Hello we have just added a new addition to our family Tallulah the Pug and she is tiny! Ziggy is 8 months old. Knows all basic commands and is houstrained. Just trying to figure out what I'm doing! Ziggy is massive and heavy handed and I can't keep put her on the floor or he would hurt/crush her. He isn't aggressive towards her. He just jumps and barks and wants to play! She has played with him a little behind the puppy pen we have bought to separate them but I just don't know how to mix them so he won't hurt and kill her.
My 14-week Lab puppy played with a full-grown Leonberger the other day. They had taught him to play with small dogs lying down. It was very cute - she just wanted to snuggle in to him and use him as a bed!
I'm really stressed! I really don't want her to get hurt and there is such a massive size difference!
I have a 6 pound Pomeranian named Odie and a 92 pound lab named Axel. So I know how you feel. Granted I had Odie first, but even still when we brought Axel home he was almost triple Odie's weight with absolutely no idea how to move his wiggley body. But they learn. Odie would yelp when it was too much and Axel would back off. Now when they play it doesn't last nearly as long due to Axel being a teenager and more bouncey like when he was a puppy. But even still, Odie tells Axel off and Axel listens (mostly). Definitely do watch them closely all the time because accidents do happen. Axel picked Odie up and carried him away a few months back.. I also limited their time together a lot when Axel was young, until he was about 5-6 months old. So I would give them a few minutes of play or until it got too much then I would separate them. Your lab being 8 months old is still very much a puppy. Axel is 13 months old and is more crazy now then he was when he was 8 months old So let them bond, but also keep an eye on them and separate them when it's too much. soon they will be great friends! And I agree, we need pictures!
Perhaps have another focus for your Lab when you let them be together, for example, in a park or someone else's garden. That way, the pug puppy isn't the sole source of fun for your Lab and he is less likely to want to jump at it in excitement. I'd be very careful with a pug puppy - it's like an adult falling on a toddler during play. When Snowie was a puppy he'd also lie on his back when playing with much smaller dogs. He had a lot of experience because of the small-dog doggy daycare that used our local park. Perhaps you could lure your pup into a down when your pug is around - as snowbunny mentioned with the Leonberger. Altho with Snowie I never trained him to lie down; he did it instinctively.
This is what both my Rotties did with my teeny weeny foster puppies or dogs. They were very gentle, but they also weren't 8 month old puppies, so as you've already said, you'll need to be much more vigilant at first. But there is great potential for them to be best buddies - I've always loved having one massive dog and one teeny dog. So much fun to watch them play once they get the hang of it. Pictures please, please, please...I'm a total sucker for pugs!
A friend of mine has a Lab/Curlycoat (big), an Irish Water Spaniel, A curlycoat and a Pug! The Pug copes admirably, is strong little soul.
