Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum and would like some advice. We currently have two small dogs in our home, my 2 month old Maltese and my sisters 4 month old malshi both male. My boyfriend who also lives at home with us recently adopted a female pitbull puppy who is currently with her mother since she is still too young to take her. We are considering adopting a Great Pyrenees puppy as well (male) as well but he won't be ready to come for another two or three weeks. I would like some insight on how difficult it will be to manage them and what the risks are of having them all together. The only thing that worries me is that the big dogs will be too much for the small ones, and fear they might hurt them one day. This is something we really want and are willing to do anything and everything to have them properly trained. I've heard many stories about people having multiple dogs both big and small in one household and they get along fine, then you have some that don't. Will having three males and a female work out? Especially having two small dogs and two big ones. Will the male great pyr be mean to the small dogs, or vice versa? Really want some advice on what we should do or if we should just stop after the pitbull and not get the great pyr. (we also have my sisters 7 year old daughter living with us)
Maintaining a multi dog household
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Welcome to the forum! I hope we can help, and we always love pictures!
I personally am way less worried about the risk of having larger dogs and smaller dogs in the same house, because that is very manageable. I would greatly caution however, against having so many puppies all at once! That is a ton of work to raise even one puppy, let alone four!
I would caution patience. Wait it out, raise the puppies you have and add later when you've settled into a routine that will be easy for a new dog to adjust too. Three males and a female sounds fine, and you'll need to train any larger dogs you have to be respectful of the smaller dogs, especially if they aren't old enough to correct your larger dog. For example, Sadie who's my households 9 y/o chihuahua mix is old enough that she will "snap" and correct Levi when he plays too rough with her. My younger dog Bandit whose much closer in age to Levi won't correct the larger puppy.
Anyways, I'd love to see pictures if you can and I hope you stick around, there is some great people here for advice!
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Wholly puppies lol. Given that you have 3 young dogs/puppies in the house I would wait a while before adding yet another puppy to mix. Let your puppies grow and learn some. Having to raise 4 puppies all in one go is a lot of work, you already have 3 times the potty training, basic training, extra issues crop up ect. work with a puppy than just one dog.
As for the gender, since you already have 2 males and a female I don't think it quite maters about gender at this point. Having a big dog and a small dog can be a bit of a challenge, but it more about management and making sure the larger dogs understands that (s)he cant be mouthy or rough with the smaller dog and play times should be supervised.
The other thing is just wanted to add, are you sure you want a great pyr? I only ask because that's a big jump to go from a small lap dog to a 100ish pound guardian breed, and there not for every one. Do you plan to get a puppy from a breeder or rescue?
As for the gender, since you already have 2 males and a female I don't think it quite maters about gender at this point. Having a big dog and a small dog can be a bit of a challenge, but it more about management and making sure the larger dogs understands that (s)he cant be mouthy or rough with the smaller dog and play times should be supervised.
The other thing is just wanted to add, are you sure you want a great pyr? I only ask because that's a big jump to go from a small lap dog to a 100ish pound guardian breed, and there not for every one. Do you plan to get a puppy from a breeder or rescue?
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Large and small dogs mix together all the time. But it's more an individual dog thing then a breed or size. I however would wait if you can, four puppies at once is a lot of work. Look into littermate syndrome, it doesn't have to be littermates though to have problems. If you do end up with all these puppies at once it's going to be a ton of work. You will want to give them all time alone, and time with you alone. House training is going to be very hard, I think. It can be done, but will take some dedication. I do like having dogs close in age, but give them at least six months in between each other. That way you can bond and train them before bringing in the next. One huge downside, IMO is that they get old together and will pass close together. Also vet bills tend to increase as dogs age.
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Small and large dogs can get along totally fine, but the smaller dogs may also very easily be injured in innocent play with the larger dogs.
