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By all means, DO come visit, dear tec (peace, chile'!), you and your little one (and dear C and hubby, too! LOLOL!). This little one, though, is REALLY a hot mess! She rips through the house, up and down the stairs... and has a mind of her own! If she wants up... she crawls UP (your leg - and without leggings/pants, that has proven to be quite painful! LOLOL!). If she wants down... she gets down. No matter how high up YOU are (holding her). If she wants a toy... she takes it. Even from the others. I have spent the last two days telling my other girls, "NO! No growling at the puppy! NO fighting! NO teeth showing!"
I looked up fighting females online and while most sites said there's little you can do, one's techniques seem to be working:
1. As alphas, me and dear hubby MUST establish the order... usually starting with the female who established it among the "pack" (that would be Liyah - she and Layla duked it out when Layla came and Liyah won... sorta; they have an "understanding"). But we have to establish it and then stick to it, else the dogs become confused about who's HBIC, which leads to fighting. Then...
2. Make sure you always acknowledge them in the pack order. So, Liyah first, then Layla (then Louie, where he was relegated by the bigger girls), then Lilly. Except at meal time. Then, Louie is always first and the big girls allow it. 'Cept Lilly 'cause she hasn't learned that order, yet... and I'm not sure she even cares 'cause, man, can she EAT!! I have to keep pulling her away from their bowls... AFTER she's scoured her own! LOLOL! She has puppy food (and I give her white meat chicken for the protein), but she wants theirs', too, and so I TRY to feed her separately. But she keeps getting past me and down to their bowls... it's like having a large mouse running round!
[And note, please don't tell me to put a gate up. Dear 'Mom knows (peace, luv!) - I have gates all over my house! LOLOL! But check THIS out: because I wasn't sure how the girls would treat Lilly while I was gone, I put her in the TV room with TWO gates, one above the other, just in case she climbed out (Liyah used to do that). So, I had gates blocking the door about 4 feet high. Then I took off. When I came home a few hours later, guess who met me at the door? Lilly, yes. At first, I was like "Hey, puppy!" then I thought... "Waaait a minute - didn't I lock you up?! How'd you..." and thinking she climbed out... or maybe knocked a gate down... I went to see how she'd gotten out. And the gates were there, just as I'd left them. So, I thought, yeah, she must've climbed out. But wait... what's THAT?? There, at the bottom of my "child-proof" gate... was a little "mouse" hole... and several pieces of chewed up plastic! Yep, the little sh*t had CHEWED her way out of a heavy plastic gate! Well, I decided that that was it; since she'd been out with the other dogs for gawd knows how long while I was gone, I was just going to let them all work it out. And they have. According to the websites, IF they fight, they will only do it when dear hubby and/or I are present because it's an attention thing. Since we won't allow it, there should be NO fighting. Which leads me to Step 3.]
3. Assert to ALL and particularly the older girls that there will be NO fighting, AT all! None. And chastise them when they so much as growl (which I follow up with smooches, cause I feel so bad)...
4. But also chastise Lilly when she irritates them (which I do... and I can tell by the look in her little impish eyes, she knows EXACTLY what she's doing and what I'm talking about - LOLOL! So, I'm keeping an eye on, because she IS an imp!)
One thing I didn't find on any website but seems to help is classical music. I had it playing while I was working on that project a week or so ago... and the calm that came over my puppies... OMG... I was able to get work done! SO... I have it on all the time now when I'm on the computer. They get onto their respective cushions... and just chill. All of them. 'Cept Lilly. She just has too much energy for that. But she also falls out after running around, too. She zips, zings, and jets all over... then crashes and naps. Then wakes up and zip-zings all over the house again.
Yeah, I know: quite a response to "my little one said we need to come visit" - LOLOLOL! But either it was that... or a bump-by-bump about the chicken and apple salad I made for dinner - LOLOLOL!
Peace, luv... and I shared this so that you could share with your little one and give him something to giggle over! LOLOL!
Shellamar, on her own...
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