Recent events have made this post a must do.
In two weeks she’ll be one year old, so, it seems like a good time to review Holly’s presence in our household.
Diva: I’ve made the comment that we didn’t name her very well; Princess or Diva would have been better names given her personality. If you are petting Wiley, she will do anything and everything to get you to stop that and start petting her. She’ll nose her way in and push against the hand you are petting Wiley with (to make you stop petting Wiley and pet her); she’ll nose against your other hand to get you to start petting her. If these ploys don’t work, she’ll try to climb up on you…..if that doesn’t work she’ll go and bite Wiley’s legs until he has to react to that (if she can’t get petted, nobody will!).
My move to working at home has been a boon to the dogs; they frequently come out and sleep at my feet during the day at the desk….this is one picture with Holly splayed out all over Wiley.
Crate Time: Wiley, as we’ve discussed here before, has never been a big fan of the crate. Holly is the exact opposite; it’s her little home and she’s very happy to climb in at any time. A lot of this is probably because her crate is in the living room, so, she’s not so isolated from the family in there. But even when Wiley’s crate was upstairs, he did not like to go there.
Dominance: Up until four hours ago, she ruled the roost. She bit Wiley whenever she wanted; she’d be the first one at the food dish and didn’t have any problems with eating his meal too. And Wiley never seemed to really mind. Wiley always used to bark at dogs walking by the house; he doesn’t do that anymore…Holly is the noisemaker.
But today, around 4:15 pm, that all changed. Not sure how much it has changed….before I explain this I need to go back into pet history…..
When Suzanne and I started out together, Ernie and Katie had to learn how to live together. For the longest time (in fact, it was almost a year I think…) Katie would push Ernie around…make him move from where he was, chase him away from things, be first at the dish, etc. Never mind that Ernie was bigger; Katie had the way of things for a long time.
Until, one day, in a fit of spit, growls, and hair, Ernie turned on Katie and from that point on it was the big orange guy who ruled the roost (and the neighborhood, after a while).
Today, I’m sitting at the desk working, Wiley and Holly are sitting nearby and I’m not sure what happened to start it, but Wiley had Holly pinned to the ground, full on growling, and would not let go. Holly’s squeals were getting progressively louder.
Get up, yell at Wiley to get away. Nothing.
Kick Wiley a little bit. Nothing.
Kick Wiley about as hard as I think I can without really hurting him. Nothing. Holly’s squeals are pretty loud at this point; Wiley is growling like I’ve never seen him before. All the kids are here and they are either a) shocked or b) freaking out. Go to the kitchen and get some water, throw that at them….didn’t do the trick at first, but, after he was wet, Wiley finally let Holly go and trotted off. Might also have been Holly pooping everywhere; she was so scared she lost control……
Get Holly outside away from Wiley (who just calmly went back and sat on the couch) to check her out…a few bite marks where Wiley drew blood but nothing serious…can’t even really see the wounds, just blood on her white fur….
Dog relations are a little frayed right now…..Holly has kept her distance for the most part and (wisely) just taken to hanging out in her crate. We are on high alert to see how their interactions go….I’m guessing it will be awhile before Holly starts gnawing on Wiley’s ears and back legs again.
