A Lesson in Tolerance

This is Quincy.  Here's what you need to know about him:  12ish years young tripod Chessie.  Yes, he's adorable - in that stinky breath'd old geezer sort of way.  He's pretty much a breeze to dog sit except for a teensy issue:  he doesn't share well.  And we're dog sitting him for 3 weeks.

M-O-M, why doesn't he want to play with me?

Unfortunately for Hurley, Quincy mostly hates sharing Mom's attention with him.  See, Q spent the first week at our house doing everything in his power to not allow my dogs to receive any of my attention.  Laying in doorways to prevent them from entering?  Check.  Body blocking them from getting closer?  Check.  Bared teeth?  Check.  Snapping?  Check.  Having to spend lots of time separated from us due to his behavior?  Check.


Fortunately for Quincy, my three are being exceedingly respectful.  Maggie's told him what's what a few times but has been more tolerant than I would have ever expected.  For her to ignore a dog who is snarling in her general direction is huge progress!  Sadie plays the peacemaker, continuously trying to make friends with Q.  She can't comprehend why he doesn't want one of her famous tongue baths.  Hurley ignores him, whining and pouting about his sad lot in life.  Q enforces a strict no-fun policy in his presence - no wrestling, no chasing, no fetch, no toys, no fun. 

Quincy's starting to chill out halfway through his stay with us.  He's much better with the girls but still struggles to allow Hurley close to me.  Hurley gives Q the widest possible berth.  He won't look at him, won't play with the girls when Q's around, squeezes himself as close to the wall and as far away from Q as possible, has given up his regular spot at my feet and, due to all of the above, has been perfecting his pouty face.

Why doesn't he like me, M-O-M??

Poor Hurley, right?  Actually, I'm glad he's having this experience.  The girls let him get away with murder.  Seriously, he continues to murder my tomato plants!  Why don't they stop him??  Sorry...got sidetracked.

Hurley's learning a lot of things by being around Q.   Tolerance.  Patience.  Respecting one's elders.  Letting bossy dogs be bossy without getting all upset about it.  All good life lessons. 

 

Even if he won't stop giving me this look.

A Weekend Visitor

This past weekend, we had the pleasure of watching a friend of ours, Koda.  I love Koda because, well, he is pretty much a fluffy version of Maggie.

Obsessed with balls and toys? Check.
Likes to be the dog in charge? Check. 
Is a bit demanding? Check.

Unfortunately for Koda, Maggie does not really enjoy having her fluffy twin around. 

The last time we looked after Koda, I committed the cardinal sin of petting him before Maggie when I came home from work.  Maggie instantly tried to start a dog fight.  Well, she snapped and aggressed toward Koda, he told her off quickly and backed away.  I intervened and all was fine in our household.

Until the next time I came home.  Even though I was careful not to pay any attention to Koda before Maggie, she did the same thing.  And the time after that.  And the time after that.  Since I knew it was going to happen, I started ignoring both of them when I came home and instantly intervened when Maggie got bitchy. 

Other than Maggie's snarkiness when I arrived home, we spent the rest of the weekend in peace.   Sadie lurves her some Koda and flirted with him as much as possible. It's funny how dogs defy our expectations.  Sadie has never been overly fond of male dogs at the dog park but with Koda, we saw a spunky side of Sadie that we'd never seen before - she even wanted to wrestle with him!  Unfortunately for her, Koda was more interested in a ball or hanging out with the Hubster than loving up on Sadie, no matter how closely she shadowed him all weekend long. 

Even though watching Koda was not without its trying moments (thanks, Maggie), he is a doll to be around and I value the experience my dogs gain, specifically Maggie who needs to learn how to peacefully co-exist with dogs she's not overly fond of.  I was happy with how they all did this weekend - Koda was much better this second time around focusing all his attention on the Hubster and letting Maggie have me to herself and towards the end of the weekend, I saw some definite communication between the two that seemed to be geared towards acceptance.  They may never be the best of friends but eventually, Koda will be able to hang out and Maggie will be able to hang out and I won't have to watch them closely for signs of a pending snark-off.

Have you ever fostered or watched after a dog that your own did not particularly like?  What did you do to make co-existence peaceful?