Sunday, Lilly and I drove up the canyon a few miles to visit our friend Betsy and her Australian Shepherd puppy, Lulu, for the second time. The visit lasted about an hour and resulted in two distinct parts. The first half went great. The second half either went badly or was confusing.
Backstory
It has been nearly two months since our first visit, when Lulu first came home. Today, she is 4 months old and about 20 pounds. Lulu is turning into a mature puppy, who knows how to tone it down and how to read other dogs. And, of course, she is an amazing beauty.
How It Went Well
Lulu no longer jumps in other dogs faces. And, she seems to have much better bite inhibition, with those razor sharp puppy teeth. Lulu likely learned all this, through her active socialization work and via puppy corrections from other dogs, including Lilly.
Lilly seemed to appreciate the new maturity, and she even tolerated the few times Lulu put her front feet on Lilly’s back.
The two girls poked around and sniffed together.
The height of Lilly’s tail in the previous photo and the tension in her mouth below shows that she wasn’t quite as comfortable as Lulu was, but Betsy and I thought the girls did great together.
Here you can see Lilly trying to decide if Lulu is a threat or needs to be bossed around. Notice the droopy ear position and lifted paw.
Several times, Lilly ran along as Lulu played fetch with a plush toy or Lilly’s favorite ball. Lilly had no intention of getting the toy, but I was glad to see her trot beside, without barking or being bossy. (Sorry I don’t have video of that.) Lilly also ran next to Lulu when we did restrained recalls, and to Lulu’s credit, she continued responding to COME, even with Lilly providing a distraction.
This video shows three separate interactions that I think reveal more about Lilly’s growing comfort around Lulu than these photos do. Watch for clear calming signals and other coping mechanisms. Like last time, I muted the sound of all the praise and dog-mom chatter because it’s tedious and because it’s easier to focus only on the behaviors without sound.
How it Went Not So Well
After a while, Lilly began showing her teeth to Lulu, even when the pup didn’t deserve it. So, I would call Lilly off and walk her away, and Betsy would call Lulu. It happened again and again, which was frustrating.
But, here is the weird thing. Betsy says Lulu is really good at reading this sign from OTHER dogs, but Sunday, she didn’t budge when Lilly curled her lips and grumbled.
Betsy and I speculate that the reason Lulu didn’t back off is because she realized that Lilly didn’t really mean it. As you may recall, Lilly often showed teeth and growled at her best, best friend Katie (the borzoi), but Katie continued playing anyway. If we take into account that Lilly has clumsy, malformed social skills, there is a chance that the teeth thing was her way of trying to play with Lulu.
Or, the visit simply lasted too long, and Lilly felt grumpy.
I should also add that there were SCARY construction, metal banging noises and screeching coming from the house across the street, so Lilly may have been over threshold from the auditory challenge.
Yet, here is a shot of Lilly that I took right before we left. Lilly was in a SIT-STAY on the ground. Betsy had Lulu in her lap on a nearby bench, and Lilly and I were playing the LOOK AT THAT game from the book Control Unleashed. Lulu is about two feet away, and Lilly looks happy to me.
So, next time we do a visit, Betsy and I decided we’ll make it shorter (30 rather than 60 minutes), even though it’s so nice for us people to chat longer. Or, the other option (as weather and Lulu’s size allows) is to have Lulu come here since Lilly tends to do better on her home turf.
I don’t think she looks bad based on the pics of video, either. I definitely think the speculation about Lilly not really meaning it when she curled her lip is a fair guess, since Lulu didn’t move away. Can’t wait to see the next installment.
PS. I totally hear you on the slugginess at agility potentially being problematic. It was one of the first things that I thought to myself. But, so suddenly, after subsequent weeks being very zoomy-filled? It seems so strange. Guess I really have no choice except to see how the next class goes (and pray that the ground is dry to eliminate the variable of wet ground bothering Marge like it has done some other times at home).
They looked great together in the video. I know my old dog would reach a limit with puppy play, lay down, and growl if the pup continued to want to interact. I’d separate her if the puppy wasn’t getting the message.
I think that shorter visits are in order. Pups can really try the patience of even the most compatible dog – or human! It is not realistic to ask Lily to allow the pup to jump up at her and antagonize her without Lily giving the pup a correction. That little one needs some direction from Lily and from the humans so that she learns she cannot abuse her elders!
I thought that Lilly looked pretty good throughout the photos and video. Perhaps she did get overwhelmed by the end and that’s why she became cranky. Or, perhaps she didn’t really mean it (like you mentioned happened with Katie). I wish that it were easier to read a dog’s thoughts!