About 12:45 yesterday, Cer arrived. As mentioned, he is another of the Kauai dogs, bred to hunt wild pigs.
He is a big-ish boy, probably 60 pounds, white with brindle patches. The arrival was fairly inauspicious, quickly got him and Lizzie in the back yard. Some of the usual peeing and sniffing, and Victoria who dropped him off headed back home. He is super sweet and friendly. He is also a boy, as the first thing he din in the yard was hike his leg on the decorative boulder we have. (and the roses too)
The good:
- They didn’t immediately kill each other. Don’t underestimate the possibility that they wouldn’t get along.
- They have similar levels of energy. Lizzie has more, but not by a large margin.
- He walks well – mostly – on a leash. I did take him for a brief walk around the block yesterday afternoon, and a much longer walk this morning. He mostly walks well, doesn’t pee on everything standing up, and certainly he is a more energetic walker than Garrett was.
- He has this weird sideways gait, where his rear is a little mis-aligned to his fronts. He woud definitely not win any dog shows, but it isn’t a flaw in his skeletal-muscular system.
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No accidents yet in the house.
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He isn’t a barker. At least not yet, he has been pretty quiet. Unlike our last visitor – Sugar.
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He knows some obedience – Sit, down, and sort of heel. A lot of work to do there. But Lizzie could use some as well.
Lizzie and Cer mostly get along. More about that in the “less good” section. They play, they have toys that they play tug of war over (note to self: get a true rope tug for them.) As you can see they coexist on the couch quite well.
The less good:
- Lizzie keeps testing her place in the pack. Jostling for position is normal pack behavior, but every time she tests Cer, she loses. This is not sitting well with her, so she tests again. And again. Cer is pretty chill, but it is clear that he isn’t going to take her shit.
This is probably partly due to her 3 weeks of visitors where she was unquestionably the queen. A tough lesson for her to learn, and it might be the deal breaker. I forgot how much medium sized dogs can play. Still, no snarling, and both of them are strong enough that if there was ever a real fight, it would be really really bad.
On the second day this is improving, but it is still playing out.
- He has a strong prey drive. A residue of his past as a wild pig hunter, and his time spent on the loose, he is laser focused on small prey. Not cats, thankfully, but the squirrels, well, they better not tempt him in the yard. It would not end well for the squirrel.
- He hasn’t figured out the doggie door. I know this is just a time thing, but he keeps watching Lizzie run through it at about 30 mph, and wonders how she does it.
The net
Last night, I was worrying that they would not be compatible. That Lizzie wouldn’t be able to accept the pack. The number of times I had to intervene and de-escalate their pecking-order battles was upsetting. Last night, Lizzie was locked in her crate, and Cer slept on his Costco bed next to my side of the bed, like a bug-let.
This morning was better. They got up, did their business, and had some moderate play time. Lizzie of course had her usual indoor zoomies (she is really a fiend in the morning activity.)
Also, I know that he got a bath in his foster, but, well, both he and Lizzie stink. Definitely time for a thorough bath.
He is super sweet, and his eyes remind me of Astro’s (the Mastiff), as the lower lids “droop” and have that sad look. But he is anything but sad.
Fortunately, I am taking a couple of days off of work to help get over this bridge.
We also will likely engage a trainer to help with some of this.
I have an instagram account where I share pics of the hounds, head on over and follow cerberus47