[amp9364]

I have a question for those of you who own a small dog and a large dog. Kaya is 8 lbs and Henry is 120 lbs, so far we have been keeping them separated when we leave the house, we have been confining Henry since he was a puppy but I think he may be ready to have a little more freedom, he is 15 months. Kaya gets to have the living room when we are not home and has no problems, my question is whether or not any of you get worried about your small dog getting injured. I know Henry wouldn't hurt her on purpose but I worry that them may play while we are gone and she could accidentally get hurt. Do any of you have dogs of various sizes that you leave loose together? Have you had any problems? I have feeling they would both just sleep all day but was just curious what anyone else thought.

Thanks, Ann

 

[Binkalette]

I know of lots of large dog/small dog combos and even large dog/cat combos that do just fine by themselves during the day, but I think you will find most people won't advise doing it, as there's always the chance that something -could- happen. It's really just a personal choice though.. you know your dogs better than anybody else.

 

[RonE]

We used to leave 17-pound Zeke and 76-pound Esther alone together. Neither one ever got hurt, but they got in more than twice-as-much trouble as either would have alone.

I recently left the two of them alone together, along with three other dogs of in-between sizes. That was a leap-of-faith and we speculated about who would get eaten first if they got hungry.

We were pretty sure it wouldn't be 17-pound Zeke.

In fairness, a miniature schnauzer is not a particularly fragile or helpless small dog. I would not leave Esther alone for 30 seconds with my mother's shitzu.

 

[dakotajo]

I only have the one dog a Berner pup and I know I would never leave her alone with a small dog, not yet anyway but yours is older than mine. We had a little dog come over to see her and she got soo excited and happy that she was stepping on him. Of course she didn't realize how big her paws were compared to his

 

[amp9364]

Kaya is definitely not fragile or helpless, she is the boss and Henry knows it! The only thing that makes her fragile is her size.

I only have the one dog a Berner pup and I know I would never leave her alone with a small dog, not yet anyway but yours is older than mine. We had a little dog come over to see her and she got soo excited and happy that she was stepping on him. Of course she didn't realize how big her paws were compared to his

How old is your pup? They are great dogs, very lovable, Henry hasn't calmed down much yet at 15 mo but I am waiting for it!

 

[cshellenberger]

LOL, I know people that have Maltese and Mastiffs in the same house (in fact they own the #1 Mastiff owners board on the internet), it's all in how they're raised. I also had a Mastiff and a pug, so yes, large dogs can get on fine with Giant breeds.

 

[dakotajo]

you must have been reading my mind!! I was just going to ask you how mature Henry is at 15 months?? Dakota will be 10 months on the 12th and I'm trying to be ever so patient, I have never had to block off rooms with a baby gate for this long before!! She has alot of energy and knocks everything over!

 

[amp9364]

I think he is starting to chill out a little bit, he is calm most of the time with short bursts of energy. He mostly just gets really excited when we come home and when we go for walks because he LOVES it. He has actually been a pretty good pup, he was a little bit destructive at times chewing on woodwork and such but I guess many would say that is our fault for not crating him. We crated him in the very beginning but then have just been confining him to a hallway which works out well. As far as housebreaking goes, he was a dream! I just would like to give him the same freedom as his sister is possible.

 

[dakotajo]

we crated Dakota too for awhile in the beginning but then after blocked her off in the kitchen. Dakota didn't chew a whole lot either but our wood deck and rips branches off the bushes to chew. She's a huge digger!! buries everything and today I seen her run and trip in one of her holes that's all she needs is more damage to her leg. We are blocking half the yard off so she can half and the other half is ours. I don't care if she digs but she can't be digging up the whole yard. As for housebreaking, a nightmare! She had bladder infection too so I'm sure that had alot to do with it

 

[pamperedpups]

I believe this is one of those things that is okay... until it isn't. I know I don't leave my littles unattended with the bigs anymore.

 

[agility collie mom]

I agree with pamperedpups here. I would not be willing to take a chance. Especially since your small dog could lay with an injury for hours until you came home. Plenty of time to play when Mom/Dad is home why chance it?
I have a less than 5lb. Maltese and two 50-60 lb collies. They are not together unless I am home to supervise.