The Zs visit is drawing to a close. They spend one more night with us, and Daddy David picks them up tomorrow.
Zeke and Zora are incredibly sweet dogs and have such lovable personalities. They are very affectionate and love kisses and cuddles, almost nonstop! They are very well trained and want so much to please, a definite contrast to what we are accustomed to! They have been the perfect guests and have caused us no trouble at all.
At 10 years old, Boone and Skeeter are mostly content to take long naps and lay around the house, although Boone will get some excercise by running around the yard. The Zs are only 5 years old, and my had I forgotten what youthful energy is like, and it is so much fun! It is so much fun to have dogs who actually enjoy playing with their toys. Boone will chew on his gummabone. Skeeter likes getting new squeak toys, but quickly de-squeaks them and then ignores them. This has been a challenge since the Zs arrived with a tote bag full of beautiful toys, each one with an intact squeaker. The temptation to de-squeak is almost more than Skeeter can bear! Fortunately I had a couple of Bobos in reserve and when Skeeter could stand no more, I gave her a new Bobo to rip apart. She won't bemoan her lost Bobo though, because David gave Boone and Skeeter each a new Bobo! Whoopee! When it comes to Bobos these kids have an embarrassment of riches!!!
Since Boone and Skeeter regularly attend dachshund meetups, where they never get in trouble with other dogs, I fully expected Boone to be his usual timid, submissive little self around the Zs, although I thought Skeeter might not care to share her Daddy. I was wrong on both counts. Skeeter doesn't mind sharing at all, but prefers to have daddy to herself. But if the Zs share Daddy's lap with her she accepts it with good grace. Boone doesn't mind Zora, but seems to have an issue with Zeke. After David left, Zeke tried to get close to Boone and Boone growled and bared his teeth. After one or two more grumbles, Zeke decided to give Boone his space.
There were no more incidents until last night, and that wasn't much of an incident. The Zs were in my lap when Boone decided he wanted lap time with Mama. I hauled him up and was giving him kisses and cuddles when Zeke shifted position and rested against Boone! Boone let out a soft growl, so Zeke shifted again so he was no longer touching Boone, and everything remained peaceful. Poor Zeke! Zeke and Zora are always snuggling, cuddling and grooming each other, and Zeke is so not used to respecting a personal space barrier, but he learns quickly.
Skeeter and Zeke are both in the habit of staging a barking frenzy when a Kevin or I enter or leave the house. Although they seem to think it's the thing to do, each one objects to other's barking frenzy and they scold each other! It is so funny, because neither one can see that he/she is annoying, but are annoyed by the other!
I might try to take some pictures tonight, but am not sure that I can get all four together. Although it has been (mostly) peaceful aside from a bit of grumbling on Boone's part, the four have in no way formed a single pack. Skeeter and Boone pair off while Zeke and Zora stick together. The Zs would love to interact more with Boone and Skeeter, but I have a grumpy old couple who prefer that the darn kids leave them alone.
LOL - Sounds like everything has gone well! I'm so glad it has been mostly peaceful!
Thanks so much for posting the journal of their visit - I hope you can get some pictures !!!! Sounds like all in all the visit went very well !
At least it was not outright war. The Z's sound like our pair velcro'd theya re our first pair that bonded to each other and you must iadmit its fun to watch. The youth thing is amazing as we had it when we introduced Oliver to Angus and Emma both over 9, and poor Emma got Ingrid then Amyafter the age of 12. DAvid and Marjorie friends that we play board games with and up till now we havd never taken in A and o, we used to take angus and Emma. But as Oliver had realized we are next door had decided to howl at the fence they said bring them in as they have a seior 16 year old, and that is what they said it was the energy the boucing of walls, exploring.
Skeeter and Boone you made your mum very proud by the sounds of it, I think a treat is in order.
Roberta
Thanks again to Jeri and Kevin for taking in the Zs. Driving from Damascus, MD to Manassas, VA is a haul, but it was definitely worth it. I think this was the first time Margie and I didn't worry one bit about our puppers. We knew they were in good hands.
I was kind of suprised at how things played out. I really figured Zeke and Boone would become buddies, as most of my experiences when putting male dachsies together is that they immediately bond. It is interesting that in the same situation with Rudy some years ago, Zeke chose to stand his ground versus backing away from a situation like he did with Boone.
Likewise, my biggest concern was how Zora and Skeeter would get along as I've seen conflict more frequently between two female dacshunds than two male ones. but this concern was unfounded as it sounds like Zora kept a very low profile.
It took me a while to figure out the barking issue between Zeke and Skeeter. It then hit me. We used to joke how Rudy & Max (and later Zeke & Zora) would seem to "alternate" their barks. I used to think the alternating barks were random, but now I would guess that the alternating barking is a pack order issue. The alpha gets to bark first and loudest, and then the rest of the pack would chime in. Clearly, what was annoying Zeke and Skeeter with each other was that they thought the other one was barking out of turn.
The Zs were quite happy to return home. I don't think Zeke's tail stopped wagging for nearly and hour. Zora was also happy to be home. She was a bit clingy at first, but her behavior has gotten back to normal. This was the first time we were away from them since we first took them in. It was nice to come back and realize how good-natured this pair really is.
You may have just solved a mystery for me. For as long as I can remember, or at least for as long as Schatzi as been able to bark, she and Molly do the same thing when barking-they get really annoyed with each other. Schatzi was 10 months old when we got Molly and really not much of a barker. Even now, she isn't really bad, but when the mail is dropped through the slot or she knows for sure someone is at the door, she will start barking. If Molly isn't too deeply asleep :wink: she will start also and they will then sound like they are going to kill each other. I always wondered why, but now the pack order makes sense. I'll have to try to actually watch them when this happens once and see who starts in on whom.
I'm glad the Z's did so well with their visit. I'm sure they are glad to know they are back home and are probably feeling very secure now.
David, I was picturing the Zora and Skeeter standing there shouting "Come back here, shut up!!, no you shut up!!, no ......" You're explanation is probably right on. If my dad had been there he would have been shouting Shut Up right along with both of them and everyone else would have left the building.