# Havanese and big dogs?



## tokipoke (Feb 13, 2012)

How sturdy is this breed? I know they are a toy breed but I've been reading about some people owning a bigger dog and a Havanese. Can the two different sizes play together? I have a standard poodle a little over a year. Not sure how they will play together, and if they are even able to. My poodle is used to my two cats, but he knows he is not supposed to play with them. They rule the house anyway so he knows better. Just for reference, my poodle did great when we babysat a 4 lb pomeranian. He did get rowdy but I corrected him and made sure she was safe (placed her on the sofa or I held her). They did great together on walks and hanging out chewing bones. But of course, their sizes made it unsafe for any kind of involved playtime. My poodle is friendly, loves other dogs, and not resource possessive.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

Some like big dogs and get along fine with them. Some don't like them at all. Just another part of the selection process.


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## tokipoke (Feb 13, 2012)

*Tom King*, your Havanese are beautiful! To me the breed looks bigger than they are - maybe it's all that hair?


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## Alcibides (Feb 14, 2012)

This is such a good question. Our little Havanese (joining us in two weeks at ten weeks old) will have visits from our kids' big chocolate labs. I had thought the sooner the better, that if they were acclimated early, they would get along fine. Would love to know others' experiences and tips for making it work. The labs both do doggy day care and "play nicely" with other dogs I'm told. Appreciate any insight and to tokipoke's question of sturdiness. Can playing with a big dog be dangerous for a Havanese? Thanks.


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## morriscsps (Aug 17, 2010)

Nessie is an Aussie mix and weighs around 45 lbs. When Jack was little, I really monitored their outside time. They would play chase and Nessie would bowl Jack over. She never hurt him but I tried to stop the play before it got to that point. 

Now that Jack is older and can judge Nessie better, the outside play is good. It is funny to see a little Hav chasing after an Aussie.  They even play tug with each other. 

Jack is a big Hav at 17 lbs.  I don't think if he was little, I would let them play as rough. I definitely don't allow Jack to play with other big dogs without supervision. One misplaced foot or grab could hurt him. Puppies are especially delicate.

This is an instance when you would treat your dog like a little human baby. You would never left a baby or kid alone with any dog. Same thing applies to your Hav puppy.


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## unjugetito (Jan 2, 2011)

I have a 17 week old 2lb puppy who loves to visit with my sisters 75lb Weimaraner. Its hysterical to watch them play as my the weim will drag himself on his belly to be on her level and she jumps all over him. 
However not all dogs are as considerate so I would keep a close eye on introducing any dog to your pup regardless of size.


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## Flynn Gentry-Taylor (Jan 17, 2008)

It makes me nervous...I know there has recently been a post on HF about this subject and the outcome has not been good. True only one post...but I personally prefer to have dogs the same size, or close to it. There are so many other things to factor in the selection process that I prefer to err on the side of caution and keep the same size dogs.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I think that besides the disposition of the Hav, it also depends a lot on the big dog. Kodi loves ALL dogs, UNLESS they purposely bowl him over, or come at him, slapping with their front paws, even in play. But his BFF is a GSD that I trust completely with him. Buddy will let Kodi take his food bowl and drag it around the house with him. When they play outside, they run together, but Buddy doesn't try to knock him over or make contact. That seems to be the kind of play Kodi likes best.

When he was younger, and we did puppy classes and "graduate" puppy classes where there was off leash play, Kodi was really leery of the Retriever and Boxer pups, all of whom seem to play by batting with their front feet a lot. OTOH, there was a Great Dane puppy who was afraid of KODI, and I'm sure it was because he didn't understand the boisterous, running around type of play that Kodi likes.

But the bottom line is that when two dogs are really mis-matched in size, things can go wrong, even "in fun". One of the forum members recently had a very bad experience between her 1/2 Hav and her Anatolian Shepherd. Even though the two are usually the best of friends, the Anatolian was having a bad day, the little one was bugging him, and the larger dog grabbed and shook the little one. After intensive treatment, the 1/2 Hav is going to be alright, but has probably lost all vision in one eye. So if you have two dogs badly mis-matched in size, you really need to keep an eye on things, even if they seem to get along great.


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## Sonic and Aries (Feb 15, 2012)

I have found that, like the others have said, it really depends on the individual dogs and how early the 'big dog' socialization begin. With Sonic he met his 'cousins' (a year old 35 lb English Spring Spanial, a 2 year old 85 lb lab mix, and a 4 year old 90 lb Great Dane) by the time he was 10 weeks old and has been playing 'rough and tumble' with them and any other big dog he meets as if he's just as big. I think the key is to keep a close eye on them, especially in the beginning , and be ready to step in if it does get out of hand. His puppy socialization play group included a couple lab puppies, a boxer mix and another Havanese and he wanted to play with the big dogs while the other Hav was very timid with them at first, but warmed up after a few visits. We haven't had much time with Aries yet, but she seems to just follow big brother in whatever he's doing..


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## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

There is a beginner class before Misty's class and there is a woman who watches her husband with their Aussie and she wants a small white dog and she is always trying to get me to see if Misty will be ok with her dog, one of our trainers had a "talk" with her about her Aussie, it is very prey driven (it tracks all the small dogs even when they are not running), she explained that some breeds do better and an experienced owner will have a better chance of selecting the right small dog and making it work. As this woman and her husband are first time owners and their dog has developed quite a few problems, they need to work with it for awhile, the woman thinks her aussie just wants to play and no one is giving it a chance...glad the hubby is not of the same mind. I guess it is selection and experience.


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## Alcibides (Feb 14, 2012)

Thanks for the help. Sounds like early socialization with dogs of all size is the way to go with careful supervision at all times. Appreciate it.


