Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

My dad had to go into rehab for a while after a hospital visit. We are trying to introduce a 11 year old mini dachshund to a 2 year old bull mastiff. The first intro did well, except when the dachshund was sitting by us, she kept snapping at the mastiff whenever he came around. What can we do to stop this behavior? She is fine if she is on the floor walking around with the mastiff.

It is actually pretty funny seeing a 20 pound dog (my dad let her get real fat) chase off a 125 pound mastiff.

Thanks!

Minuet

Where is the introduction taking place? Is it at your house or your dad's? Also Doxie's tend to be very headstrong dogs and can be quite difficult to handle if they haven't had proper training. It's sounding like she has some guarding issues and with a firm hand this can be overcome but at 11 years old it may be a little more difficult.
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

The dogs were introduced and the other dogs home.

I bet she was guarding! She was sitting between my husband and I when she got snippy and he approached us. She has had very little training other than potty training.

Thanks!

Min

>>Where is the introduction taking place? Is it at your house or your dad's? Also Doxie's tend to be very headstrong dogs and can be quite difficult to handle if they haven't had proper training. It's sounding like she has some guarding issues and with a firm hand this can be overcome but at 11 years old it may be a little more difficult.
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>>If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

It is a HUGE plus that the male is the bigger dog and the snotty one is a small female. But Dachshunds get themselves SEVERELY injured and even killed behaving like this toward bigger dogs. It is all too common.

Don't leave them alone together at all. A leash--attached to a harness rather than a collar because of Dachshund spinal issues--on the Dachshund that you hold while supervising could be just the thing.

Dachshunds were bred to hunt badgers underground. Badgers are very aggressive, and the Dachshunds strongly tend to win these battles! They have powerful jaws and tend to lack wisdom in choosing to take on other dogs. So don't let the Dachshund treat the Mastiff that way. Separate whenever you can't supervise. A baby-gated or exercise-penned area would be better than crating the Dachshund. She needs to move around.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47