# Chihuahua and Golden?



## MicheleKC87 (Feb 3, 2011)

So a friend of mine got a new Chihuahua puppy a few days ago from her in-laws. They were giving the pups away, no shots, worm meds or vet care whatsoever. My friend considered it a rescue case because of the obvious neglect. The pups were eaten up with fleas and not kept very clean.

Anyway, they have one left and I told my friend that I would take him if they're giving him away. I am going to get him the vet care he needs and see how Lily and my moms dog, Charlie do with him. If they do well I'm going to keep him, if not i'll consider him a foster and find him a good home. 

Anyone here have a Chihuahua? How do the goldens do with them? I know all dogs are different, but I'm mainly concerned about the size and hoping Lily and Charlie don't break him. Charlie doesn't do well with other male dogs, but he does great with pups, so hoping it'll be different with the pup growing up with him. 

I'm a little excited, but nervous and wondering if this is the right thing to do.


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## Max's Dad (Apr 23, 2012)

Max knows a chihuahua that lives down the street. Max gets along with her OK, but the do not play together much. Max is so much bigger.


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

I suspect that they'll do fine together if the two current dogs are OK with a puppy coming in. Many homes have different size and type dogs living together. I hope some others on here will chime in. My two have achieved a peace of sorts. They co-exist in mostly harmony.  

I think you'll find the Chi will handle himself just fine--they are terriers, and usually not afraid of much. They can be very loving and sweet but IMO need training and routine as much as a big dog. There are so many Chis in the humane society where I volunteer ... They seem to be a highly disposable dog in many people's mind. So--thank you for giving this little guy a chance! I hope it works out for everyone.


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## kwhit (Apr 7, 2008)

My two are very different in size. Lucy is a Terrier/Chihuahua mix and Chance does really well with her. She weighs 8 lbs. and Chance weighs 94 lbs. I can't say he's never stepped on her, because he has, but Lucy's pretty tough and has never been hurt. It's only happened a couple of times and it's been when Lucy has had the zoomies running around him in circles. 

I also think it depends on the dogs. Chance is _extremely_ mellow and Lucy definitely holds her own. She has the Terrier personality and is not timid at all. You'll just have to be careful at first and not leave them alone unattended, (you probably already know that ). And...depending on the dogs, you may never be able to leave them alone together. Chance and Lucy stay together alone, but they've been together for 4 years and are like an old married couple.


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## photoweborama (Dec 6, 2007)

Bo is Ok with small dogs, but just exists with them. We had two Dachshunds for quite some time. We gave them to my daughter when she got her house. One of them was her's anyway.

They had their life and Bo had his, but they seldom associated, except one of them would lick Bo's mouth all the time. Drove my wife nuts... but now my son's Australian Cattle dog does the same thing. Licks his mouth all the time.


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## Aislinn (Nov 13, 2010)

I have a couple of Russian Toys (Chihuahua size) and Katie is great with them. Dakota is very hyper and so while she wouldn't deliberately hurt one, she could easily do so accidently. River? Forget it, too much a puppy still. As you and others have said, it's individual. I have puppy pens, (or you could use a GR size crate), so even when the Russian Toys are 'up', they are still out in the middle of everything.


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## OnMyWay2MyDreams (Feb 13, 2011)

I have a jack Russell with a golden and I also had a shihtzu with my previous golden. My JRT is a very tough dog, I did worry when he was a pup but they are tough dogs and he can hang with the big dogs, even out run them! The shihtzu also was super tiny so had to watch them carefully but my golden adapted her play to his size. She loved him! It can work but definitely take precautions when they are little with playing. Most of our lil dogs that come in with broken legs as pups aren't from other dogs it's from an accident or someone usually dropping the dog!


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## Ninde'Gold (Oct 21, 2006)

I don't have a Chihuahua but I have a Shih-tzu mutt that's small (He's almost 4 months now)

My Golden has been fine with him, though you can tell he's not a big fan of the puppy, he does his best to ignore him and keeps his distance.


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## Nyahsmommy (Jul 23, 2011)

Nyah interacts with many small dogs, she tries to play with them but they are too small and ends up stepping on them. She does this with the cats too and get frustrated when they don't play back.

It could work for sure but don't expect them to play and rough house. Like many people said here they will most likely just co exist like cats and dogs do.


