I have three large sized dogs, one is Zulay, my pit, and then 8 year old Shaman who is a similar sized blue heeler mix, and six year old Precious, her first puppy who is blue heeler-Aussie-border collie mix. Shaman was always the “alpha female”, and enjoyed terrorizing everyone, human or animal, but never did any harm. She just liked the show. Precious has never been aggressive to anyone other than a kitty threatening her food dish. Zulay around a year and a half old, is the recent addition. She has so much energy, it is disheartening, because I just do not have the time to spend, and I know sometimes it has to hurt her feelings. She must think I don’t love her, and I do.
BUT! She is so BOUNCY, I have to be careful! She has given me a couple of near black eyes, once from her bouncing up and down and hitting me in the edge of the eye, and another time from giving me an overly aggressive “kiss”.That was more like a punch in the nose I guess, but she didn’t intend to harm me. Still, she made me see stars once, and practically knocked me down both times. She and Shaman go through the “GRR” process at each other, but have not, thankfully, engaged aggressively. However, with Precious, the most timid of any dog, Zulay will grab by the back of the neck and force down. This makes me NUTS! I am afraid she will at some point actually hurt her, because Precious has had two surgeries on her right front leg, both requiring pins.
I just CRINGE at the idea of that leg being reinjured, because I don’t believe she can tolerate surgery on that leg again, and I certainly can’t afford it any time soon. At present, I have to keep both Shaman and Zulay tied, Precious is not a risk, and she is always free. Once the fencing is completed (I have NO IDEA when that will be), I would LIKE to let them all loose to be comfortable in the yard where ever they WANT to be and be able to put their feet in the kiddie pool, etc. Am I ever going to be able to do this? Or is this always going to be a risk? For now, I have to be gone quite a few hours a day. I am still a full time student, and I work part time. Any suggestions?
