Beau made a miracle happen
Beau is everything my boyfriend and I were hoping for when we decided to adopt a Basset. Yeah, he has a little separation anxiety that leads him to getting into things when we're gone. Nothing that can't be dealt with by putting the garbage can someplace he can't get to! Good natured almost to a fault, he loves everyone and will adjust his approach to suit the person he's trying to win over. He's sensitive to our moods, he picks up on training pretty fast if we're consistent. He's what I call a "medicine dog" with the strange habit of lying so he's touching whatever hurts, and whether it's his presence or just nature, the pain will lessen. He also has "dog" manners and not JUST "people" manners. He will let nervous dogs sniff him and not try to sniff back, he stops HIS sniffing the moment the other dog shows any displeasure or shyness.
Tonight, we took Beau to my family's house, since they were along the way from where we were to our house, just for a visit. My younger sister's 14 pound Min-Pin, Jupiter, is normally very aggressive to new dogs, so she keeps him leashed if there's going to be any non-household dogs around. A little history on Jupiter...he's a rescued former stray, covered in scars from God-only-knows-what, and was literally skin and bone when we got him. He's very aggressive towards new dogs, has attacked full-grown pit bulls and other large dogs in the neighborhood when sis tries to walk him.
Jupiter barked and snarled and carried on for about five minutes before it sank in that Beau was completely ignoring him. Not just ignoring the growls, completely ignoring Jupiter's presence, as well as my sister since Jupiter was by her. (and Beau loves my sister, too) Sis loosened Jupiter's leash a bit and he came closer to Beau for a quick sniff. Beau turned away from Jupiter, which completely baffled the smaller dog, who is used to other dogs taking his growls seriously, and Jupiter ran back to my sister. After a few more sniff-and runs, Jupiter stopped exploding every time Beau would move, and sis was able to take off his leash without Jupiter trying to attack. When Beau finally DID acknowledge Jupiter, it was just a light nose touch, and then Jupiter actually tried to initiate PLAY with a strange dog! I guess Beau made it clear that he had no intention of fighting, was absolutely not a threat, and frankly, as long as he could get petted, he didn't care WHAT Jupiter thought. So, Beau played with him for a minute, gave him a slobber, and then went back to talking to my mom's tiny 4 pound Pomeranian.
For Jupiter, getting friendly with a strange dog, especially a male, and without having to be removed from the room every few minutes, is kind of miraculous. It normally takes several days, even to re-introduce old family members like my brother's retrievers. I wish I could bottle Beau's patience and sell it, there'd be a lot less stressed-out dog owners!
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12-12-2010, 03:56 AM
