I'm wondering if I should stop counting the fights. It'll be embarrassing if I get up to number 50 or something ridiculous on this blog.
We had over a week of peace, and then two fights within 24 hours. What gives? Maybe I was hoping for too much too soon. Maybe my expectations were unrealistic.
I broke up the last fight they had. I had never broken up a fight before; Yun broke up all the previous ones. It took me a lot longer to break it up than Yun. It lasted like 10 seconds. I ended up using a pillow to wedge between them. And then I squished Loki against the bed with the pillow. For whatever reason, this worked to snap him out of it and calm him down. It worked better than our typical "relax" command. In about 2-3 minutes after the fight broke up, everyone was fine. Jujube had a smile on her face. Loki was lying on his back ready for belly rubs. Yun was fine. But I was still a nervous wreck! It took me awhile to recover. I sustained no physical damage, just mental. This is opposite of Yun, the last fight he broke up, he sustained physical damage, but no mental.
[Disclaimer: I am merely reporting what I did. I am not advising or suggesting that anyone to use a pillow as a way to break up a dog fight. I'm not a dog expert.]
Other than our scuffles, the two dogs are great together. They love to play with each other. They wrestle. And most recently, they have started to lick each other. It's so cute. Loki flinches away when she tries to lick him. And he licks her too!
After fights, we try not to really separate them. Well, wait, let me re-phrase. We try to minimize the separation to only what we think is necessary. If Loki is still showing signs of aggression, then we do separate. But if he completely does snap out of it like this last fight, then we don't. We think it's best to minimize the separation, because separation appears to build up tension and frustration between the two.
I can't really figure out what triggers these fights. I just don't get it. Well, the first two were obvious - toy aggression and possessiveness over the couch. But the rest have been a puzzle. I've no clue what the triggers are, which is very frustrating.
They don't seem to do any major damage, though blood was drawn at least once. And after we break up every fight, Jujube always wimpers and limps. At first we were concerned about the limping, but then like 5 minutes later, she'll be running around like nothing happened. I don't get it. Maybe it's a strategy to show the other dog that she's hurt, so he'll stop attacking.
Peeing & Pooping
When we were house shopping, one of our main criteria was a fenced yard. But after we moved into our townhouse, Loki never used the backyard for peeing or pooping. What the heck?! He refused to go & we had to take him out on a leash around the neighborhood just like when we lived in apartments. We could have tried to train him by never letting him go anywhere else except the backyard, but that would require too much effort. And it would risk accidents in the house, because Loki would have gone on a pooping/peeing strike. So we gave up on using the backyard as his bathroom.
But when we got Jujube, everything changed. She didn't pee or poop on walks, instead she went in the backyard. And surely enough, Loki followed suit. Yay! Now we just let the dogs out in the backyard. It's so convenient! We love it. Thank you, Jujube!
The two of them instinctively divided up the backyard into a "play" area and a "bathroom" area. I'm not sure how they know, but they do. We always find the poop in the same left quadrant of the yard.
Here they are in their "play" area. Loki is the one lying down and Juju is the one standing up.
Here's Jujube. I finally got a shot of her. She is extremely difficult to shoot. She never stays still and she loves to be close. If I kneel down with the camera, she'll come running up to me. She'll lick the camera if I'm not careful. She's very attached to humans. Very.
And here's Loki, who is much easier to shoot. He stays relatively still and remains at a distance.
But when we got Jujube, everything changed. She didn't pee or poop on walks, instead she went in the backyard. And surely enough, Loki followed suit. Yay! Now we just let the dogs out in the backyard. It's so convenient! We love it. Thank you, Jujube!
The two of them instinctively divided up the backyard into a "play" area and a "bathroom" area. I'm not sure how they know, but they do. We always find the poop in the same left quadrant of the yard.
Here they are in their "play" area. Loki is the one lying down and Juju is the one standing up.
Here's Jujube. I finally got a shot of her. She is extremely difficult to shoot. She never stays still and she loves to be close. If I kneel down with the camera, she'll come running up to me. She'll lick the camera if I'm not careful. She's very attached to humans. Very.
And here's Loki, who is much easier to shoot. He stays relatively still and remains at a distance.
Separation Anxiety
Jujube has bad separation anxiety. She gets anxious, whines incessantly, paces, and paws at the door. For the past few days, I tried to do some slow desensitization with her, but I know it's not enough for her. I had to go back to work today. What can I do? I have to go to work, but yet feel so guilty about it.
