Pita got a painful lesson

Bringing a new dog into a home where there already lives an older dog is always a bit of a risk, and the coexistence project will go on for quite a while before everybody have completely accepted each other and set the ground rules and hierarchy. During the first two and a half weeks that Pita has lived with us, Barak has slowly allowed her to come closer and closer to him, and although she has been quite obnoxious, he has most of the time put up with it. We have also corrected her when we feel that she has bothered him too much. When she has crossed the line, he has barked at her and that has been enough to deter her for a while. We felt pretty confident that he had the situation under control by that, but obviously he did not agree.

We have had the dogs together also unsupervised from almost day one, since they have access to the whole house and the garden, and I don't like the idea of separating them. They need to learn how to get along, and I know that they also appreciate each others company. Although they are not laying bundled together (yet!) I know that they seek each others company. Usually, both of them sleep during the time when we are away somewhere.

Yesterday we went to aikido in the evening and the dogs were alone for about three hours. When we came home both of them greeted us, happy as usual, but immediately I discovered that Pita had blood on her head. Looking more thoroughly, she had some scratches, a bit of swelling and one 2 cm long deeper cut in the soft tissues on her skull. At first, probably due to denial, we discussed whether she could have been stuck with her head somewhere, but soon enough we acknowledged the fact that it must have been Barak that gave her a "kiss". The reptile brain then tried to plant hysteria in me, but that is of course to no good. Neither was this any proof that Barak is a viscous dog that needs further restrictions. She was a pest, and he nipped her. Simple as that! He is also solid enough to not go completely bananas on her. I know him that well.

This morning we took her to the vet, and some antibiotics and three stitches later, she is as happy-go-lucky as always. Actually she was just that even last night when we came home, so no signs of emotional trauma - except for the fact that she seems to respect Barak's boundaries and integrity a bit more than before. I hope that is a lesson that lasts. Nevertheless, we will be even more tedious with correcting her bad behaviour towards him. Another month, and her ability to understand subtle body posture signaling will have developed fully.