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I am fostering the first adult I’ve had in a long time.
This started out well. Chris and Wendy helped me take the dogs on a group walk and introduce them in the back yard.
That afternoon there was a fight.
Today I did something stupid: I took all 3 of them to the farmer’s market.
This was fine for Milton and Elka; but Buster has been in a trailer for 5 days, and in a new home with 2 new dogs. He’s overstimulated and I added to his stress. At the market we met a family that wanted to adopt him, so I bought him to their house which went really well - he loved it there.
I got them home and boom: fight.
I called Terry, ready to find somewhere else for him. Breaking up a fight between 2 males is hard when you’re one girl. Especially when walking one away doesn’t stop the fight, they continue to try to latch on.
On the plus side, they’re both inhibiting - no blood.
After talking to Terry, and her describing what I had put Buster through, I chose to keep him here. He’s crated and asleep now; all the fights happen outside so he’ll always be on a leash, and playtime will be in very short (2 minute) bursts, with only the rest being calm interactions. The fights have always happened during attempted play - the dogs all get along fine when they’re calm.
During the conversation with Terry she said that whenever she has an issue with a dog, she tries to look at how she is contributing to the problem. That is what made it clear to me, really, that I had potentially caused this problem. Instead of giving Buster quiet time, I exposed him to my two hyper dogs, and then did even more activities with him. I should have left it at the walk, and then crated him for a nap.
What Buster needs is a sense of security so that he knows his place. In a week or two, if he’s still here, then he should settle in and be less stressed and more comfortable. He’s a really chill dog, and it’s easy to think that he’s adjusting well and able to handle this; but what I may be seeing is him being shut down, or simply stoic.
In this instance, my lack of experience has played into a potentially difficult situation. But alL I can do is take a deep breath, detach, look at the situation correctly and try to fix it. Buster is an awesome dog, and I like him quite a bit. I love my dogs and I won’t let them be hurt - but I don’t think this is a dangerous situation so much as one where I need to handle the dogs properly and give everyone more time to get used to each other.
There are a lot of other places in my life where I should learn from this experience. How am I contributing to problems, and are there even minor ways I can change my approach to make a better outcome?
It’s a good thought, and one I intend to spend some time reflecting on.
-Lisa, on May 1, 2011 at 8:18 pm