Three Dogs!

[648117]

Hi everyone.
We have been looking after Skye again for the last week. I don't know if anyone remembers Skye, but we looked after her and a rabbit (that we ended up adopting a few months later) before we got Lewis (looked after her about 16 months ago). Well, today her owner said we can keep her.
My mum really wanted Skye and had told her owner that we would take her if she wanted (her owner is moving and was having trouble finding somewhere that will take dogs). I'm not thrilled about having a third dog (Lewis still has issues) but my mum swears she will walk Skye and she wont end up being mine (she has told me Lewis is mine - he refuses to even go for walks with her without me. I don't want three little dogs).
Anyway, here they are:


Skye, Lewis and Holly.


Skye.

Skye is a Bichon X, she turns 2 in May. She is not toilet trained (she was an "outside dog"), has been to the pound a number of times (for escaping her owners property) the last time she was in the pound was last week (her owner went and got her before bringing her to our house), has only had her very first puppy vaccinations (nothing since then), doesn't like to eat (she is thin - hopefully this will improve when we start feeding her our food). I have already trimmed and brushed her coat a bit so she looks a bit neater.

She's a happy little dog though. Needs some work.

 

[southerngirl]

She's a cutie. I must say personally I find having three dogs too much, I prefer two. Hopefully your mom will keep her word and take care of skye. Does Lewis and Holly like her?

 

[brody_smom]

That is a sad story. Looks like "your mom" has a lot of work to do with this little one. If she is as smart as she looks, maybe it won't be too hard. Sounds like maybe she has been starved of the right kind of attention.

 

[648117]

She's a cutie. I must say personally I find having three dogs too much, I prefer two. Hopefully your mom will keep her word and take care of skye. Does Lewis and Holly like her?

Yeah, I was going to get a third dog eventually (was supposed to be a second, Lewis was supposed to be mums so I would have Holly + "2014/15 puppy", but now I have Lewis too).
Having three dogs doesn't really worry me and I was going to end up with at least three anyway. It's just that I haven't gotten any of them the way I planned (even Holly arrived a couple of years earlier than I planned on getting my own dog, and isn't the breed I was going to get - I was going to adopt a Staffy X from the SPCA).

So far it is fine with the three of them. It helps that they are all small, they are adults and get along really well. It would be a lot harder if they were larger and/or didn't get along. I can lift two of them at once easily (any combination of two - one in each hand).

The bit that worries me the most is the age gaps. I'm putting off getting my sport puppy because of that (I think I'll wait until at least the end of 2015 now). Lewis is 4, Holly is just over 2 and Skye is 2 in May. That means that in 12 years we could have a dog thats 16, and two that are 14. Even though I wont be living with Skye at that time it will still be so sad being close to so many old dogs (and my brother puppy will be old too).

Holly and Skye play a lot, Lewis has played with her a little (she is one of the very few dogs that he actually likes).

 

[648117]

That is a sad story. Looks like "your mom" has a lot of work to do with this little one. If she is as smart as she looks, maybe it won't be too hard. Sounds like maybe she has been starved of the right kind of attention.

I think her name is "Skye" because her head is full of sky (air). She is very happy though. But then I thought Lewis wasn't very bright when we got him but now he knows more commands than the average dog.
I don't think she is too much work. She isn't a high maintenance dog with regard to her personality (unlike Holly) and is used to minimal attention so is extremely happy with what she gets here.

 

[southerngirl]

I'm sorry you have to put off getting a dog that you really wanted and would fit you. That really sucks. And with their ages being so close it's going to be hard to have three old dogs, one is hard enough.

 

[kassidybc]

I'm sorry to hear that, that stinks that you won't be able to get the breed you want for a while now. Hopefully your mom holds true to her word and actually takes care of Skye. She is quite cute though.

 

[648117]

I'm sorry to hear that, that stinks that you won't be able to get the breed you want for a while now. Hopefully your mom holds true to her word and actually takes care of Skye. She is quite cute though.

It's not that she wont take care of Skye, our dogs have a better life than most dogs. I guess I just have very high expectations of the standard of care that the dogs should have. The worst that would happen with Skye would be that she only gets walked once or twice a week and wont get any training which is still better than what many dogs get, we also have a large-ish house and yard. And Skye is a small dog so it's not like trying to keep a Border Collie or something and only walking it twice a week.

I just really don't want Skye to decide she is mine (I'm going to try my best to not bond with her). So I wont be walking her or training her at all (ok, I'll walk her if she hasn't been out for six days in a row - hopefully that doesn't happen).

