My wife and I just got home from adopting our second dog. His name is Max, and he’s an eight-month-old Tree(ing) Walker Coonhound. He is white with tan spots, like our previous dog, Barkley (whose visage graces my profile picture).
When the woman fostering him brought him out today, he looked completely orange with slightly darker tan spots, but apparently he had been rolling around in mud all day, and the dirt here is reddish clay. After a quick bath, he’s now Barkley’s twin, only much taller and skinner. They weigh roughly the same: about 45 pounds.
Before long, our previous dog Barkley humped Max around the house. Through every room and hallway, Barkley did his best to show Max who the boss is. The woman fostering him told us Max was very submissive, and she wasn’t kidding. It got so bad at one point, I had to crate Barkley just to give Max a chance to relax and check out his new surroundings.
Our three cats are also adjusting, mostly by hiding under the bed. Our tabby greeted us at the door when we came in, as she often does, and she even nuzzled up to Max, but once she realized it wasn’t Barkley, her tail poofed out and she slowly made her way out of the room, back arched.
Our biggest dilemma is dealing with feeding. Barkley is like a cat: we put food in his bowl and he eats when he’s hungry, a few bites here, a few bites there. Max is like most dogs: if he smells anything edible, he would jump over a flaming lava flow to get it.
To be fair, Max is coming from a tough situation. He was abandoned after his owner’s home was foreclosed (not too dissimilar from Barkley’s history), and he was fostered by someone who has 10 dogs. He is covered in bites (at least 4 scabbed wounds) and is very skinny. When Barkley was trying to eat, Max bit him and ate his food.
So, we put Max in another room, closed the door, and I slowly put bits of treats into Barkley’s bowl to encourage him to finish as much as possible. Meanwhile, Max peed on the guest bed, so now I’m doing laundry while my wife is walking the dogs.
The tabby cat came out to check on things, and I predict she will be the first to warm up to Max, since she is also the only one of our three cats who is friendly with Barkley (the other two either hide, scurry past, or sneak attack Barkley, depending on their mood).
I’ll be sure to post a couple pictures as soon as Max calms down enough to sit still for them. If I don't post as much over the next couple of days, you will all know why.
*Update*
He has pooped once in our house, once in the pet store, and zero times outside.
My dogs always ate like cats too.... Then, they started getting fat one winter. Little Jack Russell Terriers are hard to work in the harsh winter of The Great White North. I had to stop it. They lost the weight, and went back to grazing. Then, my little one suddenly died. Now, my older one is back to eating like a cat. If you want to work with the other one, and teach him to eat when he is fed, take the bowl away after a few minutes. Then keep trying. Eventually, it works.
ReplyDeleteYour new addition sounds like a challenge. Poor little guy. He will settle in. All he needs is consistency.
There is no consistency here... but there are like 400 dog toys. Is that close enough?
ReplyDeleteLOL..... Too funny. Every show that I have ever seen about dogs says that you take away toys and make the dog earn them. My old bitch has no interest in them anymore.
ReplyDeleteOur first dog is the most spoiled dog ever. Probably why he's violently holding onto his spot as the top dog like an entitled Republican.
ReplyDeletelike a cat: we put food in his bowl and he eats when he’s hungry, a few bites here, a few bites there."
ReplyDeleteI guess my cats are like dogs then. I put food in their bowls and it all gets wolfed down and then they get pissed off if I don't give them more.
I have a wife who has loads of animals. We have a small barn where most of them live, but we have 3 dogs and 3 cats in the house. She sees them as babies and treats them like they understand English and hates to discipline them. I am grateful that I happened upon the Dog Whisperer (Caesar Milan) on the Nature Geographic channel. Over the years our animal situation was out of control. I know now how to discipline them and keep them calm and submissive. It is a struggle at first but pays off exceptionally well. She just got a female Jack Russell we call Teddy in honor of our last JR who was a wonderful male dog. Anyway this Teddy killed one of our hens and was fighting with our other two dogs and has no concept how to sit and wait for his food. Taking charge as the Dog Whisperer showed me she is now not fighting with the two other dogs. I have to work on the killing hen thing, waiting for her food and terrorizing our 3 house cats. It is quite satisfying to see the change. Teddy like his namesake is very loving to humans so the little girl has quickly whittled her way into our hearts. My wife only picks older, abused animals to free them from death row since most will not saved. So they come into our house with big issues. But as I saw on the DW they can unlearn the abuse they have experienced and it is a rare animal that needs to be put down.
ReplyDeleteI really love your avatar picture of Barkley. Such a great expression. I don't know how to describe it in words. It is like "I am so content that even you being annoying with that camera will not affect it". It would be hard to top it. Will look forward to seeing pics of Max.
Warning about the Dog Whisperer: don't watch it with your pets, or they'll use those techniques on you. Our first dog sure did.
ReplyDelete