Last month I saw an ad for a dog to a good home. I replied and got the new dog, Lucy (Ali's and my dog), and Pumpkin Pie (my gray American short-hair cat, named by a crazy cat lady) all together and they seemed to get along acceptably — I know things would be rough, but the behavior of the new dog was key.<\/p>\n
So last Monday the 23rd I got \"Tieson\" (the etymology of which I still haven't inquired about). He's a\u00a0Jack Russell terrier who's 9-year-old (as of today, actually).<\/p>\n
The first day I had him his behavior was better than I could have expected. Pumpkin was very patient and only a few skirmishes broke out. His previous owner said he had bladder issues when home alone, and I presumed it was due to separation anxiety. In fact, when I went to Genesee Bakery<\/strong><\/a> (1677 Mount Hope Ave.<\/a>) for all of 10 minutes, he soaked a pillow pretty good. He only had one such \"accident\" so far.<\/p>\n That night, I let him sleep in my bed. During the night, I noticed he started to intensely regard the vacuum cleaner. After an hour or so, he decided that it was, indeed, an infernal machine and must be barked at. I turned on the light and he was startled to see me, transferring his agression to me. Before I could get him out of the bedroom, he managed to bite me pretty hard on the hand. Being kind of aggressive, I have learned this particular Jack Russell is happiest if he's kept in his place (e.g. lower than eye-contact with people.)<\/p>\n The next day went well as well. I learned some things he didn't like and mostly avoided them. However, when returning from a walk, I expected him to get bite-y when I toweled off his wet belly so I put on leather gloves and, when he inevitably did snap at me, I pinned him down firmly to show that I was \"alpha\". I didn't like doing it, but it didn't hurt him, and I had to do it again later when he snapped at me on my bed. I gather it's not harmful, per se, especially if used sparingly, but I don't want him to have an \"alpha dog\" relationship with me. It should help that I signed him up for obedience class at Dogs At Play<\/strong><\/a> (75 Howell St.<\/a>)<\/p>\n By Thursday we were running together in the morning. Jack Russells are known for their speed and<\/em> endurance: he kept up for all 4 miles or so. During the day, cat-dog relations had a setback when I picked up Pumpkin to pet him and Tieson, apparently jealous, seemed curious to see what I was doing and then he decided it was a good idea to bite Pumpkin's tail. I ended up with a couple scratches on my face and on my hands from the ensuing body launch.<\/p>\n Today he was thrilled to \"go for a ride\" and was even thrilled to visit the vet at Penfield Veterinary Hospital<\/a><\/strong> (1672 Penfield Rd.<\/a>) for all his shots and more. Now he's all set for his dog license, so he gets to be a real little dog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last month I saw an ad for a dog to a good home. I replied and got the new dog, Lucy (Ali's and my dog), and Pumpkin Pie (my gray American short-hair cat, named by a crazy cat lady) all … Continue reading