Our two yorkies couldn’t be
more different from each other. Gaëlle, who turns 7 on New Year’s Day (so then, a first, she will be older than I am) is the super sweet one who has yet to meet a
stranger. Her approach to people and other dogs is cheerful and submissive and
therefore we meet a lot of new friends everywhere. Gaëlle is also a gourmet
dog. In addition to the Girls’ regular diet of human grade whole foods that I
cook for them (I know, I know… but I don’t have any children and I am thinking
I may prolong their healthy years by cooking their food from scratch), she eats
fruits, vegetables, edamame, peanut butter, cheese and for cocktail time; a
cheeto or two.
Cajsa will be 6 in early
January and is the dominant dog. While she eats well at meal times, she is not
interested in food otherwise. Gaëlle has never put her foot down with her, not even when
Cajsa steps all over her while she sleeps. Cajsa is super sweet with us and
with boys young and old, but is not interested in people in general and in
particular has NO interest in other dogs. I think she is afraid really, and
that makes her a bully. Her approach, if not kept on a very short leash
(literally and verbally) is to stiffen all of her 6 lbs body and jump forward
on all four legs, barking furiously.
I can assure you that my two dogs were
brought up, socialized and disciplined in exactly the same manner, yet they
behave completely different from each other. Because of Cajsa’s behavior, we
never let her approach other dogs, while we always let Gaëlle approach after
asking the owner if she may great the dog we are meeting. Cajsa, because of her
attitude, got into trouble this summer. She was bit in the face by a large dog
and lost her left eye. It happened in a heartbeat and the aftermath was an
awful experience I don’t ever have to go through again.
Yesterday
evening, on Dave’s watch this time, it almost happened again. A large black lab
off leash came up from behind and got on Cajsa who was on a leash. Dave had to
beat the dog off and remained shaken for the rest of the evening. Now we both have the experienced almost the same.
I
thought I knew enough about animal behavior to prevent a bad situation but it
still happened. Please everybody; be careful with your pets.
How awful. Where was the owner?? Responsible pet ownership is sadly neglected too often, I find, even if I meet many more responsible owners in the US than here in the UK (yup).
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