Quote:
Originally Posted by Parnassia
It's hard to do. BTDT. I once adopted a rescue who turned into a very. very bossy PITA once the initial new arrival caution wore off. It didn't take long. My other dog had been an only dog for several years and was mature and confident, but she was basically bullied into submission. It was very difficult to watch. Not understanding the dynamic at first, I felt bad for her and found myself favoring her in little ways. That turned out to be a mistake. The boss dog resented the extra attention she seemed to get and kept "reinforcing" his position. My other dog suffered for it.
I found myself liking the new arrival less and less for being who he was. As more time passed other serious issues rose to the surface and my inexperience didn't help matters. I'd been chucked in way over my head...his previous owner flat out lied about her dog in order to be rid of him. The rescue eventually failed in a disastrous way partly because of the dog, partly because of my treatment of them both. Many years have gone by since, but I still feel terrible about the whole thing.
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That's an interesting story and it contains some great wisdom. I'm going to try to learn from it.
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