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

Buddy is 90 pounds and his yorkie BFF is 3.5-4 pound Roxy. Buddy knows he can't wrestle and play hard with the Yorkies or Cozy Mama will discipline him. Buddy have never meet a small til I got him.

I had a 120 pound Golden Lucky with newborn 6 ounce Yorkie puppies. Once they where a bigger around 1 pound each with open eyes and ears and walking they would climb all over him and chew on him. He was always very gentle with the babies 

I would use care with leaving the unsupervised primarlily since the Chi will find puppy trouble.


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## kwhit (Apr 7, 2008)

Nyahsmommy said:


> It could work for sure but don't expect them to play and rough house. Like many people said here they will most likely just co exist like cats and dogs do.


Not true at all...at least with my two. They play together all the time. Again, it just depends on the dogs.


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

Buddy will lay down on the ground and play tug with all the Yorkies. 

He loves to play ball with Roxy as his running partner and ball finder. The go swimming and hiking together. He gets the food from the counter and she opens the packages- Partners in crime. They have the same go-go-go energy level. Roxy makes him brave.


At present they are trying as a team to hunt chipmunks that are eating the garden. Buddy scares the chipmunks out of hiding and the Yorkies primary Cozy and Roxy catch or corner them. Buddy is too clumsy to catch them.
(Note: The chipmunks are then relocated someplace else- Can you say state parks- I hate grabbing vermin even with thick leather gloves but either I grab them or the Yorkies kill them outside. They same goes with mice indoors)


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

I know Brady would have no problem with a dog that small. He lets my holland lop bunny climb all over him, and right now "helps us" with raising some baby chicks and ducks.

MacKenzie is a different story. She plays rougher, but small animals that are in the house, she tends to go out of her way to avoid. Not sure if she is afraid of them, or if she knows she will get in trouble if she does something to hurt them.


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

MikaTallulah said:


> Buddy will lay down on the ground and play tug with all the Yorkies.
> 
> He loves to play ball with Roxy as his running partner and ball finder. The go swimming and hiking together. He gets the food from the counter and she opens the packages- Partners in crime. They have the same go-go-go energy level. Roxy makes him brave.
> 
> ...


 Buddy and Roxy sound like quite a pair of thieves. That's too funny about Buddy doing the counter surfing and Roxy getting the package open!


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## Nomes (Nov 7, 2011)

i have no personal experience, but i've seen many larger dogs (goldens, and other breeds) play nicely with smaller dogs...it can be done!  however, i would supervise verrrry closely until they know each other well.
Good luck!


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

OutWest said:


> Buddy and Roxy sound like quite a pair of thieves. That's too funny about Buddy doing the counter surfing and Roxy getting the package open!


Not so funny when they ate a pound of shredded cheddar cheese. I put the package on the counter to make Mac and Cheese the door bell rang so I went to answer the door. Talked to the neighbor outside for a minute or 2. Came back to the kitchen. No cheese. I went back into the fridge thinking maybe I only thought I took out the cheese. I turned around. All four dogs are there but Buddy and Roxy are licking their lips. They stole it- I found the bag open and not cheese in it in the bathroom. Roxy was bound up for 3 days.

There are definitely a pair. 

He will open to food bin if I forget to completely lock it and Roxy will jump in. The one day she got stuck in it. I had run out to the post office and came back home- No Roxy. I looked all over the house for her. Buddy was going nuts next to the food bin and trying to open it. I open it and there she is a sleep in the half full kibble bin.:doh: Before anyone panic the container is not air tight.


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## MicheleKC87 (Feb 3, 2011)

Thanks everyone! I'll see how it goes. Lily and Charlie do great with the cats, but the cats do have escape routes. They are both very gentle with cats, and Lily is gentle with every tiny living thing she comes in contact with, but I am afraid she will think the puppy is just as big as she is. She and Charlie play pretty rough. He's a golden/lab mix. I hope everything works.


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## porchpotty (Aug 4, 2011)

They'll do fine as they live and do things together each day.


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## Deber (Aug 23, 2011)

I too have goldens with very small dogs. Found in my home they have a pecking order and the goldens stick with this. Our male golden loves to lay on the ground and let the yorkies crawl all over him and Kye likes to play tug of war but she lays on her tummy while they pull and pull. While I can't say the little ones have ever been stepped on (they have), they learned to get out of the way. Works great for us, but we monitor the time together and when at work the goldens are in the front of the house and gates keep the yorkies to the back of the house.


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