Tempermental yorkie

by Danielle
(Westerly)

Hi my name is Danielle. I have a 7 year old yorkie named Razzle. I adopted her 2 years ago and I love her dearly. Before I adopted her she was in an abusive and neglectful home. She was beaten with leashes, plates, and silverware. She's scared of new people and in general has gotten better since the first day I got her. Back then I had a 2 year old Siberian husky, Sadie. After a few weeks of adjusting they became best friends. Chasing each other, wresting and Sadie even helped her as sort of a "therapy" dog when it came to new people and other dogs. Well the husky was my ex fiancés dog and when I broke it off with him last year Razzle was devastate. With time she became more and more herself again. Still afraid and skittish about everything but when she was with the people she was comfortable with shed play and run and toss toys. In October a friend couldn't keep his then 5 month old German shepherd puppy. I thought it'd been enough time since Sadie and I was looking for another large breed dog. I thought Razz would like another companion. So I adopted Gulliver. He's energetic and charismatic and a great dog. He's excelling in his obedience and I really don't have any problems with him. He tries to get Razz to play with him but I can tell she's still afraid. When he's laying down she runs up to him and runs her back along his face and it very affectionate to him. When he stands up she runs to the couch and he of course wants to play so he runs after her and she bites his face. He's never bled but he's whined so I know it hurts. He likes to take her toys and play with him. So I tell him no and give it back to her. However when he goes near her toys she growls and tries to bite him. She's gotten to the point where if he's in the room and she turns around with her back to Gulliver and myself. If I reach in any direction, it doesn't have to be to her but anywhere around her she think it's Gulliver and lunges and tries to bite me thinking its him. He's never attacked her back but he's going on 8 months and I know there's going to be a day where he'll go for her in retaliation. She's already skittish enough and I don't want him to attack her and damage their relationship further. I need help.