The WHOLE Pack

Until last winter the puppies used to freely walk around and enjoy the outside area and house as a whole pack. I found it the easiest way to take them to the bathroom and to have them keep stretching their legs all day. We practiced this until about January of last year when one day our neighbors came running down the driveway and it create a situation.

While the neighbors had absolutely no malice behind their actions, it caused the dogs to start a fight with one another and left a sour taste with two of them in particular. We tried to reincorporate all of them again a little while after things cooled down, about a week or so but it seemed the “bad feeling” or “hard feelings” towards one another were stuck.

This broke my heart as a dog dad because it was always a point of happiness for me to have all the puppies running around playing. So to have to separate them was hard.

And don’t get me wrong i’ve read up a lot about sibling rivalry with dogs and what not but I really did not feel that was the case with the puppies. But nonetheless we approached the interactions with all of them very closely and guarded as we did not want another fallout.

We kept them separated from January till June. Where we would like them out in 2’s. But while my brother and I were away in Tokyo our father decided (without telling us) that he was going to do it in 4’s again. Luckily and perhaps with the grace of their mama watching above, they did not fight the entire time we were gone.

Rufus and Zero were the two who really didn’t like one another but they are also part of the 4’s our dad let out at a time. He also started letting their dad out with them which was another concern for us but it seems that it all has worked out.

Since then we started letting them out in 4’s to get accustomed to one another again and so far, we haven’t had any real issues. They are sometimes apprehensive of one another but after a quick sniff and lick it seems the stand down and of course a stern “be nice” from my brother doesn’t hurt.

As of lately we started once a day letting all the puppies out together with their dad. At first it was scary but it seems to be a good thing. The chaos that my BOMC ground has seems to simmer down when the RIZJ boys get mixed in. And since there is ample people to play with the puppies seem to be okay, at least for now.

Needless to say we are always watching them and will not let them posture towards one another so that of course is necessary to ensure peace is kept in our home.

While I do like our neighbors I do hope they don’t come running down the driveway again which could possibly stir the pot all over again.

But this is really why I want a farm. I want to create an oasis for the puppies to thrive in and to have enough space between us and our neighbors where this particular kind of situation can’t occur. And again please don’t get me wrong our neighbors are GREAT but the puppies just arne’t used to people running full speed towards them.

So here is hoping that the puppies continue the trend of happiness, peace and no fighting.

Until the next one.