We're back to "normal" now.
I say this in quotations because it's still cold outside, so we're still somewhat limited on walks. While Shamas has his big overcoat to cover his hips...I find that cold weather leaves him cranky. Then he gets resource guardy.
We had an interesting situation the other day where Shamas was having a bad day. His eyes were doing the cloudy thing, and his hips were bad. Trixie was laying in the living room with a squeaky ball, and Shamas heard it and decided to steal from her. But she must have known he couldn't see well because she simply laid there, with the ball in her mouth, and let him sniff around looking for it until he decided it wasn't there and wandered off. Then she went straight back to chewing and squeaking.
The vet knows about his eyes and has looked at them but he has nothing "wrong" with them. He's just getting old. Some days he's right as rain...other days, they seem reflective, and he doesn't see well. At his age, we are keeping notes on all his lumps and bumps, and sore spots, and things. And emphasis is on keeping him relatively pain free and happy.
IT was nice to see Trixie so tolerant of him there with the ball. She could have guarded that resource, but she looked at me, and knew I was there. She knows if he steals from her without cause, I'll take it back from him and return it to her. So she doesn't tend to guard the resources that she has. She knows I'll do it for her. I guard her bowl(with a body block, or a scold), when Shamas comes for it, and I make sure that there are plenty of resources to go around. If it looks like a potential issue brewing, I'll either drop in a pile of resources, (toss 4 balls in a row into another room, put down 4 water bowls, pass out extra chews) to distract...or call both off to do a mini training session at the other end of the house. I like the number four for resource dumping. I figure Shamas can't guard that many places at once lol.
Trixie has finally taught Shamas to play tug of war, but I know it can sometimes get frustrating for him because she's younger and stronger. So I often interrupt Tug with treats to wind things down a bit. IT's nice to see him play though. HE can't join most of the games the girls play, as he's too stiff and slow. And he's afraid of getting rolled over by a speed demon passing by. So I have to accompany him in the yard because Trixie is trying to teach him to play chase...and her drive by's scare him. HE stays at my knee so I can head her away if she comes too close.
It's nice to see the dogs still getting along as Trixie socially matures. As she became more confident, I was worried she'd get too much for him. But she still shows him respect, and she does her "health checks " on him daily. Though she's stopped sleeping on his hips. I believe she knows she's too heavy. She lays alongside him now. And I actually saw HIM cuddle closer to HER once or twice.
Trixie has thing thing she does where she knows who has what ailments.
She checks Shamas' eyes, mouth, nose, hernia, all his bumps and lumps. If she spends a lot of time on something, I know to get it looked at.
She sleeps near my legs, and wakes me if I'm moving too much. I've had her wake me out of nightmares, and just before seizures start.
If someone is sleeping and starts to fuss....if she can't get to them, she'll find someone to open the door.
I don't think she's any person's dog...she's a pack dog. We're her pack, and she looks after us all just as we look after her. She just has a really loving personality.
(I don't mean pack mentality; I mean family grouping. Nothing to do with outdated dominance theory)
