darbydog said:
Has she been eating at all? I hope for a fast recovery!
Yesterday she ate a few bites of breakfast...not much at all...then yesterday nite when I got home she ate a whole bowl of food...it just took her a while. We fed her again at about 9 and she wolfed it down!! She must be starting to feel a little better each day...the HS gave us a bag of Bil Jac when we got her...I guess they were feeding her some...I dont particularly like feeding it to her since it is mainly by-products...we are feeding our other two Canidae, and Im trying to feed her just the Canidae...last nite she wouldnt touch it without some Bil Jac in it...but this morning she must have been starving because when she heard Josh open the dog food bag, she ran right up to him...he put only Canidae in the bowl and she ate it all in a matter of probably 3 minutes. Then she went over to Harlies bowl...but we stopped her...we dont want her to eat too much and get sick. So she is progressing everyday with her personality...and just her habits. Last nite we were all sitting around in the living room...all the dogs chewing on their bones, and Jadey walks in the room, and Grace gets up and aims right at her! Luckily we have been keeping her collar on her...(Max and Har dont have to wear theirs unless we go somewhere...) I hopped up and grabbed a hold of her before she got to Jade...we told her NO and made her sit on her bed. For some reason she really perks up and wants to chase Jade...but not Gabby...maybe its because Gab is a bigger cat...I dont know...but we are trying to nip this in the butt before it gets any worse.
Another thing that we have been trying to nip in the butt is her growling at Harlie and Max. She is fine with them most of the time...starting to even play with them a little...but I think she is trying to be the dominant one...but I feel she is being a little extreme...she growls at them when they walk by her when we are petting her...and if they dont immediately stop and go the other way, she lunges at them trying to bite them. She growls very loud when she is doing this. She also does this when they come near her when she is eating...our other two are used to taking a few bites...then switching bowls and eating out of eachothers...they are just very laid back about things like that...Grace is very protective of her bones too...last nite, she even went up to Max while he was chewing on his own bone, she gave him a deep growl and nipped at him, of course he ran...then she stole his bone! I mean its different than we have ever had to handle...and we just want it to stop...I dont want Harlie and Max to feel scared in their home. I think I understand partly why she is doing this, especially with not having food for so long, of course she is going to guard hers with her life...and trying to make sure we only give attention to her and not the other two...like when we are petting her and she growls them off...she probably never had attention like this and doesnt want it to stop...will she learn eventually that in our home it isnt about survival of the fittest? That everyone will be loved all of the time? We know we have a lot of work ahead of us...We just really want her to learn that she is not the boss. We are. I have a coupon for free obedience classes at the HS, but they arent until the spring. I just know that I want her to love her new brother and sister all the time...not just sometimes. Any ideas? I think I might need to go get a copy of The Dog Listener again...its been a while since I have read it.
Thanks for any tips!
~Melissa
And I am...haha. Unfortunately that came from my mothers side of the family. :D