OT Meet Emma

 

This is my new baby, Emma.  I have officially lost my mind.  As if I didn't have enough problems with 4 dogs now I have 5.
She is an Italian Greyhound/Chihuahua mix and she is the sweetest thing.  She was neglected and possibly abused.  She is very skittish and very underweight.   The people I got her from said she didn't eat much but so far she has eaten a Burger King double cheeseburger and two cans of Cesar dog food, along with bites of my daughter's dinner.  My first priority is to fatten her up.
The other dogs seem to be accepting her.  She is really attached to my daughter already.  Today my daughter took her to bed with her for a nap and I went to check on them and when I got near the bed she growled at me.  It was so cute, she was protecting my daughter.
Now I get to sleep with 5 dogs at night.  I doubt I will have room on my bed any more.  I might have to sleep in the (unused) dog bed.

Emma is a cutie-pie. She doesn't look skinny to me, but maybe the picture is bad. She is a pretty little thing. As for the "bonding" and how "cute" it is that she growls....I would nip that in the bud immediately. I foster for the shelter all the time and also have 10 dogs (working dogs mostly) and I see too many returned to the shelter for aggression issues to ever allow any of that behavior. As you've just got her, it's a good time to set boundaries.

It wouldn't be quite so "cute" if she was an eighty pound dog, I'm not sure why the dog being small excuses her from having to behave. The more you let her get away with while she's new in the house, the more spoiled and aggressive she'll become.

Sorry to sound like a downer, it's just I foster over 40 dogs per year from good and bad situations and have for the last 10 years. No aggression is ever tolerated - if she were to (god forbid) bite someone, she would have to be put down.

She hasn't done that since.  What should I do if she does it again?  

It's hard to give tough love to newbies, but I would google "Nothing in Life is Free" or NILIF. It's a good program to institute for new animals in the house. If you're gonna keep her for life, she has a long time to bond with the family and sleep in the bed - once she has a good grasp on the rules of the house.

Wow, that was very interesting.  I learned a lot of things from that.  It was really helpful, thank you.

Beautiful!  (((Emma)))

She is beautiful.  I am a little dog person and the idea of an Italian Greyhound has always interested me but I am afraid of how fragile they are. 

I know the little dogs get away with things big dogs don't.  My DH is unwilling to correct bad behavior and we have a rolling dog fight around here all the time.  No more dogs.  When we are down to 1, I'm getting a cat.  I love my dogs but I know as long as DH is here, he won't nip the aggressive behavior and I hate it. 

Our 2 little ones sleep with us also, the fiest and min pin.  the JRT is too fat to jump on the bed and he sleeps on the dog bed at the end but if he gets the covers under him and you roll over, he growls. 

I actually have little doggy stairs for the little ones to get up on the bed with.
They all did pretty good last night.  They all seem to be getting used to each other and Emma fits in pretty good.
She is pretty fragile but so is my oldest, JJ.  He is only about 4 lbs so I am used to it.  

my min pin is 7lbs and his little legs are like pencils.  It wouldn't be so bad but he wants to be boss and the 22lb JRT is for that.

so adorable!
janet