A New Dog
Introducing: Petey!
Our newest playmate, and what a cutie he is, but very oddly proportioned. It took me some time to get a decent photo of him, but still it doesn’t get across how weirdly he’s shaped. He has a very wide ribcage, but his head is even bigger, and he’s more compact from neck to butt than he is tall.
I’ve become more careful when introducing new dogs on many levels. I was never properly taught how to meet and greet, in fact I’ve never had an opportunity to do a leashed greet and sniff, I’ve learned by trial and error and g
iven the parameters of my job, I err on the side of caution and maintaining the safety of the dogs. One thing that’s struck me is how an owner perceives their dog is often times not how the dogs are at daycare. More than once I’ve heard ‘they don’t bark much’ and then had the dog do nothing but bark. Over the phone Petey’s dad told me Petey was a little dominant and blah blah blah.
What I found during his temperament test yesterday was he was anxious, stand-offish but had enough self-control not to be reactive. Still, putting him with rowdy dogs like Elle or Lexi seemed ill-advised since they like roughing from the word go. Luckily Eva is perfectly willing is one of the best dogs for responding to other dog’s body language so when his fur went up and he went whale eye, she gave him a gentle tail wag and wandered away. Later, though, they played around with bouncing and chasing and it was wonderful to see him open up a bit.
As I mentioned before, just because the dogs could go together doesn’t mean they have to. Sometimes keeping them in smaller groups, or even just as a pair as I did with Lexi and Elle today makes them more comfortable, more willing to run around, and leaves them with suitable playmates. Sweet as they are, Lex and Elle tend to tag team other dogs who aren’t as eager to play.
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