Shilo
Little three-year-old Shiloh is really tiny, and a large and bouncy three-month old Mastiff (you could say Massive) puppy is the last thing she wants in her home, let alone near to her, and she makes this abundantly clear.
Tiger has been with them for just a few days now and is a sweet-natured girl – but BIG – and a bouncy puppy – two things Shiloh doesn’t appreciate. Whenever Tiger comes near her she yaps at her, which Tiger happily ignores and continues to try to get her to play. So Shiloh, her warning falling on deaf ears, snaps and snarls, intensifying her message to Tiger ‘get out of my space’.
Shilo
Scolding Shiloh will only make things worse. To start with they need to help her out even if this means picking her up. When Tiger is nearby, Shilo can be fed so she will learn that Tiger in her space isn’t always too bad, and when things get too much for her she can be lifted up out-of-the-way again.
Tiger
They have three children including a toddling one-year-old whose face is uncomfortably level with Tiger’s face and teeth. A child of this age has to be constantly watched and though Tiger seems completely comfortable around the baby, teeth are teeth – even in play. The puppy has been with the breeder until now with quite a number of large dogs and puppies, so she will be accustomed to playing roughly.
My suggestion is a puppy pen for now so the two aren’t freely together and also to give poor little Shiloh some respite.
I will be back very soon to start them off the right way with loose lead walking. Tiger is, unfortunately, late with her injections so can’t yet go out.They had already been advised to get a very short lead ‘because she will be a big strong dog’. Ugh! ‘Big and strong’ is the most important reason for us not to rely upon our own strength and for a dog to walk nicely beside us willingly.
