Has anyone had experience of owning a smaller breed and a large or giant breed puppy ?? i have in the past had dogs which are fairly similar in size so have not had any problems but I now have a whippet bitch and am very tempted by a giant breed. Obviously I am home all the time and have plenty of time and the space to seperate them when needed and supervise but ideally it would be nice for them to be able to spend time together too. Any experiences good or bad would be a help before I do my usual and dive in LOL!!!!

a pal of mine has three leo's and a yorkshire terrior and they all get on fine, the yorkie's very much top bitch.

Depends a lot on which breed you['re considering. I had chinese cresteds and borzois living together for years, they were never separated and never had a problem. That said even borzoi puppies aren't particularly 'bouncy' :-)

I have bullmastiffs and pugs with no problems, all get along really well eat, drink, exercise and sleep together, only seperated when one of the girls is in season.
Regards Karen

Have Pomeranians and Spanish Water Dogs.  Pom's rule the roost but would never ever leave them alone together.

I have a friend who has 2 bullmastiff girls and a whippet boy who all get along very well together

I haven't owned small breeds but I have shared a house for a week with 3 GSP's, 3 Norwich Terriers, 2 ESS's, 2 Boston Terriers, 1 AST & a Boxer and all got on swimmingly! Infact the littlest Boston was the bossy boots/mother hen!

My friend also had a Giant Schnauzer & various toy breeds who all lived together in peace. :)

I have had a Bullmastiff girl and a jrt boy lived,ate and slept together for years(appart from seasons).He was devastated when she died suddenly at 6 years.

yep,i have a pug aged six and a half and a 17 week newfie puppy!! they get on well,george the pug loves stanley the newfie to clean his ears !!! you have to watch them as sometimes when they play the newfies size does come into it.I find the look on my newfies face when my pug does the pug run absolutely hilarious,also when my pug barks at the telly,stan looks up as if to say   are you mad !!!!
lots of fun,lots of hard work as everything is on a much larger scale, the thing that shocked me was that i can actually here my newfie peeing and its like the size of a giant puddle,with a pug its not!!!
good luck

I have a Golden Retriever who weighs around 33kg and a small terrier cross who weighs in at 6kg but is a very hardy little dog. They play really roughly at times but my GR - the elder of the two - tempers his play to match that of the terrier. When playing tuggy he is more than capable of pulling me off a chair but will play with the terrier and not pull with full strength but he is a very intelligent dog and has a beautiful temperament.

If their temperaments were the other way round I probably wouldn't want to risk the two of them playing together as they do now :-)

> If their temperaments were the other way round

a 33kg Cooper!! Scary thought :-D

thanks all, sounds quite promising then ;-)
I was abit worried that she might be completely harrassed by a large breed puppy but, she is VERY playful and loves a good old rough play with a friends labrador and my sisters terrier too so perhaps it would be fine. As usual, I am just worrying about things that could happen LOL.

a 33kg Cooper!! Scary thought

The things nightmares are made from Jane :-) :-)

My friend has had two great danes and... they were AWFUL! Jumping, kissing, licking, boxing machines with no button to switch them off.
I think it all depends on a breed/dog, but I just can't imagine a whippet playing with a dane. *Laughs* Well, I couldn't play with them as well as it would be too dangerous.
It's always good to be precautious to avoid problems in future.

We have a Great Dane x and 4 PRT's one of which was a rescue and apparently didnt like big dogs but they get on great and now sleep together.

The only thing you have to watch is when its playtime as the big dog sometime get a bit rough but other than that everything is great.

I've got 3 border terriers and a rottie all get along famously.

Boxers and Cavaliers with no probs.......
but I would warn others in the home not to chuck toys for both to chase, normally very careful biggies can forget the little ones at these times.

Doesn't live with but constantly plays together: 60kg Leo and a 6 month old pug- best friends, the pug is as big as leos paw and his whole body will fit in leos mouth. but they are great together but naturally well supervised

My 6mth old Leo is good buddies with a young Whippet. They play really well together. The Whippet runs rings round her and she can understand why she can't catch up, even when she's giving all she's got.
I did worry that my girl would flatten her as she looks so frail! But she's much more agile so manages keep herself out of harms way.

I have a GSD and a Chihuahua :-) they get on great. I had Kia (GSD) first and brought Tiger (Chi) into our home when Kia was 4. They are separated when I go out. When im home they love to curl up on the their bed together. Tiger lies between Kia's front paws all curled up with Kia's head resting on top of him to keep him warm :-)

Just a question:

There was a thread not so long ago wherein many breeders on Champdogs said they were uncomfortable homing small breed puppies into homes with large breeds.  Not that it was a definate NO but it was certainly a big concern for some of them, even those that own both sizes.

I wonder if the opposite is true - do breeders of large or giant breeds have worries about homing where there are small dogs already in situ? 

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I have 2 Bearded Collies and one Border Collie.  They all live in the house with Yorkshire Terriers and Long Coat Chihuahuas.

If the dogs are to be left during the day (while popping out shopping etc) then the toys are popped in crates.  I have 4 4ft crates, so they have plenty of space.

Apart from that, they pretty much spend time together.  I suppose I'm lucky in as much as the BC loves the Yorkies and the Beardies love the Chi's.  It is nothing to see a tiny tot curled up in a big Collie bed, I'm sure they love to snuggle up for warmth.

In fact, my elderly Beardie girl is used as first introducton for Chi pups, as she is really super with them.  She will lie perfectly still while pups try to climb over her (a bit ambitious for a Chi pup!)

I do, however, weigh up the risks when rehoming with large breeds.  It does sometimes depend on whether I think any potential puppy owner is going to be sensible, or just hope everything will fall in place by itself.  While it works for me, it doesn't work for everyone.

I do ensure that the tinies are crated at night.  Once I go up to bed, I don't want some great clodhopper stepping on a tiny pup.

I have (amongst others...) a Tibetan Terrier and  a Deerhound... TT came along when Deerhound was mostly grown and it was somewhat like a donkey playing with a beanie baby but she was very very gentle with him (honestly more gentle than he was with her!).

It isnt the biggest size difference in the world now htat hes 16 months old, and shes a fairly dainty (haha) example of her breed but they do still look fairly ridiculous together...

They love each other to bits though (erm, sometimes literally.. though its usually just bits of each others fur).

Not everyone wants a big dog and a little dog playing silly games together, and its worth bearing in mind that a little dog can grow up thinking ALL bigger dogs can be treated like the one they live with which rarely is the case..

Kel is not worried by smaller dogs because all my dogs are smaller than her, shes used to other dogs walking underneath her for instance.. Errol isperhaps a bit cockier than is ideal for him.. but hes fairly polite to dogs we meet out and about (and certainly not scared of them!)

i have a dogue de bordeaux,tibetan spaniels and a king charles spaniel(not cav) and their personalities all seem to gel very nicely,one downside, theyre all stubborn! i must add the ddb is separated when left alone and the "juniors" as i call them tend to stop playing if he attempts to join in too madly,but can easily put him in his place if he gets too carried away.

I have a bullmastiff and a pomeranian, no problems together, the pom likes to use the bullmastiff as her own personal cushion!

Hi

I have 2 Dobe bitches and 1 Basenji male that live together.  I don't have any real problems, although I do supervise meal times ( would do that anyway regardless of size differences ).  Play can get a bit rough sometimes, and I have to step in to save the Dobes !!!!!!!, the youngest bitch has a habit of smacking the Baz-J around the head with her paw when he is passing or sound asleep, then can't understand why he gets a bit upset !!! hey ho !!!.

All in all they rub along fine !!! Good Luck with your quest :-)