Experimenting w/ the dogs.

[melonie]

Yesterday I tried something out w/ my three dogs.
It was time for Wrinkles to go outside to do her business. We crated the other two dogs as usual. Normally when she comes back inside she goes back to the kitchen unless the other dogs are in the bedroom. (crates are now in the living room due to the heat)

This time instead of sending her to 'her room' me and my daughter let her stay in the living room to gauge the reaction of all of the dogs.

At first she wanted to play with Winston. She rubbed her side up one side of the crate, and then the other. Her tail was wagging 100 miles an hour, Winston was acting like a goof ball.

Cleveland was acting normal, just watching. He was laying down relaxed. She snuffled his crate a little and he did stand up like wtf dog? But she moved on and he laid back down.

She went back to Winston and started acting like a Betty Bada$$
She did not growl, but she dig go stiff and stared, in a defensive pose.
I checked Winston, and he was standing there with wagging tail, went into a play bow. I nudged Wrinkle to break the stare. She went all wiggly, but then reverted back to Betty Bada$$, so I put her back in her kitchen.
The boys got treats since they didn't act like idiots.


My goal was just to see if the dogs would remain calm. I'm trying to work on them getting more used to each other, but not with a goal of letting them free roam together.

I am likely making a major (1800mile) move in a couple of years, and I haven't figured out how I'm going to pull it off yet. I want to attempt to get these dogs to be amicable enough not to fuss while in close quarters. As it is now, if I need to take all three dogs to the vet, it would be two separate trips because I can't crate Wrinkles near the other dogs. She gets defensive, and so does Cleveland.

I figured I better start taking baby steps now so that by the time change happens, it'll not be such a big deal.

[Dave]

I've been trying to find balance for quite some time now, with different situations. What I'm finding consistantly is that a visual barrier goes a long way to calm and acceptance. If not a solid visual barrier, I make sure there's a second barier, like a baby gate, so they can't possibly reach each other.

Sedona has been exhibiting behavior like you described... ears back, full body crate rubbing, trilling and playbowing to Lola. She absolutely is lying. Lola tends to ignore Sedona, looking through her to me, acting as though she doesn't exist. Lola is a full on liar, too.

I wish I could get in their heads. Can't, so I believe MY instincts, that they will never play nice. Apply it to your dogs. It fits. I bet Wrinkles would love to try a bite and shake. She's healthy now, and more than willing to show her true self. I've seen that more times than I want to admit. And don't let her trigger something between the boys. That can happen, too.

If you have to move them in close proximity for an extended period, use crates. Wire crates simply need a little cardboard between them. Are you heading east or west?

[melonie]

I totally agree, Wrinks is a liar. Cleveland is a liar. I trust Winnie but I know he'll react if pushed. I'm happy that I can walk wrinkles through the living room with the boys crated there.

I do know that Wrinkles had 3 other dogs in her home, and got along well with them, but they were smaller or about the same size. One was a chihuahua, the other was a miniature greyhound, don't recall the other one.
But she is a bossy little dog, but doesn't overtly come across as such.

I have two 'gates' set up. The pantry serves as a buffer zone if conflict breaks out, no one can reach the other. I used to use a piece of plywood as a visual barrier. Now days I toss a blanket over one of the gates when Wrinkles starts acting like a butt head. I know they'll never be able to play nice.
I can work up to crating in one room and see how that goes. I do know I'd have to start with blocking Wrinkles view of the other dogs for sure, because she has always gone into a hissy fit otherwise.

As for the move, I'm looking at the Clearwater, Fl. area. My daughter will be going to college there. She wanted to go to FSU but her dad and I convinced her to start with St. Pete. community college first. She agreed after she saw the tuition.

I'm still on the fence. I'd much rather move to Port Angeles, or Sequim Wa. where it is so much cooler. Neither of my kids with to move there so I'm out of luck. My sister wants me to move to Co. which is likely as well. I'm only where I'm at right now because I didn't want to move my kids out of the school. All I know is that once Aryn is out of this school, I won't be sticking around!