Fur Beast

[Tammara]

Hi,
We got our new pups home on Sat. Ruben-B/T Long hair & Trenyce-Red Smooth, (minis) and all is going very well, except that Ruben is bigger and furrier than his sister, and he's taken to dragging her around by her ears, and rolls of skin. Whenever we are around we see that she tries to get back at him, and then yelps and runs for one of us when he hurts.:crying:
We do call his name and tell him no, (which he already responds to) but have had to grab him and distract him, by putting something in his mouth.:fierce:
Is there anything else we should be doing? My husband says they will likely fight when we aren't around and there isn't too much we can do. They are okay outside because where he is strong, she is so skinny that she can outmaneuver him. I have a spray bottle at the ready, but geez he's only 7 weeks old.
Ideas welcomed.

[Lauri Gengor]

I do not know of you can do this with puppies, but right now I am separating my 8 week old Mirri from my two nine year olds at sleeptime and if I have to leave them unattended. She is so tiny and Im afraid she can get hurt. Misty can also be very agressive in play especially at 10# versus 3#. I set up one of those outdoor playpens for Mirri which besides ensures her safety, is a great teaching tool for paper training. When I am with them I keep an eye on thier antics and play, and stop the roughness if it goes too far.

Magic and Misty I got three months apart as pups. Magic was such a mellow pup I had no problems when I brought Misty home.
From the start they were gentle with each other. With Mirri though it's a different issue. They are not use to the puppy antics (biting wagging tails and those floppy ears) of Mirri. I am trying to cope with dachi tempers right now. That is why the separation in my case is a good solution. You could consider cool down time in crates or the outdoor play pen as I am using.

Good luck!


Lauri and the girls

[FOREVER A DAXIE]

Hi Tammara -

What is the Weight Difference between the two - it's probably not more than a few ounces. How Big/Little is Ruben vrs. Trenyce?

Last week I had friends come over and they brought their Mini over 'Molly'. Of course she is fully grown compared to my almost 12 week old Charlie. They were playing awfully hard but really I thought it was good for them to rough house a bit. Of course, I wouldn't want to leave them unsupervised!!!

Good Luck.

[Kim H.]

We have this problem as well...

Angel is larger and stronger, but she is more passive. Cassie is always instigating fights and losing them. Usually if Angel is too rough, Cassie will yelp & Angel will back down, but she has occasionally persisted and we have needed to separate them. We have advised Cassie that she should leave well enough alone, but she rarely listens to our advice, being a dachshund.

I don't know if Ruben would pick up on the fact that his sister is running to you for protection, and if this might make him more likely to torment her when you aren't around? When we separate them, we try to tell BOTH of them "No, too rough!"

Our breeder advised us to separate them on occasion, so they would get used to being apart. However, they do not fight when in the cage together and they were anxious the one time we put them in separate cages. We got ours at 9 weeks, so it might be that when yours get older, Ruben will realize he is much stronger and will learn to be more gentle.

My husband pointed out that although it sounds like they are killing each other, there is never any blood or permanent injury (they just make a lot of noise) and no one seems fearful. They do fight A LOT, though!

Not much help... just a perspective from another house of sibling rivalry. Hopefully someone else has more experience with this and can advise us both!! :scratch:

[Tammara]

Thanks for the advice all,
We might be okay, using some of your suggestions. Yes, Ruben really only a few ounces heavier, but it's all that fur, so Trenyce has a hard time "getting even.":fierce: My husband says, one day at a time, and he's home for 2 weeks. Yesterday Ruben was kinder, so there's hope. We try to give each one some special time away, as suggested, but so far they both raise a major fuss if left alone. When we are both at home, I end up with "fur beast" and he gets "whiny sister." Yes Ruben sees that she runs to us when he picks on her, so we have been putting a piece of pigs ear in his mouth every time he attempts to bite her (he even likes to do that when she gets in a lap to get away). :devil: We also tell him "no." My husband makes this weird noise too, and it gets Ruben to stop in his tracks. Husband also notes that he rarely hears them when he puts them in the basement for a time, and when they do fight it's loud and mean sounding, but only for about a minute. Is it just a case of the boy establishing his dominance of the house? If so, he's got it!
On a positive note, Ruben is EXTREMELY sweet to me, and tries to get rough with my husband. I get all the love. Yahoo!:love: :clap: