How to teach my big dog to be gentle with a little one?

I have a 1 1/2 year old Min Pin/Yorkie, she's about 11 pounds, so she's very tiny. We just rescued a 7 month old American Foxhound, he's about 30-35 pounds. They LOVE each other, and really like to play with each other. But when he gets over excited he starts to be rough and it scares Wilma (the Min Pin/ Yorkie) so she snaps at him. She never actually bites and he only reacts by backing up and looking confused. but i'm afraid if this continues he will get fed up with being snapped at, or maybe he'll accidentally hurt her. They're both good dogs, and good together, it's only when he's too excited. This usually happens before my husband gets home from work, Hank (American Foxhound) is not completely leash broke yet so I don't want to try and walk them both by myself before my husband gets home. Is there any way for me to just teach Hank that he has to be gentle with Wilma?

You'll have to work more at training the Foxhound to be on leash. Foxhounds have an INCREDIBLE amount of energy (I'm sure you know) so talk him on long walks and play with him a lot. He'll be more worn out when he plays with the other and it'll be less likely he'll get rough.

try to scold your dog for doing it

I know how you feel. We had rescued a 22-pound female Parson Russell Terrier, and 7 months later we adopted an 11-week old male Chihuahua who was 3 lbs. Zoey (the PRT) was actually dog aggressive before and did not have any experience playing with other dogs, so when she warmed up to the little one she was really rough and made him yelp a few times. What worked for us was to reinforce bite inhibition by training Zoey alone to respect hands and body parts of people. When she got too rough while playing with us, we imitated a yelp, folded our arms, stood up quickly and turned our back to her, and avoided eye contact. This lets her know that rough play results in the game ending, which is no fun. If she tried jumping or circling, we would just keep our back to her or leave the room for a few seconds without making any eye contact. We reinforced her for sitting calmly with some combination of praise, treats, and toys to continue playtime with. When Zoey started playing with Teddy (the chi), we used the word "gentle" to signify that play was getting too rough, and we removed the puppy (stopping the fun) if she continued playing rough. We took every opportunity to reinforce gentle play, either verbally or with treats. Yelling or hitting your dog could create an aversive response to your min pin/yorkie, so try the removal technique instead because it's humane and has been effective in my experience. To be successful, though, you must be consistent, so keep the dogs separated while you're not there to supervise them. Definitely make sure you train your foxhound to respect hands while he is still an adolescent. Also teach him the "leave it" command. Both of these things will not only become invaluable to you as he ages, but they will help a lot with impulse control, which most young dogs (especially males) have trouble with. Never use your hands as toys, and try to redirect mouthiness onto toys instead. This seems unrelated, but the consistency will help.As far as leash training, take the foxhound out alone with a bag of treats. Stand still in an area where there are few distractions, and wait until he looks at you (even glances count). Say "Yes!" and give a treat quickly, and immediately start walking. When he pulls, stop walking, and wait for him to look at you. When he does, say "Yes!" and give another treat. Sometimes deli meat works well for this kind if training. When he learns that stopping and looking will get him more treats, he'll try to trick you by stopping more often. At this point, start associating a look with the "watch me" command. When you can reliably say "watch me" and he looks at you, throw it in randomly while you are walking, but don't stop walking to give the command or reinforce a look. Give the treat while on the move. When the dog pulls, stop walking, make him walk back to you, then start walking and treat while on the move. This can be taught in one day, but use the same methods every time you take him out. Until he is more predictable on the leash, I would walk your dogs separately, even if you husband can control both physically. Your foxhound could pick up on bad manners from, or give bad manners to, your min pin/yorkie on the leash. It's fine to walk the dogs together, with one dog being led by one person each, but wait until your foxhound learns sone basic manners first.Happy training!

I am assuming that your baby is neutered because you rescued him,,,,????If not, that would help!If he is neutered , I recommend walking Min Pin/Yorkie and American Foxhound together, with you in the middle, and them NEXT to you (or next to you, but you are one step ahead of them). Because you are the pack leader.Frequent walks together would help, because they so much energy that has to be released!So when Min Pin/Yorkie comes over, don't let her inside, immediately bring American Foxhound out, and then proceed to walk with them saying him to each other. Walk for at least 20 minutes. You will see a difference.Best wishes!

The snapping thing would probably be happening even if your older dog were 30 pounds. Puppies have to learn canine manners from older dogs. Usually an adult dog lets a pup get away with some over-the-top behavior up until a certain age---and then they start correcting the pup. They're teaching the pup how to respond to cues from other dogs so the pup will know (for example) that another dog doesn't want to play.Your older dog is CORRECTING the younger one--and it sounds like the younger one is getting the message and responding appropriately. In other words, what you are seeing is actually a good thing and an important part of Hank's education so he will get along with other dogs as an adult.Give it some time, and soon Hank will learn how to hold back and be gentle or he'll learn how to read cues that say "settle down" when he starts to get too rough.

Hiya, we have the same situation, but reversed, a male over excited solid freight train of a Staffie and a new female dainty staffie cross Puppy. They love each other to bits but sometimes the bigger one can get over excited. I can’t really give you a solution or a way to teach him to be gentle, but i can honestly say don't worry about the little one snapping at him. It is good really, she is telling him who is boss, and aslong as they have got a good bond i don't think he will ever turn on her. My new little puppy will yelp or snap at the older bigger over excited one if he hurts her or if she has had enough, and he runs away and hides under the table. its quite funny really. so a 6 month old female pup has come in the house for a week and already told the big strong mean looking one who is boss! this is a good dynamic to have as its actually calmed the older one down alot. They still play like mad (when its suits her of course!). when they are both getting abit rough we just make them go in their beds for 10 mins to calm down.If it is just him getting rough I don't shout, just sternly say 'gentle'! and put him out of the room for a few minutes, then let him back in to play nicely, and it generally works if you stick to it. I know you have issues walking them both at the moment but making sure the bigger dog gets plenty of exercise it will calm him down alot too. both of mine are so shattered by the end of the day now from playing and their walk that they can hardly move out of their beds in an evening.