They’re Like Two Spoiled Children

Oscar and Cooper play together for half an hour or so, then they start getting rough. Cooper will grab Oscar’s hear or inside his thigh with those sharp teeth, then Oscar will try to get away and then I have a wound to deal with. As soon as I see them getting rough/aggressive, I separate them. Usually Cooper goes into the crate because he’ll fall right to sleep. Oscar will come sit by me and he’ll fall asleep. Then it’s quite for an hour or so . . they wake up and the cycle begins anew.

About 7 p..m., Oscar has had enough and he’s grumpy. He wants to sit on the sofa with me and if Cooper comes near me or near the sofa, Oscar will jump down, growl at him . . which scares Cooper. I’m not sure Oscar would snap at him but he seems like he would. If Vince isn’t downstairs by the time Oscar gets grumpy, I’ll put them both in their crates and have a little bit of uninterrupted time.

The funny thing is that Cooper wants all the toys and if Oscar goes near any of them, whether Cooper is playing with them or not, he goes at Oscar and Oscar will run away. Most of the toys have been here since we got Oscar and he had no interest in them . . unless Cooper wants them. Anything Oscar liked has been destroyed.

There’s an alligator here that we bought for Oscar when we first got him. It’s kinda hard and heavy and I doubt Oscar touched that thing more than five or six times. Cooper seems to like it and, of course, it’s what Oscar wants if he sees Cooper with it.

They do play hard and then they rest so even though having Cooper is a bit more work, I get more time when they’re both quiet and sleeping than I did with just Oscar here.

There was probably a 50/50 chance this was going to be a difficult transition from one to two Dachshunds, especially with Oscar’s personality. I’m glad Cooper will stand his ground and not back down. If Cooper had been a pushover, this might not have gone so well. I do wish Cooper would be a bit nicer to Oscar. I make sure I spend lots of time loving on Oscar (even though he may not appreciate it as much as I do). Cooper gets all his rest time in the crate while Oscar sits on the sofa next to me and sleeps . . unless he has to go to time out and then he’s in the crate. Oscar will nip at Cooper but I don’t think he really bites and Oscar’s teeth aren’t sharp. Oscar will pin Cooper down when he’s had enough. I always remember as kids, we’d have to scream “UNCLE” when we’d had enough. I keep waiting to hear Cooper say “UNCLE” when Oscar has him down but, no . . Cooper never gives up!

They are fun to watch and Vince and I spend a lot of time laughing at them . . also a heck of a lot of time saying “NO Cooper” and NO Oscar”! I wouldn’t change a thing. They’re both so cute and I feel lucky we have the two of them.

Did I already say that our neighbor got a new puppy and she’s 6 days older than Cooper. She’s a bigger dog and their dogs are so well behaved . . ours aren’t the worst but I don’t think anyone would say they’re well behaved.