Previously, I’ve mentioned that my parents have a new rescue, Mary:
She’s slowly becoming more comfortable with her new life, and their Husky, Joe, has been well behaved and friendly towards her. This is HUGE as he was a grumpy, food defensive, bitey snot when we got him. Massive improvement, and we’ve been very impressed with him.
For her part, she spent a lot of time hiding under the table, and then she decided that anything Joe did needed to be growled at. Did he roll over on his bed on the far end of the house?
RRRRRR she goes. Then Mom or Dad would verbally cut that off with an ‘uh, uh, Mary’.
Did he blink?
RRRRRR.
Jingle his collar?
RRRRRR.
My dad brought Joe upstairs to the office to work with him, and she CLIMBED THE STAIRS so she could RRRRRR at him through the gate.
Silly puppy.
We decided it was time for her to meet our dog, Tundra:
He has been kenneled a LOT the last two weeks, and it’s unfair of us to expect him to sit in that kennel all day while we work, especially when we usually bring him with us to the office.
He was getting mopey, whiny, and we think he had a small accident in the kennel. He usually got to play with Joe every few days and was rarely kenneled.
Not cool. Not healthy for him.
So, Mary came over to our house. We walked them both around the neighborhood as neutral ground, and she was growly, and did some snapping at him. Tundra, for his part, was bouncing and wooing and SO EXCITED to make a new friend.
Mary did not approve. But we ended on an up note with both dogs fairly calm.
We talked it over, and we decided to bring Tundra over when we worked at the house last Friday.
We kept them separated – there are gates all over the house.
Now, Joe and Tundra play like icebergs crashing together, slamming into each other, running laps around the house, flopping down and kicking each other. The works. They love it.
Mary went RRRRRR when she heard this but was corrected. Instead she sat and watched them play through the gate.
Tundra got to go upstairs and lay at my husband’s feet while he was working, which is what he likes to do, and he got to play a second time with Joe when we were done working.
He wore himself out, and he was a sleepy, dozy puppy all evening. Very content.
We’re intending to bring him over again and get her used to having him around. Good puppies all around!