Shiny Sylveon wrote:So, my big rottie/lab mix is visiting for the week, and my yorkie hates her for seemingly no reason. She keeps growling and snapping and tried to bite her throat twice. It got so bad that my big dog started growling and snapping back. I was essentially in the middle of a dog fight for a few seconds! My big dog hasn't really done anything wrong from what I can see. Maybe they both think they're in charge? Whatever it is, if my yorkie tries to pick a fight my mutt, she is going to get killed, but they need to coexist for the time being. What a nightmare it was seeing my dogs try to kill each other. I didn't know my yorkie could be such a little demon.
They call them "terror terriers" for a reason, lol. But honestly any dog can become aggressive when another dog comes into it's territory. To your Yorkie's perspective your Rottie/Lab is an intruder. This has nothing to do with who's in charge but is based on fear. Your Yorkie is defending it's territory, he's not being a "demon" at all, just a normal dog. Things like not giving two dogs a proper and careful introduction, not properly socializing, and genetics can all play a part as well.
I would highly recommend separating them when you can be there to supervise. Feed them separately, and put away any high value items that could start a fight. Keeping a drag leash on your dog (one or both) can allow you to separate them more easily (do this when the stare down/growling starts and don't get made or yell just separate). Also keep a blanket handy, you can throw it over them in case of a fight which will often stop it long enough for you to remove one of the dogs.
If you have someone to help you do some parallel walking on neutral territory. While their separated do some scent swapping (like with blankets) and feed them on/near the blankets with the other dog's scent. Honestly though if the Rottie/Lab is going to only be there for a week it's a lot safer just to keep them apart.