Friday, April 1, 2011

Cassie Takes on "Dog of the House" Responsibilities

For the first five years of Cassie's life, we had another dog, Ally, who was 7 when we got Cassie. Ally was another Sheltie, but 32(+!) pounds to Cassie's 12. Larger, and more assertive. Ally seemed dismayed when we first brought Cassie home, as if she were saying, "I thought we had a good thing here, the 3 of us. What did you bring her home for?" While Cassie, the puppy, tried to get Ally to play, Ally simply ignored her. And ate her food. Which frustrated Cassie to no end. While we didn't realize it at the time, Ally handled all of the 'supervise the owners and guard the house' responsibilities. Cassie could nurture her timidity (not what we would have wanted, but we didn't pay nearly enough attention). One of the few ways that Cassie tried to exert any control was after Ally went deaf. Ally'd be wandering the backyard and we'd call the dogs to come in. Ally of course wouldn't hear it. So Cassie would go over to her and nudge her body around so that Ally could see us at the door and realize that she was wanted inside. So, after Ally died, the stresses on Cassie were even higher. She was now the one and only dog of the house. When we'd go out, she'd be alone. All of that. And for the first several months, when we'd come home, she'd be hiding somewhere. Maybe behind the bed and peering out to see who it was. Or behind the living room door, waiting to see who walked through. BUT, over time she developed what passed for self confidence. And she'd greet us at the door when we got home. And we loved it!

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