 

[kassidybc]

It's not that she wont take care of Skye, our dogs have a better life than most dogs. I guess I just have very high expectations of the standard of care that the dogs should have. The worst that would happen with Skye would be that she only gets walked once or twice a week and wont get any training which is still better than what many dogs get, we also have a large-ish house and yard. And Skye is a small dog so it's not like trying to keep a Border Collie or something and only walking it twice a week.

I just really don't want Skye to decide she is mine (I'm going to try my best to not bond with her). So I wont be walking her or training her at all (ok, I'll walk her if she hasn't been out for six days in a row - hopefully that doesn't happen).

Even getting walked only two times a week is better than most little dogs get, so don't feel too bad. For some reason many people seem to think that lap dogs don't require any exercise or training at all, and this is obviously not the case. I've seen the results of this with my neighbor's dog. She's a little Maltese, and she never (like, ever) goes for walks, doesn't even know basic commands (sit, lie down, stay, etc.), doesn't own one toy, and doesn't know how to play with toys. And this lack of attention shows. Not only does she bark like crazy all the time and is horribly behaved, she is viscous, and if her owners do something she doesn't like, she will literally attack them. People often leave their house covered in band-aids. But when I come over and take her for a walk (which I do sometimes, because I know that she won't get walked if I don't walk her) after the walk she is like a completely different dog! After all, a tired dog is a good dog!

Oh yeah, and good luck not getting attached!

 

[freedomdreams]

I definitely agree!

Don't be nervous and don't hold yourself back from actually spending time with her, she will appreciate it so much. It's very hard to not get attached- I know as all my dogs that I had living with my dad, he had kept because he was attached to them.. and now has more dogs then he actually should have.

I definitely agree that most smaller dogs do not get walked because people assume it is not necessary- due to their size. This causes so many of their behaviour issues, and I hope your mom sticks to her promise with you and I'm sorry it does put you behind on the dog that you do want to get. But don't let it get to you too much, you might really just enjoy her company without the additional responsibility, if something does happen which makes your mom alter her word, stand firm to what she said and mention it to her- just talk to her about it and that it's her responsibility.

 

[MaryK]

I too agree.

Quite right Kassidy and Freedomdreams, little dogs have the same needs are the larger ones. I recall someone I met owning a Chihuahua and, believe it or not, kept the poor wee dog on the kitchen bench top all the time - poor dog even pooped on it's on towel and dogs hate soiling their beds. When, with my big mouth, I asked why I was told 'she's too much trouble and runs all over the place if we let her down'. Won't bother with my reply, it was just on the right side of polite, but boy did I give them a lecture!

Don't be nervous about spending time with Skye, Freedomdreams is right, she will appreciate your time and love. And remember, dogs have a way of choosing whom they want to bond with, not vice versa, as did an adopted dog of ours. I was still at home and he was supposed to be my dog but he bonded totally with my Mom, I was very definitely 'second choice', maybe even third after the cat!

Am glad though that Skye is out of her former home, I clearly recall your posts when you were looking after her and thought then she'd be so much better in your home.

 

[648117]

I too agree.

Quite right Kassidy and Freedomdreams, little dogs have the same needs are the larger ones. I recall someone I met owning a Chihuahua and, believe it or not, kept the poor wee dog on the kitchen bench top all the time - poor dog even pooped on it's on towel and dogs hate soiling their beds. When, with my big mouth, I asked why I was told 'she's too much trouble and runs all over the place if we let her down'. Won't bother with my reply, it was just on the right side of polite, but boy did I give them a lecture!

Don't be nervous about spending time with Skye, Freedomdreams is right, she will appreciate your time and love. And remember, dogs have a way of choosing whom they want to bond with, not vice versa, as did an adopted dog of ours. I was still at home and he was supposed to be my dog but he bonded totally with my Mom, I was very definitely 'second choice', maybe even third after the cat!

Am glad though that Skye is out of her former home, I clearly recall your posts when you were looking after her and thought then she'd be so much better in your home.

The thing about letting the dog choose who it bonds with is that so far they always choose me. Holly wasn't meant to be my dog when we got her. She was really ment to be a family dog but she decided that I am her only owner. She's pretty neutral towards everyone else (ignores them mostly, never asks for attention from them).
So we got Lewis for my mum, but he too has decided that I should be his owner. He also likes my sister but is becoming very neutral towards everybody else too.
I want to avoid a repeat of this, which will be hard anyway because she follows what Holly and Lewis do (ie, all three of them follow me around and like to be in which ever room I'm in).

