My uncle and his stepdaughter arrived yesterday afternoon. They have Sunshine (the black chihuahua that I love), Bandit, a sweet chihuahua with a heart condition, and Muffin, a prissy little Yorkie. All three of their dogs are sweet, friendly pups, and until their arrival, that’s how I would have described Rita.
When they got here, about 4 p.m., Vince walked out to meet them and he carried Rita out. She immediately began growling and snarling. He brought her back inside and held her. After their dogs ran around for a while, we put Rita down and she jumped right on Sunshine . . trying to fight with her. Sunshine was ready to play . . but Rita wanted her gone! Bandit and Muffin would not have fought back but Sunshine, another rescue puppy, could stand her own ground. I’m glad Rita didn’t jump on one of the smaller, more fragile pups. I grabbed Rita and we put her in the crate in the bedroom. As long as she could hear us, she kept barking and barking. My uncle has a puppy playpen so we got it out and put it in the family room where we were all sitting. She was somewhat ok with that because she could see us. Vince sat on the floor next to her and was rubbing her with his finger through the door. The top zipper isn’t quite right on the playpen so we’re going to look for something else today because without a safe way to keep her in the family room, we’re going to hear barking non-stop . . and that isn’t going to work.
I had planned to put her crate in the car but it’s cold here today so . . I’m sitting in the bedroom writing a blog post, with Rita, til everyone else wakes up.
With her being blind, she must see the other dogs as as threat. She was never aggressive with Speck but once a friend brought their dog over and she was aggressive with him. I was wondering if my uncle’s dogs had been here when she first got here, if she would have jumped on them then or, if she’s decided this is her home and she’s defending her space. After all, she had been here 24 hours when they arrived! 🙂
Whatever the reason, this is not the family relationship I had hoped for and with Bandit being so fragile and Muffin being so tiny, I don’t want to take a chance on Rita hurting either one of them. I think Sunshine and Rita could work out their differences but with us being so far from a vet, I don’t want either one of them to hurt each other so . . for now, Rita stays contained or confined to the bedroom.
Kate says
Hey, it’s all ok. And understandable. Just work through it. Heck, at many homes over the holidays, it’s the people who are attacking each other… take it one day at a time, and don’t let it spoil the holiday. She will be fine when it is over, and you’ll understand her better.