My mom asked for and received a puppy for her birthday this past weekend. He’s another little black and white shih tzu they named Duke. Unfortunately, the grown up dogs Indiana and Molly do not like Duke at all. Now, Duke’s only been living there for a couple of days, but Indiana is beginning to concern my mom because he’s been snapping at Duke. Not good.
Mom thought if we brought my puppy Kitty over, perhaps Indy and Molly would see that Duke’s not such a bad guy and perhaps treat him a little better. Not so. Kitty and Duke get along marvelously, but Indy’s still vastly unhappy and Molly doesn’t really know what to think.
While we were watching the puppies romp in the yard, an idea was hatched. We watched Molly intently watch Kitty and Duke. Indy was inside, so Molly felt like she could watch without barking. It was decided that Indy would come home with me and Kitty would stay at mom and dad’s house.
We figured a couple of benefits would happen because of this. First, we figured without Indy’s influence, Molly might warm up to the puppies. We also decided Indy was stressed and needed some time away from all things puppy. Indiana’s a cranky old man, and my dog Tiny is a cranky old man, and when they have met on previous occasions, they’ve gotten along swimmingly.
So, home Indiana came with me, and Kitty stayed at my mom’s. Indy was like a totally different dog when he got to my house. I’m not entirely sure he’s ever seen cats before, but he did well with my cats. They seem to have an agreement. They leave each other entirely alone and give each other a wide berth when passing. My cats are used to dogs coming to visit, so they don’t bat an eye when a dog comes in unless thee dog tries to cause problems. Or, if they bark too much. The cats dislike barking immensely.
Indy cautiously walked around my house sniffing everything. Tiny came out of his room to join the party and wagged his tail happily to see his old pal Indiana again. Tiny showed off his yard to Indy, who obligingly peed on all the pertinent spots.
Indy, who is normally an incessant barker, seems to understand the cats’ “no barking” rule, as he’s hardly barked at all so far. As bedtime fell, Indy and Tiny snuggled together on my bed, Indy on top of the covers and Tiny underneath. There’s now no roon for my feet, but you can’t win them all.
Will Molly learn to get along with the puppies? Will Tiny and Indiana band together and start an anti-puppy revolution? Stay tuned.
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