New “doggy granddaughter” questions

Discussion in 'Labrador Rescue' started by iconic1, Oct 16, 2018.

  1. iconic1

    iconic1 Registered Users

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    Wife and I, both retired, have a 3 yo male yellow. Daughter is interested in rehome of a 17 mo black girl. Both are fixed. We will have this dog at our house most days while my daughter is working.

    Just had the meeting on neutral territory. Foster human is a good friend who is a trainer and runs a boarding kennel (where I work pt) and a total dog person. The meeting went reasonably well. They played sometimes very roughly (to my eye) and my boy was trying to mount her...a lot. Foster human says it was all fine, normal, and quite tame and the adoption is a go in her mind as long as my daughter feels the same.

    I’m a little apprehensive. The constant mounting is one hang up for me but it’s probably just that, my hang up. Foster says let the girl teach him (she more than held her own) and if it goes too long break it up. Ok, we can do that. Now the very rough play... I’m sure they will get used to each other and will be having another meeting here at our home so we’ll see if it’s a little better. Of course they will be controlled and watched and there will likely have to be time outs.

    Just need a little reassuring I guess. Can’t expect them to hit it off right away...can I?

    Also, daughter wants to change name from Gypsy to Lucy. Good idea?

    Thanks so much!
     
  2. edzbird

    edzbird Registered Users

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    We have just adopted a 2 year old cross (Dalmatian x Lab x Collie) into our house. 4 year old Coco and Meg met a few times before hand, each time they had boisterous play. We could tell as far as is possible it would work....and it definitely IS working. We've had her 3 weeks now and they play very boisterously still, but they play very fairly, each taking turns to "be the under-dog". We had 3 or 4 meets before she came home.

    Of course it's impossible to tell on line, but your words are very encouraging. I wouldn't worry about rough play as long as they're both happy and it's even, and as you say, you're there to step in and control if necessary.

    As for the name change? That'll be no problem. Lucy is a lovely name. We've never changed our adopted dogs (OH has a thing about it), but our first adopted dog, Belle, was a stray so we had no idea what her name was. She adapted to being called Belle straight away.

    I wish you and your daughter lots of happiness should you go ahead with the adoption.
     
    selina27 likes this.
  3. iconic1

    iconic1 Registered Users

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    “Lucy” (infrequently called Lucifer) became part of the pack 2 weeks ago. After a few testy days things are going fantastically well and we couldn’t be happier. Our Tonka waits every morning for Lucy to arrive and start the fun. Tonka’s “interest” in her in “that way” has subsided to almost zero, just some investigative sniffs when timing is right. We even spotted him flat on his back, legs spread, allowing Lucy to get a once-over. He’s a kinda a wanna be dominant so this was a complete shock.

    We are really enjoying every day! But, we are tired :)
     

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