Two days ago, I practiced going out and returning calmly. Ignoring her both when I left and returned, trying to make the whole ordeal as much of a non issue as I could. I would leave for like 5 seconds. I worked it up to however long it takes me to get the mail. I did this like 20 times. I'm not really sure she got any better.
The good thing is Loki got better. He would used to bark at her for whining and being so unstable. But through my repetitive in and out, Loki started to ignore Juju's whining.
Yesterday, I left to grab a bite at McDonalds; it couldn't have been more than 10 minutes. I put her in the exercise pen. By the time I returned, she had contorted the pen into some odd shape that left her with hardly any room at all and she spilled her water bowl.
After that, I tried an even lesser demanding desensitization exercise. I put her in the bedroom and closed the door, just so that she would be physically separated from me in the house. Wow... that still made her just as anxious as before. Whining, pacing, pawing. I even spoke to her, so she knew I was there. I repeatedly said, "Calm down," in my most soothing voice. And opened the door only when she finally gave up the whining and slumped down next to the door. We did that 10 times over. I think that's the level that a proper desensitization program for her would have to start at. Even going in and out of the house is too much for her.
I know she needs a slower rate of desensitization than I can give her. But what can I do? I have to go to work. Yun agreed to stop by during his lunch hour. That's the best we can do now.
Two days ago, I practiced going out and returning calmly. Ignoring her both when I left and returned, trying to make the whole ordeal as much of a non issue as I could. I would leave for like 5 seconds. I worked it up to however long it takes me to get the mail. I did this like 20 times. I'm not really sure she got any better.
The good thing is Loki got better. He would used to bark at her for whining and being so unstable. But through my repetitive in and out, Loki started to ignore Juju's whining.
Yesterday, I left to grab a bite at McDonalds; it couldn't have been more than 10 minutes. I put her in the exercise pen. By the time I returned, she had contorted the pen into some odd shape that left her with hardly any room at all and she spilled her water bowl.
After that, I tried an even lesser demanding desensitization exercise. I put her in the bedroom and closed the door, just so that she would be physically separated from me in the house. Wow... that still made her just as anxious as before. Whining, pacing, pawing. I even spoke to her, so she knew I was there. I repeatedly said, "Calm down," in my most soothing voice. And opened the door only when she finally gave up the whining and slumped down next to the door. We did that 10 times over. I think that's the level that a proper desensitization program for her would have to start at. Even going in and out of the house is too much for her.
I know she needs a slower rate of desensitization than I can give her. But what can I do? I have to go to work. Yun agreed to stop by during his lunch hour. That's the best we can do now.
Third Scuffle
Yikes! We had our third scuffle last night. Neither one of us was in the room when it happened. The dogs were in the bedroom and the humans momentarily went to discuss the plumbing in our master bathroom.
Boo... I hope this gets better soon.
They seem to get over their fights relatively quickly. It doesn't take too long before they are back to being playmates. They like to wrestle. Jujube sticks her butt in Loki's face to solicit play. He tries to hump her, and then she shakes him off. She's very good at using her butt as a weapon. Loki... not so much. Loki's more pawsy.
Boo... I hope this gets better soon.
They seem to get over their fights relatively quickly. It doesn't take too long before they are back to being playmates. They like to wrestle. Jujube sticks her butt in Loki's face to solicit play. He tries to hump her, and then she shakes him off. She's very good at using her butt as a weapon. Loki... not so much. Loki's more pawsy.
Too smart...
The breeder warned us. She told us that Essie (now named Jujube) was the smartest dog on their property. Smart doesn't mean good. Wow, she really is smart.
- We bought a new bag of liver treats and Yun was trying to lure her into the bathroom so that we could give her a bath. He had one piece in his hand and was calling out to get her attention. Juju completely ignored him and went straight for the BAG, which Yun had set down randomly in the opposite direction. She showed him!
- I put her outside in our backyard to poop and pee. Ten minutes later, I open the basement door, so that I can access the backdoor to the backyard, and find her standing in front of me. In the basement. Not outside. The backdoor open.
- She has terrible separation anxiety. I thought maybe crating her would make her feel a bit safer. I put her in the crate and ran a 10 minute errand. When I returned, she's out of her crate. She showed me!
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