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## DiegoCF_Boston (Apr 12, 2011)

We had Olive for about a year before we got Diego. Olive is an Olde English Bulldogge and she took to Diego soooooo well!!

Currently, Diego is 14lbs while Olive is 76lbs. They wrestle and play around and play a bit rough, but Olive always seems to know to hold back slightly when she wrestles with him. When Olive plays a little "too rough", Diego gets pissed and puts her in her place and she backs off, and vice versa. Neither one ever gets hurt or evil-aggressive when they horse around.

They're favorite game is tug-o-war...Olive drags him around because its obvious she has more strength, but Diego NEVER lets go of the rope at all!!

It's definitely on BOTH dogs, not just one. Early socialization and training BOTH of them how to play with each other is definitely a good thing, IMO.


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## Kalico (Jan 11, 2012)

I have a 60lb lab and recently adopted a Havanese who now weighs 4lbs. My lab is a sweet and gentle dog, somewhat less assertive with other dogs, and has been socialized with dogs of all sizes at the dog park from puppyhood. It took him a few days to warm up to our new little one, and we supervised them together 100% of the time for the first week or so. He has learned to play on her level, and it is very sweet to watch them. Our only worry at this point is an unintentional injury, such as if he stepped on her or rolled over on her. Minor incidents of this nature have happened a couple times, and I expect that they both learn from them. I stop them if play becomes too rambunctious.


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## Lfb321 (Nov 20, 2011)

We have a new hav puppy (16 weeks) and a 100 pound Rhodesian ridgeback. We socialized our ridgeback very well as a puppy. He's great with our new baby. He lays down on his back and lets our hav jump up and stand on his chest! However, if I leave the room I take the puppy with me. We've never had even a hint of a problem, but I just don't feel comfortable leaving them alone together. I agree with everyone else that the outcome will depend on both dogs. How comfortable the big dog is with the puppy and vise versa. 

Good luck with your new baby!


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## Luciledodd (Sep 5, 2009)

When we got Rosie we had a stray mix-breed dog in the back yard. Bubba was a wonderful dog and since I couldn't find a home for him had decided to keep him. He appeared to love Rosie until she took off running and then she became prey. Scared us to death. Thinking it was a onetime thing, we kept trying and every time He got in the prey mode. Luckily I found him a home and Rosie has the back yard all to herself. Now my little schnauzers would have turned on the other dog and snarled at him and he would have known they were not prey. Poor little Rosie has never even growled or snapped at anything. I will not let any dog around her that is bigger than her.


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## Flynn Gentry-Taylor (Jan 17, 2008)

Before you decide, you might want to read "prayers for Ollie please" on this forum. You might want to talk with Ollie's owner too..:ear:


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## tokipoke (Feb 13, 2012)

Flynn Gentry-Taylor said:


> Before you decide, you might want to read "prayers for Ollie please" on this forum. You might want to talk with Ollie's owner too..:ear:


I looked over that thread... very heart wrenching. Because of the size difference, little dogs will always need to be supervised around bigger dogs. My dog still tries to play with the cats every now and then but it is always corrected, and very firmly. My dog does not "lash out" unless a bigger, dominant dog tries to hump him. We took him to a friend's house where a chihuahua kept following him everywhere trying to hump, and even latched onto his leg and started humping and my boy did not do anything. A little maltese I know puts him in his place. He is a very sensitive boy and not very assertive. I babysat the small pomeranian for three weeks so I have a feel for how the house will be with a small dog. I liked the fact she influenced my current dog to be more doglike if that makes sense. He usually doesn't like to chew bones but having another dog in the house makes him "more competitive" and focus on chewing and toys, when before he could take it or leave it. However, he is not resource possessive and does not snap or growl when other dogs try to chew his bones or play with his toys. He's fine with sharing. Being a retrieving dog, his bite is also very soft. The only thing I could see a Hav hating is that my dog is very handsy and likes to "box."

I'm really not sure what to do cause I have an opportunity to get a one year old Havanese.... but I'm just being so indecisive! Not sure if this is the place to announce this cause I've heard you guys are a bunch of enablers... lol


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

Hey there,

I'm just going to say what's been already said, it depends on the individual dogs.

My big anatolian, Kara, gets along great with Ollie, always has. here's a couple of vids of them playing (post #12). If I had left my pack at that, all would be well.

http://www.havaneseforum.com/showthread.php?t=15985&page=2


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## tokipoke (Feb 13, 2012)

Kara and Ollie are so cute playing tug together! I gotta say that there's something about dogs when they are in a group of three or more. I think then it becomes more of a pack. Lots of dynamics going on. The liitle pom loved my dog, she really adored him. But then when another friend's dog visited, she HATED him! She would growl and snap at his face and always trying to start something, and would always defer to my dog. I think I can only handle two dogs at a time. My friend has six and there's usually fights, typically between the females.


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## inlovewithhav (Feb 18, 2011)

We are a 2 dog family where one of the dogs is 70 lbs. I have never had any issues between the two except when one tries to take the others food. They play wonderfully and recently I got to see the big one go into protection mode when the neighbors dog came over and started getting aggressive to kipper. I want to point out that we had a scare with another neighbors dog when he was little. I would see if you could bring the puppy and your other dog together to see if they like each other, do this somewhere neutral so neither dog feels possessive, this will help you judge how open they are to new dogs. When mine play together it is hilarious to watch, my Hav is so much more dominant then the big dog- with that being said I still monitor play time, not closely but just to make sure that they don't get to rough. Funny thing is I normally have to step in to help the big dog not kipper.


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