The Stewart family home is a fortress, although visitors are welcome. It’s the family itself that is braced for battle. Because inside the house are two mortal enemies, either of whom would gladly take out the throat of the other.
Martha is a 2 year old shepherd mix adopted from a rescue group. Shelby is a 4 year old lab mix from a local shelter. Both dogs have some issues. Martha is hyper, jumpy and barks at everything. Shelby has an “indescriminate eating disorder” meaing she will ingest anything that is not nailed down, and even some things that ARE – like door frames, window sills, and floorboards.
Those problems notwithstanding, the reason I am called in to help is for sibling rivalry. In the case of Martha and Shelby, where the dogs have literally sent each other to the emergency veterinary clinic,
sibling rivalry is an understatement. Let’s just call it attempted caninicide.
It didn’t start out this way. Both dogs, adopted within a week of each other, seemed to get along. The first clash between them – over food – was relatively minor. One dog got too close to the other’s dish, and tense words were exchanged. The moment passed, and life went on as usual.
The second incident was not quite as polite, nor did it end amicably. My clients had given each dog a chewstick and sent them outside to play in the fenced yard. Here is where the individual personalities of the dogs caused an “escalation of tensions.” Martha suggested that Shelby might not want her stick. Shelby begged to differ. Neither dog was in a sharing frame of mind. Fur actually flew. My clients had to turn the hose on the melee to get the dogs to stop. The result: both dogs wear the scars of multiple wounds, my clients received a hefty vet bill, and the odds of the dogs being able to endure each other’s presence in the same room decreased.
So now we are working on this sorry state, and work it is. First, each dog has to learn to pay attention to the human owners instead of the other canine. So far, Shelby gets an A. She has given up her relentless pursuit of edible and nonedible objects, walks great on leash, and has agreed, reluctantly, to sleep on the floor instead of on the couch. Her owners are pleased with her progress, and hopeful that this is a step in the peace-making process.
And then, there is Martha.
Martha is holding a grudge big time. She has it out for Shelby and is dogged in her determination to finish what was started. When it is
Martha’s turn to have the run of the house and Shelby is behind a closed door, Martha prowls and pants outside that door. Under her breath, she can be heard to mutter “I know you’re in there, Shelby. C’mon out, you %$#@(&*@! Let’s settle the score once and for all.”
Martha and Shelby’s owners are not giving up. Re-housing either dog is not an option – they love them both equally. So for now, we’re trying the dog behavioral equivalent of detente – acknowledging their differences, and working to find common ground. But as any independent country hoping to establish a diplomatic pact with another disgruntled nation can tell you, it takes two to make a treaty. And only one dog has extended the paw of peace to the other.
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