DOG(S) TIRED
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Teresa reports:
Dharma has joined into our family so seamlessly now that it seems difficult to remember life before she came to us.
To be honest, there were times in the first week or so that I wondered what I had done. The ride home with all the posturing & fighting had me thinking that we would be making this same trip in a week to return her to Diane & June. I know now that part of the problem was our attitude and our focus on dogs in general.
I knew what I wanted for Daisy and for us. We wanted so much for Daisy to have a great life and be healthy. She seemed to love dogs and wanted so much to have someone to play with. We knew since we first got Daisy that we would add a second dog. Dharma seemed to be the perfect dog on paper. She needed us. We wanted to help save a dog and give that dog a good home, but not at the expense of Daisy. She was our main concern. Daisy has never had a moment where we haven't put her first and kept her safe.
We liked Dharma right away but Daisy didn't. Dharma has a lot of the same qualities of Daisy, she is sweet & loving. We did have some fights at the beginning but no blood was drawn. It was all about dominance. Once we realized through the books and advice given (Thank you to everyone who emailed and tried to help me to realize what was wrong), we changed our behavior and voila . . . two wonderful sister dogs came into being. Our girls now sleep downstairs in the kitchen and they free-feed.
When Dharma first came to us, she acted like the outside world was a punishment. The only time she wanted to go out was on a leash with us. Daisy loves the outside and has a lot with squirrels in the trees, birds and a rabbit or two. We wanted Dharma to love to go out, too. That took a lot longer. Finally, they both will run out and do their doggie errands of policing the dog lot & patio area.
The heat in Savannah makes us keep them inside a lot. The heat & heat index is scary sometimes. To avoid the issue we go for early morning walks. Dharma is not as good cardiovascular-wise as Daisy is. Daisy can run a lot. So we do a walk of about a mile. Then the reward is to play & run & roll in the grass.
Right now we go halfway and the dogs are released to explore & chase bugs & stuff. Then they are told to heel and the walk continues. Both girls are doing really well. They are learning to walk beside and not cross and trip you up. We have been working on this as they will charge down the stairs and I am concerned for my safety as well. They are learning to give way to humans. They have had to learn that the walk is not for play or any of that. This walk burns off the extra energy they had to fight and now it is all about coming home and napping together.
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Dharma is destructive and has had to learn not to chew up things. She has destroyed toys and a pillowcase and things like this. Basically, if she is not bored this behavior seems to be less. We can tell when we have slacked off on walking by the girls having a higher tension level than normal. |
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The place on her back seems to be getting smaller so I guess it was ringworm. I hope we can get rid of that without too much issue. She has an odor that might be from that but hopefully it will go away as she gets her skin healthy. The biting & itching have gone down and we bath her weekly and she gets a liquid on her skin two times a day (on the spot).
We love her. She is so easy to love and such a funny little creature . . . that it was easy to fall in love with her. She loves to lie on the couch with me and have me rub her belly. Even Daisy loves her. There are lots of times that they are both more interested in each other than in either of us. This is great to me. For them to have fun and enjoy each other is what I wanted all along.
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CONTINUE WITH THE FLORIDA 2 HERE