It's a Love/Hate Relationship
She's touching me. That's mine! Look, she broke it, it's ruined! Leave me alone! She won't play with me. Sibling Rivalry; got to love kids right? Nope, I'm not talking about my two-legged kids, that's over and done with and it was never this bad. I'm talking about LeeLoo and Sugar.
The first few days, things were quiet. Sugar wasn't quite sure what to make of this tiny little thing, she didn't really trust it but in general she just wasn't that interested. Then one evening, we were settling into bed, and Sugar being the wonderful girl she is following her usual pattern, had her head resting on the foot of the bed waiting for us to get settled before she jumped up and LeeLoo nipped her face. Now you might think uh-oh or poor Sugar; but no, her eyes got this glow to them, her tailed wagged, and she nudged LeeLoo with her nose. She was excited, she had another dog to play with. I know she wasn't always an only dog, but when we brought her home as a puppy, Teddy was already 9 years old and had no energy for playing with a dog plus he was such a submissive dog he just wasn't any fun for Sugar. She's always been interested in other dogs, but she's so big we could never just give her free reign to play with other dogs. So this was it, her opportunity had finally come and she was thrilled. They mouthed at each other and Sugar was so gentle, and the benefit of Sugar standing at the bottom of the bed and LeeLoo being on the bed was Sugar couldn't hit her with her paws. Great Danes love to bat and hit with their paws while their playing. So it lasted about 5 minutes then LeeLoo went to sleep. Chuckie and I smiled they were friends, this was going to be great. What were we thinking?
Fast forward a few more days, they are both more interested in each other although it is usually LeeLoo who initiates play. We make Sugar lay down to play that way she won't trample LeeLoo and hurt her. LeeLoo found her voice and does a lot of yipping and growling and Sugar grumbles right back. We have to be vigilant to make sure Sugar doesn't hurt LeeLoo when she gets over excited, but it's cute so we don't mind watching. A lot of times I sit on the floor with them to supervise.
Now cut to about 2 days ago. LeeLoo has been here a little over two weeks, she's gaining confidence and energy. You might remember me mentioning when she wants to be she's quite the little T-Rex. Well if you remember Jurassic Park the Velociraptor was a lot more cunning and dangerous and the T-Rex won only because of size. So it's much more apt to call LeeLoo a Velociraptor and Sugar the T-Rex. They are playing so rough it's almost scary. They make these horrific sounds growling and barking. LeeLoo grabs Sugar by the cheek, the ear, the tail. Sugar uses her head and thrusts, LeeLoo flies backwards. She comes in from a different angle, and tries to rip the flesh from Sugar. Sugar grabs her leg and pulls her back or grabs her head and pushes her down. LeeLoo like the Velociraptor tests Sugar for weaknesses systematically, she's learned to back into her so she can't get her head. Sugar
though like the T-Rex uses her vast strength to subdue LeeLoo. She knocks her around with her paw, then holds her down by the throat. This doesn't scare LeeLoo, if anything it enrages her so when I either tell Sugar to let her up or LeeLoo manages to escape her nose curls up and the high pitched bark turns into a whiny growl and she goes for the throat. She may get knocked back a few times but eventually she gets in there and has her throat. Lucky for Sugar, LeeLoo can only pinch the skin on her throat because if she could get her mouth the whole way around, she'd take her out. Sugar lets her practice for a bit then raises her head and tosses her. If it was forceful enough to stun her, LeeLoo will usually go lay down, if not she's right back on top of her. It's almost impossible to get them to stop. It's especially hard because when Sugar is done, LeeLoo still wants to attack or when LeeLoo is done, Sugar will grab her by the back leg and drag her back. Still this doesn't sound so bad, what am I complaining about they are having fun together?
Notice the similarities: Velociraptor vs. T-Rex all day everyday at our house!
Well when they aren't playing together, I am busy trying to get them to stop stealing from each other. If Sugar has a bone LeeLoo must have it, so while she's trying to take it from her, Sugar is showing her teeth and growling so I try to distract LeeLoo with other toys or bones. After a few minutes I can usually get her settled with something. Peace right, nope Sugar is sure whatever LeeLoo has is so much better than what she has so she goes and steals it from her, rips it right out of her mouth. Now LeeLoo is mad, so it's on again snarling and teeth. This cycle goes on and on until I've had enough and like with most families, the older one is told to take one for the team and has to go lay down and let the baby have the toy. Well like any angry older child, she just waits for her chance to get back at the baby. As soon as my head is turned she goes and steals the toy again, but this time if she can't have it, no one will have it so she rips whatever toy it is to shreds. I don't freak out, I get why she's doing it, she's been an only dog for so long she's not used to sharing and it's not fair that as soon as she has something good, LeeLoo wants it. Fast forward, LeeLoo is laying quietly not bothering Sugar, you'd think Sugar would be happy but Noooo, she gets another toy out of the toy box, but does she take it and play with it nope, she takes it over and rubs it on LeeLoo's head, then tosses it around and makes it look like the best toy in the world, so of course now LeeLoo must have it and it begins again. Now LeeLoo is learning to flaunt her stuff too (Sugar is a great role model) so she takes her toy and runs around showing off the goods so Sugar rises to the occasion and uses her go go gadget neck and stretches out and grabs it. It's on again.
In the last 3 days I haven't sat still for more than 10 minutes at a time except for when they're napping. I'm also going to need a bigger bed since they seem to think my bed makes an adequate UFC Cage. Oh it's going to be fun as LeeLoo grows. My days are spent breaking up dog fights and refereeing toy usage and my nights are spent trying to not be crushed in a grudge match, I'm exhausted and I want them to go back to being indifferent to each other.
