Friday, November 13, 2015

Friday Mishmash - Paco and His Friends

I think I've mentioned it here already, but in case I haven't, Paco is kind of a jerk to other dogs.  He has ONE friend, and that's Ginger, a little pipsqueak dog belonging to our neighbor.  For whatever reason, he likes her and always has - they play great together:
Paco and Ginger, circa 2010 - panting like uh, dogs, after running around like crazy.

Well, my friend Cary has been telling me that we should introduce Paco to her dogs, Abi and Koda:
 Abi and Koda, circa 2014 - panting like uh, dogs, after going for a run.

They are very calm, passive dogs, and she was convinced that Cujo...er, Paco, would be OK with them.  We finally got them together for a meet-and-greet at the tennis courts near our running park (figured a neutral fenced-in area would be good for their first time together).  Paco was a complete jerk, as I expected, and Cary's dogs were very nice in not fighting back while Paco did his snarly thing.  Eventually we found a stray tennis ball (imagine that) and threw it for the dogs, so there was a lot of running and chasing and by the end of the visit, Paco was much calmer and less growly.  We went home and he fell asleep for the night, which I expected - it takes a lot out of you to be a jerk!  I thought it was pretty funny the next afternoon, though, when I sat down to knit and looked over to see him so tired that his nose was pushed up against the end table as he tried to not fall asleep:
Trying...to...stay...awake...
 Nope.

I wonder if he woke up with a sore nose, like when you sleep on  your arm funny?

A couple of days later, we brought Paco over to their house, and he did much better, right from the start.  It's been so nice to see him somewhat getting along with other dogs - in fact, we left him with Cary while we went out to dinner and ran some errands.  He was pretty funny when we returned - went to the front door like "OK, that was nice but let's roll" - but it's good to know that he has some more dog friends.  After all, everyone needs friends, right?

Have a great weekend!

15 comments:

  1. That's funny with his nose - ow!! Maybe with more practice Paco could get along. I think it just takes huge amounts of patience to get animals to relax around each other.

    Pixie is a complete beyotch to other cats. When we watched my sister's kitten for a week, Pixie was terrible and all he wanted to do was be with her and play.

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    1. Patience, yes...and it's hard to find pet owners who are willing to subject their pet to someone like Paco. We were lucky that Cary (and her dogs) were so nice about working through Paco's strong personality.

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  2. LOVE!

    Dogs trying not to fall asleep are so funny to look at.

    What a great idea of Cary to bring the dogs together and that Paco did so much better on the second "data". Could be he's a jerk because he's not around dogs a lot?

    Bella is the most social dog at doggy day care but when we are walking outside and see another dog she turns into a doggy bitch :) I have no idea why but guess she's more insecure outside in the streets.

    Love this post but I bet you knew that when you posted it.

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    1. He might be a jerk because he's not around dogs a lot, but then, he's a jerk when he's around other dogs...it's a vicious circle, unfortunately. At least he has two and a half friends now (Ginger, Koda, and Abi, sort-of).

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  3. Today is World Kindness Day so it's a great chance for Paco to keep practicing his doggie friendship skills. I'm a huge Paco fan!!!

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  4. Great job Paco! My daughter has her own "Paco", named Josie (Mini Dachshund) who terrorizes every dog she comes in contact with. Your a better Man Paco! :)

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    1. And see, our dachshund was so nice...dogs. You never know what your'e going to get with them.

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  5. This was a fun post. Of course I am getting a kick out of Lori's comment about the terrorizing dachshund :)

    I think Paco is just discerning about his friends. Most dogs just aren't worthy :) Love the falling asleep picture.

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  6. Awww, I miss Paco! I'll always remember the morning "slump" against my legs! :D

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  7. Of course Cary's dogs are nice and we'll behaved, they are retrievers! ...lol ( I may be partial). It's good that Paco made friends though!

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