I realize I am coming to this chat very late but I want to give you some hope. I have 6 chickens and though my 3 year old Piper will chase down and kill a bunny or squirrel and eat it ....she has demonstrated time after time that she understands the chickens are off limits. Infact I will go further to say that she acts as their protector. If one flies over the daytime fence she lets me know, if one is making any unusual noise she comes to get me. It has become quite comical how motherly she acts to them. 4 of them she was introduced to just a few months ago as I brought home baby chicks.....so they were small enough for her to attack for many months. I just kept telling her they are special and I would even let her sniff them while holding her collar. She knows the difference between prey and protect. I would love to get a few goats but I am not certain if that would work. I am still thinking about that.
How should I get Tesla used to having another dog around?
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This past weekend we adopted a male italian greyhound mix (Sparky) and brought him home. Tesla had met him before and played just fine with him so we figured it wouldn't be too incredibly bad. I understand that she is looking at our apartment as her domain and so Sparky being here is him invading on her space, but we're trying to get her accustomed to him. The only time we really have an issue is when Tesla gets in a play mood where she gets a little jealous of Sparky and sometimes goes for him instead of the toys because he is the one that is moving. My worry is that when she does go after him she always goes to bite his throat - which is also the first thing she does to any new toy that she gets - and she'll hurt him because lets face it, he's kind of a smaller more compact dog. Because of this, we don't leave the two of them home unattended when we leave, one always gets kenneled. She is fine with him around eating, getting treats, on walks, at the park, and sleeping in the same bed, it's really only when she gets excited that we have to pull them apart, and it is 99% of the time instigated by her. I realize that its going to take time and patience, but I was wondering if you had any tips or pointers on how to go about breaking this habit.
Thanks!