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He's become a bit of a pain if I'm being honest. At first he was completely wiped after our morning walk and would mostly just sleep until later in the afternoon. Now he's only briefly napping and then he starts bugging Stella and getting mouthy. It makes schoolwork a bit harder since I have to keep stopping, but hopefully we'll get into a routine pretty soon.
Frost decided he was using the litter box in the storage room this morning and he was not taking no for an answer. We'd only gotten in from a walk a few minutes prior and I couldn't get my peanut butter cup as a distraction. Frost got out there though.
To scare them off, I'd say. I'm not experienced, but I think he learned pretty quickly that by acting tough, he could scare them off. Then all of a sudden acting tough doesn't work and he doesn't know what to do. I'm not experienced, of course, but if he were playful then I would've thought he'd behave more like he does with Stella which consists of play bows, pawing, and a totally different noise. Could be some prey drive involved with him chasing too. He barks, they run, so he chases. He's proven that he doesn't actually want to get to them though. Ember snuck out right under our noses not long ago. She's the last one I expected to come out and they were probably five feet or so away from each other when Osiris jumped up and started barking. Ember got stuck against the gate and Si went for her, then stopped. Then he took a step back, stepped forward, and just stood there barking until I got the peanut butter cup in front of him. My mom got Ember back over the gate and threw food in the hall, so we did have a good session after that where Si, Ember, and Ash were all relatively close together. He got all the peanut butter and then went to look for the fly Stella had caught, completely ignoring the cats still in the hall. It was a scary moment when he went for her and I feel bad that she went through that and we let him have to opportunity to do that, but I'm also kind of glad that we know for sure he isn't trying to get to them. At this point I'm thinking fear is better. Even Stella is a little bit afraid of the cats. It makes her more responsive to them. I think Si would have to be pushed pretty far to have a severe reaction. As long as he's able to keep that space between him and the cats, I think they're all safe. If it was play based then I'd have to worry about him accidentally hurting them and continuing to chase them when they run.
I don't think Frost would've gone anywhere with Si in his crate. That's way too close and, quite honestly, too close to expect Si to be able to behave. Maybe if we'd taken him out and into the living room, but even then a cat on the floor and at that range might've been too much. Our house is too small to be able to create distance, unfortunately. We might be getting to a place where the cats can handle themselves as Frost showed this morning, but even just yesterday Frost wasn't handling the barking very well at all and would go wherever he needed to in order to get away. And there's no water in the storage room so I don't want them out there all day. There's three litter boxes back there, so I'm reluctant to have any food or water there because it's likely to just get gross quite quickly.
It is actually coming along a bit quicker than I expected. I'm sure there will be times where everything regresses, but overall it seems like we're figuring things out. The cats are getting braver maybe a little faster than I'd like. It seems like every time I think I know who will come out and for what someone surprises me. Ember earlier being a good example. I figured it would be at least another week before she came out other than at night while Si is sleeping.
Definitely hasn't gone to plan in the slightest. Lol. I think we'd all feel a bit better in a larger space though. We're sort of on top of each other in this house and that was originally why we weren't getting another dog. Plus if we had more of a yard then I could just take him outside for a game when he gets too energetic. Or take Stella outside for some one-on-one time. But hopefully by next summer we'll be moving.
I can't say he's my ideal dog yet (need to get over the reactivity towards the cats and leash reactivity), but I can say I think he can be. He is stunning. It's amazing because we both have a preference for black shepherds. Of course we'd never be so picky and say that's all we'd accept. It seemed unlikely we'd have the chance to get that. And yet here he is. And he has a beautiful temperament as well. Just needs some work and we need a proper routine.
Frost decided he was using the litter box in the storage room this morning and he was not taking no for an answer. We'd only gotten in from a walk a few minutes prior and I couldn't get my peanut butter cup as a distraction. Frost got out there though.
To scare them off, I'd say. I'm not experienced, but I think he learned pretty quickly that by acting tough, he could scare them off. Then all of a sudden acting tough doesn't work and he doesn't know what to do. I'm not experienced, of course, but if he were playful then I would've thought he'd behave more like he does with Stella which consists of play bows, pawing, and a totally different noise. Could be some prey drive involved with him chasing too. He barks, they run, so he chases. He's proven that he doesn't actually want to get to them though. Ember snuck out right under our noses not long ago. She's the last one I expected to come out and they were probably five feet or so away from each other when Osiris jumped up and started barking. Ember got stuck against the gate and Si went for her, then stopped. Then he took a step back, stepped forward, and just stood there barking until I got the peanut butter cup in front of him. My mom got Ember back over the gate and threw food in the hall, so we did have a good session after that where Si, Ember, and Ash were all relatively close together. He got all the peanut butter and then went to look for the fly Stella had caught, completely ignoring the cats still in the hall. It was a scary moment when he went for her and I feel bad that she went through that and we let him have to opportunity to do that, but I'm also kind of glad that we know for sure he isn't trying to get to them. At this point I'm thinking fear is better. Even Stella is a little bit afraid of the cats. It makes her more responsive to them. I think Si would have to be pushed pretty far to have a severe reaction. As long as he's able to keep that space between him and the cats, I think they're all safe. If it was play based then I'd have to worry about him accidentally hurting them and continuing to chase them when they run.
I don't think Frost would've gone anywhere with Si in his crate. That's way too close and, quite honestly, too close to expect Si to be able to behave. Maybe if we'd taken him out and into the living room, but even then a cat on the floor and at that range might've been too much. Our house is too small to be able to create distance, unfortunately. We might be getting to a place where the cats can handle themselves as Frost showed this morning, but even just yesterday Frost wasn't handling the barking very well at all and would go wherever he needed to in order to get away. And there's no water in the storage room so I don't want them out there all day. There's three litter boxes back there, so I'm reluctant to have any food or water there because it's likely to just get gross quite quickly.
It is actually coming along a bit quicker than I expected. I'm sure there will be times where everything regresses, but overall it seems like we're figuring things out. The cats are getting braver maybe a little faster than I'd like. It seems like every time I think I know who will come out and for what someone surprises me. Ember earlier being a good example. I figured it would be at least another week before she came out other than at night while Si is sleeping.
Definitely hasn't gone to plan in the slightest. Lol. I think we'd all feel a bit better in a larger space though. We're sort of on top of each other in this house and that was originally why we weren't getting another dog. Plus if we had more of a yard then I could just take him outside for a game when he gets too energetic. Or take Stella outside for some one-on-one time. But hopefully by next summer we'll be moving.
I can't say he's my ideal dog yet (need to get over the reactivity towards the cats and leash reactivity), but I can say I think he can be. He is stunning. It's amazing because we both have a preference for black shepherds. Of course we'd never be so picky and say that's all we'd accept. It seemed unlikely we'd have the chance to get that. And yet here he is. And he has a beautiful temperament as well. Just needs some work and we need a proper routine.