Today is the 7th day we have been graced with Cerberus, a.k.a Cerbie. He has had an eventful week. Well, somewhat eventful. He quickly settled in, and made himself home. He was quite chill, and relaxed. It took about 0 minuted for him to figure out that the couch is cool for doga here. He also gets along well with his younger sister, Lizzie. The first couple of days there was plenty of pecking order testing, mostly Lizzie trying to assert herself at the top. But Cerbie wasn’t playing that game.
The mounting has stopped, and the intensity of the feinting is fading, but there is still plenty of roughhousing going on. A bit unnerving for former greyhound owners who lived with the knowledge that a stray tooth, corner of an end table, or even a dew claw could mean a big tear of the paper thin skin. However, both Lizzie and Cerbie are of tougher stock. Bred to hunt wild pigs, they are tough. And they both dish it out. During the pecking order challenges, it was mostly Lizzie on the instigation, with Cerbie sending her to the woodshed. Now, the play is more even, and while the mouthing is somewhat disturbing, it is pretty evenly matched.
As I mentioned in a prior post, on Tuesday we ventured to our local Unleashed by Petco with the pair, a first outing, and a first car trip. That went well, with Lizzie following Cerbie’s lead.
Yesterday afternoon, I caught a ride with a co-worker home, and brought her in to meet Cerbie. I warned her that Lizzie was frightened, and would likely bark. And of course that did happen. But as Lizzie saw Laurie lovin’ on Cerbie, she started getting curious. And braver. When the treats came out, Lizzie finally mustered up the courage to take a treat. From a stranger. Many treats. And finally some pets.
Huge, HUGE HUGE deal.
Tomorrow, Cerbie has his first vet visit. I assume it will go well, as he is a rockstar. I will be just a ‘well’ dog visit, and his anal glands expressed. The next challenge will be to get Lizzie to the Vet. I am confident that Cerbie will be a champ at helping her navigate that frightful scene.
Lastly, Barbara is going to register for 6 weeks of training with Cerbie. Cerbie is already pretty well behaved, but this will help Barbara a lot.
A pretty solid first week indeed!
I’m loving hearing how well Cerbie is doing. He must love having someone of near equal size and strength to play with. Much as Charlie Cat (16 lbs) loved him and he loved Charlie seeing the cat picked up off the floor in his mouth did cause some anxiety. Cody Cat (8 lbs) stayed out of his way most of the time.
As always, thanks for loving Cer and making him happy. ?❤️