Hello,

I'm Currently training a Cairn Terrier (5)yrs and Yorkie puppy almost 1yr old. Both dogs are females and both are spade.

When my client got the Yorkie the Cairn Terrier was fine, no problems! Suddenly in the last 4 months the Cairn Terrier has gotten extremely aggressive towards the Yorkie, but only inside the home. When they are outside they play fine together, they walk fine together etc.. When they enter the home, the Cairn terrier wants nothing more than to attack the little Yorkie.

Since I have never seen them interact in a positive way inside the home, I can only go by what the owner tells me. I have seen for myself the dogs play outside together in the yard and I have walked both dogs together with no trouble. She does love her outside.

The Cairn terrier is aggressive towards the Yorkie no matter where they are at inside the home.

My question is why display such behavior now? And how to correct this? Cain terrier is just being purely territorial aggressive inside the home.

I have since made the owner pick up all toys inside the home so to not trigger any fights, which to be honest, toys, food is not triggering anything.

Anyone have any insight on this? How do I even go about to introduce these two together inside the home? Right now I have the owner have both dogs on a leash while being in the same room, when the Cairn starts to growl, I have her correct her right away.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

If its not centered on the toys, what are you thinking about it?

Marley the cairn terrier is just aggressive inside the home. The only reason I had them pick up the toys at 1st was to see if the toys were triggering any aggression, but they are not.

My concern is Reese is a Yorkie mix and weights only 5 pounds, Marley weights about 13 pounds and if she was to get a-hold of Reese, I believe she would really do some harm to her.

Like I said before, they play beautifully outside together and go on walks nicely. However once they both enter the home it's like a light switch for Marley and she is just an entirely different dog altogether.

I believe Marley aggression is purely territorial. I just don't know where to start to get Marley past this?

Do you have any suggestions on what to do?

First, I'd stop all the play outside. Even though it may look like play to you, maybe the Cairn doesnt really think so. At home I'd teach them both a place command and work on a very structured, clear routine teaching them to keep a distance from each other that doesnt trigger anything.
No jumping around competing for attention,no rushing through doors or to a spot on the couch, nothing but settling them down in the house. Clear obedience to the owner, not focusing on each other. Walking them together, showing them how to behave with each other is good. Letting them play in whatever manner they want, I think is what is creating the problem at home.

Since I have started training neither dog is aloud on the furniture. They both have been trained on "wait" command the owner knows the importance of going through the door 1st before the dogs. I've personally seen the dogs playing outside and they are indeed playing. I am currently in the process now of teaching both dogs a "place" command.

Do you think these 2 will ever be able to live in harmony together inside the home?

sounds like you're on the program ... how's the owner coming along ?

crates should be part of the solution , imo

delete duplicate post

Edited by Connie Sutherland (01/03/2013 12:28 PM)
Edit reason: delete duplicate post

First off the yorkie is now coming into her own. Smaller dogs mature faster then larger breeds...so where a GSD would be maturing at 2-3 a little dogs is mature at a year or so. That being said....she now poses a bit of a 'threat' to what was originally the terrier's domain. So that can be part of it.

Also..often times...dogs will get on better outside because there is more room to stay out of each others personal space. In the house where there is less area to move out of each others way, this can often cause conflict.

Even when only 2 dogs live in a house..there are still pack dynamics at play. With 3 or more (which I have had) it become much more pronounced. I am in charge of the pack as a whole & don't allow any dominance of any kind or any bullying. But these little plays on pack structure go on even in subtle ways. There is still a pecking order so to speak within the pack. Everyone kinda has to find their 'place'.

If I had a dog displaying any real aggression toward another that dog would be on a leash at all times in the house with a prong collar on & corrected for any aggression of any kind & rewarded for ignoring the other dog with very special treats given only at that time. I would most likely have the other dog on a leash also (if I had someone else in the house to help). I would desensitize the dogs over time getting the dogs closer & closer together. I could take days or weeks for this to improve. When I could not be working on this...the dog or dogs would be crated to avoid any fights.

Teaching the dogs that they each have a place in the house(a bed to lay on) & that is THEIR spot..goes along way to keeping peace. The time in the house needs to be quiet time. No fooling around, playing etc at all. Just go lay on your bed. I would not reintroduce toys or food around these dogs unless separated. Just not worth adding fuel to the fire.

I would also want to be sure that the yorkie is not showing any signals that is triggering the terrier's aggression. Some dogs push the envelope a bit.

Since it seems that they get along outside...it would most likely just be a matter of time before you can resolve the inside issues. Even after it seems that all is well with you present...I would still separate them if you can't have eyes on them 100% of the time for a very long while. Far too much damage can be done in a fight both physically & mentally.

I also might consider not allowing the outside together play until the inside situation is resolved.

They don't have to become best buddies in the house..,but they do need to tolerate one another & give each other their space or ignore them completely so that there is peace in the house.

What Steve said here ..... I'd like very much to see a video clip of the dogs playing outside.

Not at all to insult your perception or conclusion, but there are long-experienced folks here who might catch things that it takes years to learn to recognize.


I'd get drag lines for indoors (always). Especially the larger one, but really both. I'd feed them separately. They would NEVER be alone together. No toys inside.

They have crates, right?

"Clear obedience to the owner, not focusing on each other." Are they having ob training? Separately?




ETA ..... I must have been typing really slowly ..... I hadn't seen Anne's reply when I answered. So there's some overlap.


Edited by Connie Sutherland (01/03/2013 12:40 PM)
Edit reason: eta

 Quote:

I've personally seen the dogs playing outside and they are indeed playing.

Ok, even so, they are establishing their relationship with each other on their terms and because of the problems, I wouldnt let them.