[Old Pa]

Congratulations! Very happy for you.

For four years Jenny was an "only dog" and she was positively indignant when Maggie showed up. Had a "1000 yard stare" for awhile. But I knew things were working out when Jenny and Maggie started sleeping in a pile and grooming each other. Dogs benefit from doggie company. Tamara should settle right in once she know she's going to be staying. The sorting out can be good, too.

 

[plainsong]

Well Pixie's not a dominant dog, I think it's gonna be ok. I think her feeding schedule does have something to do with this nightowl-ism. The woman mentioned at about 8:30pm that she hadn't eaten yet. And we do go out for the final nighttime walk, but it only served to give her more energy while Pixie used that as the cue that it was time to sleep.

After coming out here and sampling every toy, she finally glued herself to me and went to sleep...until mom called needing help with setting up a wireless network. Oi! So that woke up Tamara, who was decidedly signaling to the door (because she hadn't done anything on the nighttime walk, and had since drank a bunch of water, do the math), so at about 12:30am I headed outside with her. She wee'd for a good 30 seconds, poor thing, and coming back inside alerted Pixie, and they were both of the attitude of "Hey! There's another dog in here!" and so they both were wide awake and wanted to play. They did play nicely though, and Pixie went back to bed... and Tamara is glued to my leg again. I debated making her hold it to teach her the routine, but these small dogs just have small bladders...ya know?

She has such a tiny nose! I'm not used to these smoothhairs anymore! But she's a sweetiepie...instantly bonded with me over Anders for some reason. I mean, Pixie splits her mommy/daddy time right down the middle, but right now I'm Tamara's clear favorite. After all, I already got kisses and he hasn't.

And here is Miss Nightowl -

Is it just me, or could she stand to gain a tinsy tiny bit of weight? (not the woman next to her, the dog

)

 

[Thelonious Monk]

awww... this thread makes me miss my poor purebred papillon. he was stuck in a kennel for a while but now he's living with a nice older lady... we haven't given him away, my grandmother is just allergic and he needs a place to say. it's been a good year since i last saw him, i hope he still likes me when i see him again!

i'm glad that Tamara is fine and getting along well with Pixie; my little devil has never gotten along with anyone, save a few of his girlfriends (he's pretty confident for a little dude!).

when i move out some day, i hope to be lucky enough to adopt a nice doxie or corgi. i'm a sucker for small dogs!

 

[MdRex]

More dogs are better than one, they get much more companionship and playmates.

Sweet.

 

[DocHamm]

This is a very exciting and interesting situation. I can't blame you for being apprehensive. I certainly would be! As a child I had thee doxies and loved them, but sadly all their deaths were tragic. None by our fault, but I still get upset thinkng about them. I certainly hope things work out for you and this little one. All animals (even the human ones) need good families.

Currently we only have one dog, a chihuahua named CoCo, and a cat named Wolfgang. We lost a cat two years ago to kidney failure and now with the food issue going on over here in the US, it makes me sick to think that may have been the cause and no one knew. At any rate, we love our two and are always helping lost ones find homes. I certainly hope this doxie gets some "Good Lovin' " soon. Best of luck!

 

[wafflesomd]

It's so damn cute!

 

[plainsong]

Poor little pixienose doesn't know what to make of all this. Tamara is very nice to her, but just now (morning...didn't get much sleep because, as it turns out, Tamara is a buttheater!) I had a heck of a time coaxing Pixie on the bed. But they are still nice to each other, she just wants to know this is all ok. I think Tammis is making more of an effort here than Pixie.

But Little Miss Tamara isn't perfect, noooo. Until my radtech screensaverz gets here, I'm using the plastic cover thing that came with the macbook to put between the screen and the keyboard. I had it on the pillow...and Tamara said "Oooh, spare plastic...it's mine!!" Some things you just take for granted until you bring a new yougun into the home.

 

[plainsong]

Another little update to our little doxie saga:

We have Tammis (we hate the nickname Tammy!) until Sunday, so this will give Pixie a chance to relax a bit - hopefully. If she's going to always be a big bundle of nerves, then we can't do that to her by keeping Tammis.

But, Tammis is nothing but nice to her. She continually invites Pixie to play sessions, who in turn freezes up a little bit and skulks away. Tammis studies her though, and takes no stress, she just hops away with an attitude of "Ok, no pressure, I'll try later." They were caught this morning though giving each other kisses, so somewhere inside that bundle of nerves, Pixie can't help but like Tammis (hopefully).

I had a *clears throat* disagreement with Mr. Plainsong over bone-chewing. Pixie always has an evening bone-chew after dinner. Mr. Plainsong decided to give them both bones, and what do you think happened? They were staring each other down and guarding their bones, that's what. Now if two dogs know each other, fine, but they're getting along, don't give them a reason to fight.

I vetoed bone-chewing for now, but with toys everything seems ok. I was worried when Pixie didn't seem to want her toys anymore, but tonight settled down a bit and also played with toys, so that's good. Tammis doesn't take possession of stuff, Pixie has to figure that out.

But none of our little hiccups are the fault of Tammis. She's a brilliant dog, so so intelligent, and happy and friendly, but she's got enough peskiness that you know she's a dachshund. She'll take anything warm, soft, and not nailed down as a toy, but the good news is, if you tell her no, she takes it to mean no, and you can divert her attention to something that really is a toy.

She meanwhile continues to study Pixie. If Pixie would settle down a little bit, they'd be best friends. Hopefully this progress will continue, and by Sunday, Pixie will say "No, she's not going anywhere!"

