This is Molly. She’s a cocker spaniel/schnauzer cross who has been a member of our family for over 12 years now. She and our pit bull, Bambi, got along famously, in fact she is such a happy dog she added joy to the life of a rather serious dog – and his people – who needed some laughs.
When Bambi died, she wandered around the house looking very lost. She would bark to go out, searching the yard, then bark to come back in, searching the house again. It killed me that we couldn’t share the hard decision we had to make with her, help her understand. All we could do was hold her a lot, hug her, and grieve.
We then found Amber, our completely doofus, now almost 60-pound labrador retriever puppy. Since we brought her home in May at 10 weeks old, she has pretty much dominated our days. Molly’s reaction was to hide, leave the room, try to disappear.
Lately she seems to have made the decision that she’s not going to give up her rights as the dog who should be the head dog in the family, the one with seniority. Now when Amber dive-bombs her, she bares her teeth, growls, and maybe even gives Amber a little snap. Amber’s reaction is to jump straight up in the air, and then decides Molly must be playing with her.
We’re still trying to monitor the doggies when they’re together and curb Amber’s exuberance as much as we can. Molly seems to understand that it’s not a free-for-all, but she also won’t cower in the corner anymore.
She DOES still leave the room, if possible, but I’m glad to see her standing up for herself. (Our two cats are learning to deal with Amber lumbering toward them. They hiss and spit, if she corners them, and jump up where she can’t get them. Smoke actively stalks Amber when they’re outside. Our fish couldn’t care less about any other family members.)
Hopefully, Amber will begin to see the pattern on approaching Molly, adapting her behavior a bit.
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