie, and shouldn't have to do this, but in dog society, this is going to be done, especially when a young dog comes into a situation with an older dog that may not be able to hold his position. You are going to have to use your alpha status to prevent Pawchop from hurting Barney. You probably should search the forum for topics like "nothing in life's free" NILF, and look for some of the comments by Victory and others. Your chow is not going to play fetch, so he needs to get over the fact that Barney like to fetch. You can make the chow sit beside you, where you can touch him, while you throw the ball for Barney. It will take a while for both of them to understand that each dog can have different interaction with you and still be secure in the relationship. I hope some of the others will jump in here. I am not sure if I have really explained this very well.
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Sarahloo
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Re: A very jealous chowspitz

Post by Sarahloo »

Well, that's easy! :) Leave the little tyrant at home/indoors every now and then and just spend quality time with Barney. And shout, "No!!!" at Pawchop whenever he is hurting Barney! There can be no discussion about this! Hurting someone smaller and weaker is just a bigfat nono! Don't let him do this, ever, not even once! If he doesn't get the message, confine him while you pet/treat Barney.
Don't treat P any better than you do Barney! I'm not saying that you do, but he is the new dog, and of course he's more exciting! But Barney's been your friend for years, and you need to show him as much attention as you did before and you need to defend him against attacks. He probably thinks he's been replaced, and it breaks his little doggie heart. Make sure he understands that this is not the case!
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