Boerboel's and little dogs?

[Jim B]

We'd like to get my daughter a small (10-15#'s) dog that is hers to take care of.  Do you have any experience with how BB's get along with smaller breeds?  We currently have a 7 mo old female BB who is extremely fearful outside of the house, does not have a dominant personality and is much happier letting me take the lead.  She is very playful, both with us and other dogs on her own turf or places she's comfortable with.  She gets along very well with dogs we've introduced her to at our house and friends house's.  She just wants to play! (Note - she's typically not interested in dogs we meet on walks or places she's not comfortable with.) 

Part of our concern is that, we've read on other forums that it's not uncommon for Boerboel's to be scared when they are young (under 1 year) then around 1-2 they will do a 180 and go from timid and fearful to confident and aggressive?  Right now, Zoe is the most fearful dog I've ever had.  She gets scared if a new car is parked in the driveway or our cars are in a different place.  She runs right back into the house.  Her flight instinct is very strong.  She barks at things from inside the house but very rarely outside.  The more we socialize her and the older she gets the less fearful she is but we're not done yet.  Thoughts?  Is this true?  I hope not cause once the puppy energy wears off she is very sweet, although stubborn, dog.  

[Carrie Kruczek]

I wish I could tell you that your girl will change to a confident and fearless adult, but I don't think that will be the case.  It is true that they can go through "fear periods" but their basic temperament does not change.   My boy just turned 3 years old on Sunday, and the temperament problems he exhibited as a young puppy are still in evidence.  Worse actually despite a major effort on our part (we've been through numerous behaviorists, trainers, classes, socialization, etc)  He is extremely fearful and reactive to environmental stimuli (strange noises, things out of place in his world, etc) but unfortunately hideously aggressive to any strangers.  You may be lucky, in that your girl may be friendlier than our Gage is.  He was never what you would call a friendly puppy to people other than our family, but he would tolerate them.  As he got older, his aggression and over-reactivity to strangers got progressively worse, and at this point he is too dangerous to even leave our house or yard, and when anyone comes over he is crated and in a closed room.   Don't give up, but I would consider working with a very experienced dog trainer who uses positive reinforcement and counter conditioning,  The good news is that our 170lb boy lives very happily with our 10 year old lab and 8 year old 7lb chihuahua!  The only thing you have to be careful of is the bb being overly rambunctious and hurting the small dog when they play.  Since you have a female though, I definitely would not get a small female dog....opposite sex is your best chance for a peaceful coexistence! 

[Jennifer]

Hi Jim,

Congratulations on your girl!  From my personal experience only, I do not think that the extreme behavior you described is normal.  I think that Carrie gave great advice in advising that you find a good trainer.  Your girl is extremely young so with the help of a good/right trainer you should be able to quickly redirect her focus and build up her confidence!  We are on our 2nd trainer with our boy and it is amazing seeing the difference in him! 

By the way which kennel did you get her from?

Best of Luck!

[Jim B]

Thank you for your feedback.  We've been trying to figure out what "normal" is :-).  We do have a trainer and things are getting better.  We're not to sure about posting the name of the breeder on a public forum.  We thought sending you a private message would be better.  We've sent you a friend request so we can do that.

[Dana Noe-Sadler]

I have a 2 1/2 year old Male Boerboel that is 150lbs and a 6lb female Pomeranian. My male is confident and a great boy. The Pom is the pack leader though. My Boerboel LOVEs my Pomeranian. The Pom was here first and was about 1 year old when my Boerboel arrived from South Africa.

[Leah]

Our BB does well with small dogs and seems to understand she has to use some restraint.  However, she has accidentally stepped on and run over our neighbors Papillons in the mists of playing.  You might want to consider getting a small dog with thicker bones (ie shih-tzu versus chihuahua).  Unfortunately, small boned dogs can break limbs easily and those breeds tend to be irritable with big clumsy dogs.

Good luck with everything!

[Lisa Tiro]

Hi Jim,

I have an 8 year old 7 pound chihuahua but he wants nothing to do with my 7 month old pup. Although he is a male, he is much too delicate to play with my bb. My first bb was a female and she didn't bother him too much. Once in a while she would chase him around but I would stop it before it got rough. IMO though, I would wait until you have your bb under control and totally socialized. As Carrie said the behavior your bb is exhibiting is not normal. I believe they call it bad nerves as my first bb Bella had the same thing. She was very fearful of many different things in and outside of the house. I socialized her thoroughly and it made no difference. She ended up being very loving and very sweet to her people and pets but very dangerous to all those that she didn't know including other dogs. I would definitely not take this behavior lightly. Good luck!

 

Lisa

[JonP]

Hi Jim, 

I can completely understand your fears with adding another dog to your pack. I currently have a 1 year old female BB and an 8 month old Caviler King Charles male. We got the Caviler when our BB was just 7 months old. Initially, we did have some issues with our BB playing rough with the Caviler. We only let them play together when we are home, and this has helped to keep the Caviler from getting hurt. Our BB has learned with time, to exhibit self control when playing with smaller dogs, but it has taken quite a bit of effort on our part. Lots of consistent corrections when we see her behavior start to escalate to the next level of play. She doesn't mean to hurt the Caviler, but she is just so bouncy and rambunctious that it is hard for her to play on his level (especially at first). Now, I will say that this little Caviler pup can back my BB off of any toy or food bowl he decides he wants. It is rather impressive to see this first hand! Our BB has learned with time, that it is best for her to play with him while she is laying down, letting him run around her and jump all over her. She knows that she is capable of catching and hurting him but she also knows that she cannot treat him like any other large breed of dog. She will play very hard with my brothers male BB who is near her age, but then tones it down for the Caviler. Unfortunately, we cannot let the three dogs play together at this time, the BB's are just too big and clumsy, and hardly notice that a small dog is running through their legs. I will say that my brothers BB is not able to show nearly the same level of restraint when it comes to play time with small dogs. We have to keep an extra eye on him when the two males (BB and Caviler) are playing. He sees the Caviler as more of a toy, than a playmate which has caused some obvious concern. All in all, I think that it can be done if you are willing, and able to put in a lot (and I mean a lot) of effort into observing them together (all interactions). I would also recommend that you go with a male to avoid same sex aggression if you do decide to get another pup. Training will help too, we take all three dogs to the same training class each week and this has had a significant impact on all three. I hope this helps you out, I am new to BB's as this is my first but I learn something new each and every day. This site has made a huge difference in the lives of my dogs and I cannot recommend the members here enough. You will find what you are looking for right here, there is no doubt about that. Please let me know if I can help you out with any other questions or concerns. Good luck! 

[JonP]

Hi Jim, 

One other thing I forgot to mention. You might want to take some time to reach out to James Brennan at Coomore BB in SA. He is an active member of this site and you can sometimes catch him on the chat room here in the mornings. He is an excellent resource for your question exactly. He probably has 10 small breeds of dogs running freely with his pack of probably 25ish BB's. He is one breeder that has seen it all, and I am sure he can offer you some help with your question. Check his site pictures as well as those he has posted on this site, his pack will blow your mind. Here is a link to his site, http://www.coomore.com/index.htm