Last weekend, we took care of Luli, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel mix, who is in the process of being re-homed due to her terrorizing the cat in their household. Her regular foster person was away, so we filled in for a couple days.
We hadn't fostered a little dog before, so I was curious to see if I would enjoy an under 10-pound dog. I could see the advantages of having such a compact dog--Luli was very easy to walk and manage. But she had some of the usual little dog traits, like yappiness and MAJOR attention seeking behavior. It's always hard to know how much of that is nature vs. nurture, but it seemed like she had been given much too much power in the past. This little dog did her best to try to take over.
I had been told ahead of time that Luli is prone to guarding behavior. I could see that in her right away, because every time Cabana was near me, Luli would bark and nip at her. I tried to manage that by not allowing Luli to be in situations where she could guard me. No sitting by me on the couch, for instance. Long-suffering Cabana took it all very well, but I think we were all pretty relieved when Luli went back to her regular foster home.
It's nice that you were able to take care of her, even if it was only for a few days!
Hi Cabana, I really enjoy your blog, and I just awarded you a Liebster Blog Award. See my post at http://theworldaccordingtogarthriley.blogspot.com/2012/05/liebster-blog-award-thank-you-puppy.html
Your pal,
Garth
Cabana is so patient. I'm glad that Bella is pretty tolerant towards all the dogs that parade through our house.
My friend rescued a small dog with similar issues. It took a lot of training to make life with her bearable. I hope Luli gets some good training! Cabana, on the other hand, is an angel.