Wednesday, June 6, 2012

The Puppy has Arrived

Padawan and I have welcomed the newest member to our family: our very own little Boston Terrier, Penny.


I'd like to say it's been a graceful transition. We are in day two, and Choo Choo is no warmer now than she was yesterday. In fact, when Choo Choo is on the couch with us and Penny gets pulled up, she will face her head the other direction and refuse to acknowledge her presence.

Worse, Choo Choo has displayed remarkably aggressive behaviors that she's never showcased before. The main concern? Penny wandered into the bathroom, which is where we've always kept Choo Choo's food and water. Unlike most dogs, Choo Choo has never scarfed her food and nibbles daintily throughout the day, so her bowl is never empty. She's never shown any signs of guarding before: I can literally stick my hand in her bowl and pull it away and she will just let it go. But the second Penny stepped into the bathroom, my Choo Choo lunged for her bowl, laid in front of it, and snarled.

It was not a cute snarl, like when she plays with Padawan and tugs at her toys.

This was a viscous, my hackles are up, stay the hell away from my stuff snarl. It made the fine hairs on my arm and at the nape of my neck stand on end. I've never encountered this behavior before, so I just picked her up and told her no, then scooted her out of the bathroom.

Later, Penny happened to toddle by Choo Choo when she was chewing on a rawhide dental bone. Not interested in the bone or Choo Choo, she just strolled by. Choo Choo dropped the rawhide and snarled again. This time when I reached for her to correct the behavior with a firm "no", Choo Choo snapped at me.

The behavior only extends to Penny. At the dog park, Choo Choo is as social as ever. Today we even ventured into the large dog enclosure where she promptly made friends with two huskies, a shitz tsu that lived with the huskies, and some type of huge fluffy white dog that looked like a cloud. Kira Dog, of course, was there, keeping Choo Choo from escaping into small openings in the fence she could squeeze through. For all that Kira is poorly trained, she's a smart dog and I adore her. (Despite the wolf scratches she left on my arm last year that are still scarred into my wrist.)

From small dogs to huge dogs, my Choo Choo is warm, welcoming, and absolutely fearless. (As long as she's not on a leash: when meeting other dogs while on the leash Choo Choo is anxious and tends to growl or bark.) We suppose the problem she nurses against Penny is because this puppy is in her home, on her furniture, playing with her people.

We tried to ease Choo Choo into the whole thing. We took her to Dallas to pick up the puppy, let them gamble about with the rest of litter together to get acquainted. We let them lay next to each other on furniture that was no ours. The trouble didn't actually start until we got into the car, which is Choo Choo's territory, an extension of our home.

Sometimes, when Penny is asleep or looking the other direction, Choo Choo shows interest and will sniff and wag her tail at the puppy. That goes well until Penny tries to kiss her face. Choo Choo is incapable of allowing any dog get in her face: her reaction is always to growl, and if pressed, to snap. She does not bite, though. That is important. She doesn't aim to hurt: only to send the offender away. That's better than a dog that does bite.

Padawan and I are unsure how to move forward. We don't want Choo Choo to ignore the puppy: the idea is for them to be companions who live and play together. We are avoiding punishment. When Choo Choo reacts badly, we say "no", and when she does something good we reward the preferred behavior immediately with love, affection, and treats. However, I really think that this new behavior is something we're going to have to have worked out with a trainer.

In the meantime, Penny is a rolling, wiggly ball of energy and we're very pleased to report she got a perfect bill of health from the vet, and we're already socializing her with as many people and known and safe dogs as possible. 

21 comments:

  1. Penny's adorable! Very happy for you and your new family member. :)

    Sorry Choo Choo's having such a hard time with the whole thing, though. It's not wholly unexpected, I suppose. She has been the Queen of her domain for a while now, and making room for even a little Princess like Penny is going to be difficult. You'll figure it out, though. She's got a good nature, and with some time and training, I'm sure she'll be a great big sister to Penny. :)

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  2. Next step: bigger bed! Eventually Penny will be able to sleep in the bed with the family, and there's not going to be room when she reaches full growth in our current bed. Padawan doesn't realize this is a trap...

    It's getting a little better. Choo Choo has stopped growling. No we're just trying to engage her in play time. It's not really working, but it's stunning progress for two days!

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    1. Progress is always a good thing. :)

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    2. PS: I finally posted my video blog, and I answered all 4 of your questions!!! :)

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  3. You need to show de dogs that you are the pack leeeeeder *tst* *tst*

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    1. Are you mocking that Cesar dog guy? He's funny.

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    2. It's hard to do impressions over the internet.

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    3. Ah, but it worked because I totally got it!

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  4. All you can do is make sure that Choo-Choo knows she is still your baby and that you love her too. Reward the good and chide the bad. Like Candice said, she's been the queen bee for a long time and doesn't like sharing her home or her people. It will just take some time.

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    1. We have been good about loving on Choo Choo when we love on the puppy. At this point we're just trying to remind her who the alpha of the pack is. For the record, that's me.

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    2. Of course you are. In your eyes, anyway. In Choo Choo's world, you are the one on the other end of the leash, not her.

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    3. Choo Choo's world is about to get turned upside down...She is NOT the leader of the pack anymore. The food guarding habit has got to go.

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  5. I remember when Dogs were the only thing I had to worry about with family...actually it was a dog and a cat, making them learn how to play nice together, which was easier than one might suspect. Good luck with all that. And since no one else has said it, very cute picture.

    oh, and the Dog is cute too. :)

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    1. Dogs and cats can learn to coexist even if they don't love each other. It's the great thing about animals: they may not like each other, but they will learn to get along. People, on the other hand, will look for ways to hate and destroy one another...

      Dogs are definitely easier than people, and Choo Choo flies forward with progress.

      I love this picture. It's our first one together! We're creating quite a family album. We even have pictures of Choo Choo and Penny Lane sleeping on my lap together. :)

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  6. Holly guarded and snapped like crazy when I brought Apollo into our house -- two years later, they coexist like brother and sister. She still snaps at him when he gets close to her treat or bone, but that's what brother & sister do: they snap and brawl and two seconds later they're playing tag. I know every situation is different, but I definitely think Penny and Choo Choo will be snuggling a year from now!

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    1. I wish I shared your optimism. I would settle for polite civility from Choo Choo at this point. Her mood swings are outrageous! One second she's trying to play, the next second she's in her den growling every time Penny Lane walks by!

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    2. Ah, Nicki! I doubted you, but you were right! They cuddle and play and love each other! Except sometimes Choo Choo is crabby. But you were right!

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  7. So how about some more pictures of the puppy, then?

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  8. Well I've only just gotten back from vacation!

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  9. Ah. Well, you didn't say anything. We do worry, you know.

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  10. little overdue for blogging missy. Some of us might feel like you have abandoned the party, not commenting, reading, or blogging. tsk tsk

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