i have a saint bernard and a grate dane who play very roughly and im planning to get an afghan hound.help me!?

hi i'm planning to buy an afghan hound but when i saw it's video on dogs 101 i came to find out that they are very sensitive and if he/she gets hurt, it'll pain a lot but still they were used to hunt leopards and all.now the point is, i already have a saint bernard and a great dane. and i leave them to play they jump on on each other and grab their neck and make them fall hit paws with are really strong.what should i do.i'll also buy a Tibetan mastiff after the hound is no more a small kid. should i buy him and keep him separately until he is big enough or what??????

Ask the Dog Whisperer for help.

I don't have any experience with afghan hounds but I did a quick search on them. I'm not sure what you mean by sensitive and getting hurt. What I read said that afghan hounds are sensitive in nature and need a gentle hand at training. I also read that they can be timid and nervous, which might make socializing with your two older dogs a little difficult at first. Do your dogs (the St. Bernard and Great Dane) know "leave it"? Will they stop doing whatever they're doing on your command? If you're getting an afghan hound puppy, I'd do the introduction very carefully, in a controlled setting. Neutral if possible so there are no territorial issues. And I'd introduce the puppy to your other two dogs, one at a time. Not both at the same time. That might make them too excited and they might get too rough with the puppy. As for the grabbing neck, making them fall, that's all normal dog behavior. My great dane mix rolls my English Shepherd all the time. They play wonderfully and get along great but my great dane still shows that he's the alpha and rolls the ES every time he does something "wrong." It's pack dynamics. Back to the Afghan hound. One thing to look at would be what are your reasons for getting an afghan hound? And then a tibetan mastiff? That's four dogs - not just dogs but big dogs. That's a lot of responsibility (I'm sure you already know that). Sometimes when a pack gets bigger, the older dog may get jealous of the new puppy/dog and it strains the relationship in the pack as a whole. The older dog punishes the new dog, you get mad at the older dog, it goes on. If you do decide to buy the afghan hound anyway, I'd introduce the new dog to your St. Bernard and great dane in a neutral territory, one at a time. And never leave them to play unsupervised until the puppy is bigger and able to hold its own. I'd let the new puppy spend some one-on-one time with the two dogs before letting him in with both of them at the same time. If you introduce the puppy to both dogs at the same time, they might overwhelm the puppy and it might terrify the pup, depending on its nature and how sensitive it is.

It sounds to me like you do not need another dog right now. Many breeds are many many generations removed from their original purpose- people do not hunt leopards with Afghans anymore. Nowadays they are largely companion dogs or perhaps used for lure coursing. Meet some Afghan breeders at shows or thru a rescue or local breed club and arrange to spend time with their dogs are learn about the breed before you get one. You need to do a lot more than watch a video to make a decision like adding a dog to the family. Afghans require a lot of grooming too. Please give this more thought & learn more about the breeds. Dogs are not something you collect like stamps. For a breed like a Tibetan Mastiff, you have to be a very saavy dog owner and absolutely have to deal with a top notch reputable breeder who breeds for type & temperament. They are not a breed most people should have.

I have some experience with the Afghan hound. They are very sensitive. If the two you have now are as rough as you say they are then the Afghan will not be able to handle it. One thing you should know is that Afghans ar screamers. They will scream like someone is killing them at the littlest thing. They are not big barkers but they will scream. If you really want an Afghan then you will probably have to keep him separate from the other two all of the time unless you are there to watch them because the screaming that the hound will do can trigger the prey Instinct in the other two and they might attack it. As an owner of hounds I can tell you that they have tissue paper like skin that tears very easily and is hard to heal once its torn. So a dog bite on them is really a bad thing. So if you get one just be careful with him.