Toy dogs and big galumphers

Greetings:

I keep feeling that I would like a toy dog whom I could carry with me
everywhere. It's a slightly nutty idea and so I am mostly fighting it,
but I am wondering about those of you who have combined toy dogs with
other, larger breeds. (I almost put "ping Melanie" in the title because I
know she has this situation, and because papillons are a particular
favorite of mine.)

I think Zoe would be fine (although I'm concerned that she would be
overly jealous of a lap dog) but Queenie can be a big oaf at times (a
dear, sweet, joy of a big oaf, that is). Would it be a singularly bad
idea to throw her together with a toy dog?

Rocky...

Toy dogs and puppies survive here well, even though Rocky can be
an uncoordinated oaf, and in spite of the huge young Ridgebacks
(one 90 pounds) galumphing around.

ceb...

Good to know!

I find that well-socialised large dogs deal very well with their
tiny counterparts.

ceb...

I was going to say that my dogs are well-socialized, but if part of good
socialization is knowing your own strength and having a sense of personal
space, well, Queenie doesn't. She's been steadily improving in this area
since coming to live with me about a year ago, so perhaps it would make
sense to wait a bit before adding another dog. Maybe she should attain
the age of perfection (4) first. :)

Would the toy breed make much of a difference?

ceb...

I forgot about that cute little Zipper! I'm glad to hear it's going so
well.

I do think it does matter in part what breed you get. The

ceb...

I have only met a couple of Min Pins -- they live in my neighborhood and
are exceedingly protective of their human, so I can never get near them.
But they are very cute in their little jackets. I would like to meet some
others to see what they're really like.

Robin Nuttall...

I'm working hard on people skills, I have two protection dogs, I don't
need a third! So lots of socialization with people feeding chicken,
which he adores.

If you don't think a toy is the way to go, how would you feel about a
miniature poodle?

ceb...

The tiny terriers are a good idea, I do love terriers. Thanks.

MauiJNP...

Can't really help since I never owned a big dog but if you lived any closer,

Marcel Beaudoin...

I loove watching wrestling. Have since I was a child. That being sid, there
is a big difference in the types of wrestling. There are the big brutes who
just pound on each other, and then there are the smaller guys who display
quite a bit of athleticism and agility in what they do.

I could hook you up with a great pup. My brother had to get rid of his dog
Lucy but the woman who took it now decided she couldn't keep it long term
either. It is currently living with a relative of the woman. Poor pup is
probably very confused as she has had 4 different homes already and she's
not even 1 year old (I think she's about 7 months old). Anyway, she's a
great dog, good with kids and housebroken too.

ceb...

I hope she finds a nice home. I am thinking that if I add a dog (and part
of me thinks I'm crazy to even contemplate it), I should get a male.

FurPaw...

Mixed report here. We have two 8-lb chihuahuas and a 78 lb
yellow lab. And we had a 72 lb GSD until she died last May. The
chihuahuas, Gordo and Chile, were nearly three when we got Dylan
(GSD), and five when we got Oppie (Lab).

The chihuahuas never took to the big dogs, although the big dogs
were quite friendly and mostly gentle with them. They eventually
evolved an "understanding" with the big dogs (stay out of our
faces!) and would play a bit with them - mostly when Dylan would
entice them to chase her. We wonder if the situation would have
been different if we'd gotten the big dogs first.

Paula...

I'm wondering if it's a chihuahua thing. Our chi gets really bent out
of shape when the big dogs are even wrestling each other. She runs in
and tells them off in no uncertain terms, getting more and more
vehement the more they ignore her and keep wrestling. She just has no
use for big dogs. Sammie the mini poodle, OTOH, handled the whole
brother to big dogs thing by just assuming he is one of them rather
than above them and completely disgusted that they have a place in
this world, never mind her household.

In terms of safety - Dylan was extremely gentle with them.
Sometimes we saw her trying to entice one of them to play, by
very gently pawing his rear. (The gesture wasn't appreciated.)

Oppie is also very gentle - except when he gets excited, and then
he turns into a clumsy moose. Gordo and Chile learned to stay
out of his way when he gets excited (he's never injured them),
and up until about a year ago, they could always escape onto the
furniture (forbidden territory for the big dogs). Now that
they're over 14, they can't manage the jump - but then, Oppie has
calmed down considerably, too.

Upshot: I love the qualities of both the big and small dogs, but
if I were to do it again, I'd get the big dogs first and only get
the small ones after the big ones were adult and well-trained.
The big ones (at least ours) have always been more accepting of
other dogs, and we wonder if the chihuahuas would have been more
so if big dogs were part of the territory when the little guys
came into our house as puppies.

ceb...

Thanks for the feedback, I found it very helpful. Maybe waiting for Queenie
to settle down a bit more is a good idea.

I love chihuahuas a lot but they seem so fragile, maybe too fragile for us.
I do love meeting them, though.

My 2 cents.

Paula...

Miniature poodles are still small enough to take around with you
everywhere. My seven year old carries Sammie all over the place. I

ceb...

That's good to know. There's a little poodle in our dancing with dogs class
that is a star, and her smart little expression is very endearing. She
holds her own with Queenie, too.

have been afraid at times that he will forget how to walk on his own.
When I pick him up, he's light enough that he's barely noticeable. He
gets along great with the big dogs, though if they weren't gentle with
him he would have some problems as he can't fend off a hundred pounds
of dog. He's pretty sturdy and agile, though, so he holds his own
when there are accidental mishaps and the big dogs respond immediately
to a protest from him so it all works out fine. I think there is a
difference between the toy and the mini. Anna's chihuahua is actually
big for a chi (she's probably a mix). She is actually about the same
size as Sammie, but she doesn't hold up nearly as well. She doesn't
like the other dogs as well because she is a chi. She is also
somewhat more delicate structurally and a lot less agile so I worry
more about what would happen if she did get into a wrestling match
with the big dogs. I would think that a foster situation would help
you to see how the little dog you might be interested in would work
with your big dogs. I would definitely try it out first because of
the disparate size that can create dangers. But it shouldn't take
long to see how it goes. When I first introduced Molly and Sammie,
one paw swipe from Molly made Sammie duck and yelp and from that point
forward, Molly has only muzzle wrestled with him, never lifting a paw.
OTOH, we had a foster here who would continue to try to paw him and
wrestle as if he were more her size.