Nervous Yorkie.

I hope someone might be able to shed some light on a problem that has
developed after bringing a third dog into our home.

Davina Stuart...

SNIP

The history (forgive me, it is rather long): My wife and I sort of inherited
our first dog, a 5-year-old male Golden Retriever, after we moved into her
daughter's house. Daughter and family had moved to Alaska, and couldn't take
him with. At the time, we were renting the house, but intended to buy it.
Feeling somewhat secure that we would be living in this house for a long
time, we rescued a second dog, an 11-month-old female rat-terrier mix from
the Humane Society. Then, a few months later, we acquired a female Yorki-poo
puppy.

About a year later, my daughter-in-law and family move back to town, and
they want to move back into their house. We're struggling to find an
apartment or house to rent that accepts pets. Daughter-in-law keeps the
retriever and helps us out by keeping the other two dogs until we can find
an apartment that will allow pets.

Fast forward to last fall. We buy a new home. Now we are secure. The rat
terrier & yorkie are back to living with us full time, and we have a good
routine going. But the wife was really pushing to get another. Could be
because the Yorkie, which was supposed to be "her dog" lives and dies by my
side.

Since the Rat-terrier has taken on the role of the alpha-female, and the
Yorkie is a comfortable submissive, we decided to get a male Bassett
Hound(11 months old). Now I foresaw, and we are managing some issues.
E.G. -The rat-terrier has always been possesive over food with other dogs
(excluding the Yorkie, with which she is happy to share). But even in the
two days we've had the Basset Hound, the terrier seems to be adjusting.

The problem we did not foresee, and seems to be getting worse is that the
Yorkie wants absolutely nothing to do with the Bassett Hound, and will snap
at it should it come within a foot of her. The Yorkie seems very nervous and
out of sorts - watchfull, on guard, even when the Bassett Hound is in
another room.

Now I realize it's only been two days, but normally it's been my experience
that this sort of aprehensiveness usually disappears after a few minutes of
sniffing. Additionally, the Yorkie, since it was a pup, has grown up running
with and socializing with much larger dogs. However it had only shared close
quarters with two of them and definitely didn't have a problem with either
one. I haven't noticed a problem in her interaction with non-housemates
before, but that doesn't mean it one didn't exist.

Is it possible that the prior interaction with other dogs could be
responsible for this behavior? She had some interaction with a Bassett mix
in the past, but I don't remember it being particularly adversarial,
although the bassett mix would target her for some rough-housing play.

Could the issue be invasion of territory? Her house-mates in the past were
on the scene before she arrived.

Could the issue be jealousy? If it were, I would have expected she would be
jealous of OUR interaction with the new dog. The rat-terrier has a lot of
playful interaction with the new dog. However, the Yorkie also seems to be
avoiding the rat-terrier as well. While in the past, the Yorkie would plop
right down next to her. Since the arrival of the new dog, the Yorkie seems
to prefer her own company.

Sorry about the long post, but if any of you "dog people" out there could

Alison...

It seems to me that your Yorkie poo is simply nervous and scared of the
new bigger dog, not because she is jealous or territorial. If the two other
dogs are playing or rough housing together, she'll associate the rat
terrier with the basset and she's likely avoiding both dogs in case it
leads to any aggression.
Make sure she has a place where she can escape too and feel safe such as
her own basket or crate. DAP diffusers can help dogs relax.
Arrange it so she spends time with each dog seperately so she is not
overwhelmed by having to cope with both at once. Make sure each interaction
ends on a positive note.
Alison

shed some light on this, I would be largely in your debt.

Davina Stuart...

where it's only been 2 days, it's hard to say for sure.. sometimes it takes
longer for them to settle things out... we bought a house last fall and
moved in with our 2 pomeranians. they get along great with people and other
dogs, so when we were asked to take in a jack russell terrier (whom we were
told was well socialized and got on with other dogs) we didn't foresee too
many problems.... things went well the first few hours, then seemingly "out
of the blue" the JRT attacked one of the poms.. left some nasty bite marks..
the JRT was use to being an only dog and wasn't willing to give up alpha
status, even in a new environment, and even though Pepe thought she was
alpha (and had been for the last 2 years we've had her..) Willow decided to
put her down..
we weren't happy with this, but decided to give them a little more time
(under careful supervision..) Pepe was left with lots of bruising and a few
bites, but healed up nicely and now they even occasionally play together..
(needless to say, Willow is at least twice her size, and WAY more active..)
Willow's addition didn't sit too well with Pepe and Rocky either.. (for that
matter, when Rocky joined the family, Pepe wans't too thrilled then,
either.. she's a very jealous little girl...)
but they all settle things out and learn to live together eventually...
Have to ask though, did you research the breeds any before you decided on
the bassitt?? I'd grown up with Poms so they're no problem for me.. the
JRT is more then I'd probablly intentionally set out to take on, but there
were special circumstances and a home needed to be found quickly (and she's
perfect for my step daughter, who is just unfortunately not with us most of
the year..) I'm not really familar with any of the breeds you've got, but i
know there can tend to be problems with temperment clashes, JRT's
forinstance (i did a lot of crash resarch when we got her) tend not to like
other dogs of the same gender, which may be part of the problems between her
and Pepe.. the both also think they should be alphas and are jealous of
attention given to the other dogs.. big differnce being, Pepe couldn't chew
her way into a plastic bag (she's tried.. and failed many times..) and
Willow could easily crush and shake Pepe to death if she really got ticked
off (5 pound dog vs 15/20 pouind dog...)
Anyway.. point was.. give them some more time.. they're individuals, just
like people, and sometimes it takes a while for them to warm up to each
other. Make sure they all get lots of attention, play time, toys, treats,
blankets, favorite spots on the bed, whatever...and give them some time..
and if you havne't done it yet.. do a little research into the breeds you've
got, general temperments and needs and such.. might provide some insight.

Davina
(Pepe, Rocky and Willow)