Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Looks can be deceiving...

Here's a picture of me and my innocent (looking) puppy, Millie.  I took this photograph with my iSight camera back in December.  Fast forward to May.  She just turned 9 months old and has been to a few dog shows. 

I think she realizes that the other dogs don't get to do this.  She is somehow . . . special.  And it has gone straight to her knobby little head!

I talked to my pal Jes and part of her issues as of late may be due to her becoming a Lady.  She had her first heat cycle in April.  Ick.  The rest of it comes from being a singleton pup bossing around puppies that were younger than her.  Then she comes to my house and is the low ranking dog in the pack.  She doesn't like that very much.

Today, Tuesday and I were having our morning affection ritual where she visits me at the table, puts her paws on my leg and I give her lots of ear skritches and kisses.  Millie was not very happy about this.  Those were HER skritches.  So she jumped up and knocked Tuesday aside, even though Tuesday probably has a good 8 pounds on Millie.  So I knocked Millie off:  the Alpha says I'll tell you when you get the loving.  Right now it is Tuesday's turn.

Well, that didn't sit well with her at all.  She launched herself at Tuesday in a full scale attack.  As in goes for the throat because it is obviously Tuesday's fault that Millie is not getting the love.  This girl really wants to be alpha and it's starting to get on my nerves.  I don't like that she starts fights and once one starts, the whole gang joins in. Except Map.  Map tends to avoid fights because she got bit on the anus (ouch!) once when she was younger.  Long story and it involves her eyelid being snagged on a piece of wire. We'll save that for another day.  

Anyway, Map slinked off, Jack joined in while Tuesday and the puppy were killing each other under the chair.  This is what I learned is called a "frenzy."  Lovely.  I grabbed Jack and hefted him into the x-pen.  Then after spraying the puppy with a water bottle, I gave up and dragged her out of the fight by her back legs and held her up in the air until she let go.  She got put in time out for the rest of the morning.

I am getting much more proficient at breaking up fights.  I haven't been bitten in ages, knock on wood.  Aside from Map's incident and one other time, they have not actually hurt each other.  I don't know how, because it looks like a shark attack.  But everyone comes out covered in drool, no blood.  Usually if there's blood it's mine because I was a dumbass and put my hands between their heads to try and pull them apart.

I have finally learned to stop that and go for the back legs.  

However, I have to nip this behavior in the bud.  I will not tolerate her going after other dogs on a whim.  Figures that I finally get a show dog and she has jealousy issues.

I need to get a little bike and drag her along behind me so I can exercise the daylights out of her.  A well exercised dog is tooooo tired to fight, heh heh heh.  I wish I could roller skate with her on a leash running along side, but that just sounds like a traumatic brain injury just waiting to happen.  Or a broken hip!  Maybe I can borrow my mom's knee replacement walker!  I'll store it next to the potty chair!

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