 

[wafflesomd]

I wouldn't worry too much about them getting along.

We had our boxer for 3 years, then picked up my mut. They didn't like each other at first, and we had to keep my mut in the garage for ahwile.

Hopefully, they should just get used to each other.

 

[plainsong]

Yeah, I'm also hoping for the "well they didn't fight at first, so everything else can be worked out!" result as well. I wanted to add here that we're not adding to Pixie's stress by enabling her, by cuddling her too much, which would tell her there is something to be worried about. No, what we do when they have a nice encounter and we're there to see it, is what a good girl she is, but not in too-excited tones, not to make it sound like a huge thing. And we also stick to our normal play and cuddle sessions that were always in the routine - so she's loved, but not overmuch.

If we were coddling her saying "it's ok, it's ok" then what we'd be telling her is that she's right to feel worried all the time. We're not doing that, we're acting like everything is just normal, which is happiness for a little dog that likes her routines.

In the meantime, Little Miss Nightowl is with me out here and Pixie is sleeping peacefully with Daddy.

- And I think we'll need a bigger bed! I was in a doxy sandwhich last night!

 

[Pm@c]

Dont wanna ruin things, im glad your happy. I hate small dogs though. Maybe its because I live in the country and can handle a bigger dog (dont need to keep it in an apartment or w/e, it can run free in the backyard whenever it wants). I just dont like the look of smaller dogs as well, they look too inferior. I like the bigger dogs (they look superior, although its quite funny becasue my dog has backed down from many smaller dogs, its almost embaressing to watch).

 

[plainsong]

I guess you don't know too much about dachshunds then. They're not exactly little yippie dogs. In fact, if your prim and proper little showdog wants his/her champion status attached to the name, not only must they win the dog shows, but they have to win the tracking competitions as well.

The other doxie owners can learn you a little bit about doxies of they wish. The dogs themselves do not believe themselves to be small.

But big dogs aren't without issues - bloat and hip dysplasia being among them. You have to pay attention to how and when you feed and exercise a big dog....unless of course you have no idea what bloat is and don't care about avoiding it.

Sorry for being blunt there, just in my experience, people who say that have no idea at all what having a big dog actually entails. If you know about their own little issues when compared to smaller dogs, then that's fine of course. Otherwise, it's a shame to rule out a breed simply from not knowing about it.

 

[mr_baseball_08]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plainsong /img/forum/go_quote.gif I guess you don't know too much about dachshunds then. They're not exactly little yippie dogs.

QFT. Dachshunds can actually pretty fierce as thats how they were bred many years ago, but at the same time they're very loving of their families...

I'm so envious of you, as I've been wanting a dachshund for a while now, but I'm still in college and moving around a lot, so I can't really get one and give it the attention it needs.. One day, though.. Oh and congrats, sounds like a great situation...

 

[plainsong]

Speaking of fierce, the story comes to a close on a sad note. Mr.Plainsong and I are crushed, absolutely heartbroken, because we just can't keep little Tammis. Pixie isn't coming around, and when I say she isn't coming around, it's getting more dangerous by the hour. She keeps going for Tammis, and actually landed one bite already. Pixie goes from extremes, from cowering in a corner, to getting fed up and having a real go at Tammis. And there's nothing in Tammis' behavior that suggests that Pixie is right to cower. In fact, Tammis bends over backwards to get Pixie to play, I mean the poor dog keeps trying again and again, but not only is Pixie not buying it, she's terrified enough to hide, and then attack.

We can't do this to them. There's two schools of thought about it. The lady that keeps Tammis says it takes a couple of months. Nevermind that the only dachshund she's ever known is Tammis - the most friendly dog in the universe. The other school of thought comes from Pixie's breeder - that once they've made up their minds, that's it. What we're seeing jives more with what Rea says....probably because she knows her own dogs going back for generations. I think the "Ipps" (kennel name) doggies make up their minds and that's it.

And this is all our fault of course. We've raised a little mamma's and daddy's dog, and she's not abiding an intruder. Bickering is one thing, shyness is one thing, but bickering has turned to real biting, and the shyness has turned to terror. Tammis is trying her best but it's just no go. Pixie can be in her own flock (she still knows her mother and one of her sisters), she can have friends over, but we've created a one-dog family and it's our own fault.

I could of course act like Cesar, and ignore them. That works, but what happens is that Tammis continues to be the happy dog and Pixie cowers in a corner. When the fighting turns real I can step in and call it off. That works because I've done it 10 times already, but I have a choice not to have them live in such an environment.

 

[Old Pa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plainsong /img/forum/go_quote.gif I could of course act like Cesar, and ignore them. That works, but what happens is that Tammis continues to be the happy dog and Pixie cowers in a corner. When the fighting turns real I can step in and call it off. That works because I've done it 10 times already, but I have a choice not to have them live in such an environment.

1. Seems like you've already made up your mind (imagine that?

), but give it at least a couple of weeks with clear messages to the Pix that aggression is intolerable. She's a smart girl and you don't want her to learn otherwise even if the Tam doesn't work out. Don't act like one of those iron-headed Republicans.

Give it some time.

2. Consider sending the Pix to a kennel for a couple of weeks while the Tam settles in. Tam didn't do anything wrong. It's not incumbent upon her to get the Pix to act nice. Why should she be punished? Give her at least a month.

3. Consider the precedent you will be setting for the Pix if you quickly ship Tam off. Do you want her to be even more head strong and stubborn? The Pix is smart. She will regard Tam's exclusion as a victory. Keep her for at least a year.