It definitely depends more on the individuals themselves than the breeds, but that said, Pits and other Bully Breeds tend to be VERY rough players and also tend to have a fair amount of prey drive. Also, dog aggression or at least selectivity IS a common trait in Pits- breeding them for dog fighting for so many years has made its mark. They can be really great dogs, but I really hate this "it's all how they're raised/it's the people that make them dangerous/they're the perfect dog for everyone". There are a lot of breed traits that skew them towards being a lot of dog to handle- they tend to have A LOT of energy, especially when young, and also tend to be pretty smart, and that can be channeled into frustrated aggression or destructiveness; they tend to be excited by small running things and have a strong prey drive, which means that they like to chase and can have trouble with other animals (ie, cats, rabbits, other small pets) and small dogs, and as I said they have a very rough play style which means they can sometimes hurt other dogs by accident and will sometimes get into fights because most of the young ones I've met aren't great at respecting other dogs boundaries. They are definitely not the easiest dog to own and IMO they are a breed where good training, management, and boundaries from a young age are important or else you end up with issues as they get older. You are probably going to have to manage the pit puppy carefully with the other dogs or she might hurt them accidentally.
I too would be more concerned with the number of young puppies in the house more than the fact that there are large and small dogs together. As said above, littermate syndrome is something to look into and the dogs don't need to be related or the same breed or size for it to be an issue, just the same age.
You already have 2 very young small breed puppies and now have a young large breed puppy. All three of these guys need to be individually trained and exercised and IMO should be spending as much time alone as they are together, both in public and at home. They need to know how to spend time alone, and that not being with the other puppies isn't the end of the world. Given they have 3 different owners, this will probably be easier than if they all belonged to just 1 person, but is still isn't going to be easy.
I would NOT recommend bringing another dog into this house, especially not a puppy, especially not a giant breed puppy, and ESPECIALLY not a Great Pyr, which belong to a group of dogs called Livestock Guardian Breeds and have a lot of harder-to-live with traits such as protectiveness, aloofness with strangers that can turn into aggression if not well socialized, are often aggressive to other dogs, and tend to be difficult to train because they are so independent. They are one of the easier guardian breeds to own, with most lines being bred for pets and not work, but still have the traits that make them a difficult group.
It definitely depends more on the individuals themselves than the breeds, but that said, Pits and other Bully Breeds tend to be VERY rough players and also tend to have a fair amount of prey drive. Also, dog aggression or at least selectivity IS a common trait in Pits- breeding them for dog fighting for so many years has made its mark. They can be really great dogs, but I really hate this "it's all how they're raised/it's the people that make them dangerous/they're the perfect dog for everyone". There are a lot of breed traits that skew them towards being a lot of dog to handle- they tend to have A LOT of energy, especially when young, and also tend to be pretty smart, and that can be channeled into frustrated aggression or destructiveness; they tend to be excited by small running things and have a strong prey drive, which means that they like to chase and can have trouble with other animals (ie, cats, rabbits, other small pets) and small dogs, and as I said they have a very rough play style which means they can sometimes hurt other dogs by accident and will sometimes get into fights because most of the young ones I've met aren't great at respecting other dogs boundaries. They are definitely not the easiest dog to own and IMO they are a breed where good training, management, and boundaries from a young age are important or else you end up with issues as they get older. You are probably going to have to manage the pit puppy carefully with the other dogs or she might hurt them accidentally.
I too would be more concerned with the number of young puppies in the house more than the fact that there are large and small dogs together. As said above, littermate syndrome is something to look into and the dogs don't need to be related or the same breed or size for it to be an issue, just the same age.
You already have 2 very young small breed puppies and now have a young large breed puppy. All three of these guys need to be individually trained and exercised and IMO should be spending as much time alone as they are together, both in public and at home. They need to know how to spend time alone, and that not being with the other puppies isn't the end of the world. Given they have 3 different owners, this will probably be easier than if they all belonged to just 1 person, but is still isn't going to be easy.
I would NOT recommend bringing another dog into this house, especially not a puppy, especially not a giant breed puppy, and ESPECIALLY not a Great Pyr, which belong to a group of dogs called Livestock Guardian Breeds and have a lot of harder-to-live with traits such as protectiveness, aloofness with strangers that can turn into aggression if not well socialized, are often aggressive to other dogs, and tend to be difficult to train because they are so independent. They are one of the easier guardian breeds to own, with most lines being bred for pets and not work, but still have the traits that make them a difficult group.
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