Settled In

No more "Stop touching me!"

Adding a new dog (or a new cat, too, I suppose) to an established family requires prudence and patience. There will be transitional tangles. With dogs it is about each one figuring out where the newcomer fits into the existing social structure.

Rio and Wavorly, our resident hounds, experienced this with us when we brought a two-year-old girl with a mending leg break (Wavorly) home to begin a new situation with a (sometimes) grumpy, eight-year-old boy man (Rio.) Now, two years later, they are best buds.

We experienced the same adjustment period when Bella came to stay with us. Posturing, barking, growling, and other expressions of dominance were displayed by everyone. (Well, not Lydia or me, for the most part.) No real aggression or animosity, just boundary testing.

Gradually, as the dogs figured things out and negotiated in a way that dogs do, tensions have settled a great deal. This scene pictured here is evidence of how far things have progressed. Yes, Bella's and Rio's paws are touching.

As Leela might say, "ahhh that's sho shweet!"