Monday, August 26, 2013

Zoe plus Cooper equals???

It’s been about a week since Cooper came home and for the most part it’s been great.  Probably the most stressful part has been the acclimation between Zoe and Cooper. 
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He wants to play with her and in his world playing is bouncing and pouncing, in Zoe’s world however that’s unwelcome behavior.  At first she was very forceful in her,’ leave me alone kid’ growls and reprimands, but as the days have progressed her tolerance level has increased.  They’ve progressed all the way to sniffing and tail wagging without noise.  Granted those moments aren’t constant and Zoe is still just not too sure what this little guy is doing.  She’s always been funny about my playing with the cats or the cats chasing each other.  She has always taken it upon herself to break it up and send everyone to their respective corners.  I suspect that she’s just a little confused about this little dog that seems to be running amuck in her otherwise peace filled home.  Randy found an article online about how it can take around three weeks for two dogs to adjust to each other and accept that neither is going anywhere.  We’ve been practicing the rewarding of Zoe for any and all ‘good’ behaviors, not growling, not ignoring, no barking at him even when ‘he starts it’.  Since they are both highly food motivated, this approach sees to be working really well.  It’s a relief to say the least, because my heart would be broken if I’d done something that would make the rest of her life miserable. 
Thankfully, that doesn’t seem to be the case and hopefully in time, the two will be friends, maybe not the best of, but at least friends.
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