I think I will get my mum to do some training with her. I'll show her how to train Skye but make her do it herself. I'm also going to get her to do some counter conditioning with Skye and the rabbit. When Bucky is in his outside cage Skye spends all her time watching him and barking every so often. Hopefully that will help build a bond between them.

 

[ncsugrad54]

I'm going to be the bad person here, but I say don't keep the dog. If your mom wont take care of her, give her away or something. You shouldn't have to put off getting the dog you want. Get the dog YOU want. You have already had to take care of dogs you didn't really want. That's just my 2 cents.

 

[MaryK]

The thing about letting the dog choose who it bonds with is that so far they always choose me. Holly wasn't meant to be my dog when we got her. She was really ment to be a family dog but she decided that I am her only owner. She's pretty neutral towards everyone else (ignores them mostly, never asks for attention from them).
So we got Lewis for my mum, but he too has decided that I should be his owner. He also likes my sister but is becoming very neutral towards everybody else too.
I want to avoid a repeat of this, which will be hard anyway because she follows what Holly and Lewis do (ie, all three of them follow me around and like to be in which ever room I'm in).

I think I will get my mum to do some training with her. I'll show her how to train Skye but make her do it herself. I'm also going to get her to do some counter conditioning with Skye and the rabbit. When Bucky is in his outside cage Skye spends all her time watching him and barking every so often. Hopefully that will help build a bond between them.

Oh dear, does sound like you're 'the one' when it comes to the dogs.

Along with getting your Mom to train Skye, great idea as dogs do bond more with the person who does the actual training, get her (and other members of your family if possible) to feed Skye. Again, dogs tend to bond to the person who's the 'primary food dispenser'.

Good idea with Bucky and Skye, hopefully they'll become BFFs.

It's tough, I know, I understand you don't want another 'rescue' bonding to you, as you would like a dog of your own choosing, so I sincerely hope you can 'break the attachment' to yourself and get Skye to transfer over to your Mom.

Where does Skye sleep at present? If he's in your room, would also suggest he sleeps in your Mom's room, or a separate place of his own.

Good luck!

 

[MaryK]

Ooops sorry called Skye a 'he' - been working this morning with another little dog a friend rescued, so got the littlies in a muddle

That dog has bonded to me and now my friend is throwing out spanner size hints I take him in. Am standing strong as I have two dogs at present!

 

[648117]

Oh dear, does sound like you're 'the one' when it comes to the dogs.

Along with getting your Mom to train Skye, great idea as dogs do bond more with the person who does the actual training, get her (and other members of your family if possible) to feed Skye. Again, dogs tend to bond to the person who's the 'primary food dispenser'.

Good idea with Bucky and Skye, hopefully they'll become BFFs.

It's tough, I know, I understand you don't want another 'rescue' bonding to you, as you would like a dog of your own choosing, so I sincerely hope you can 'break the attachment' to yourself and get Skye to transfer over to your Mom.

Where does Skye sleep at present? If he's in your room, would also suggest he sleeps in your Mom's room, or a separate place of his own.

Good luck!

I feed all the dogs their breakfast five days of the week because my mum has to be at work at 6am. We take turns feeding them in the evening.

It's funny that you should mention the sleeping arrangements because I don't think that makes a difference. They all sleep in crates, Holly's is in the lounge and always has been, Lewis' was also in the lounge to begin with but then he started barking at night so his crate got put into my parents room (he started sleeping there about a month after we got him so he's slept in there for over a year now).
Skyes crate is in the kitchen but we might change it to the lounge to be with Holly when we buy her a new one (the one she came with is a bit bent and rusty).
The dogs are not allowed upstairs where the bedrooms are (we have a gate at the bottom of the stairs). Lewis is only allowed in his crate upstairs, he gets carried up there at night and then back down stairs in the morning.

One day I will get to pick my own dog. When we had our Cavaliers I didn't get to choose their breed either (I wanted an Irish Wolfhound).

 

[648117]

I'm going to be the bad person here, but I say don't keep the dog. If your mom wont take care of her, give her away or something. You shouldn't have to put off getting the dog you want. Get the dog YOU want. You have already had to take care of dogs you didn't really want. That's just my 2 cents.

I'm going to give my mum a chance to really look after Skye herself, she has to do all the walking and some training. I know my mum doesn't really care if she is trained or not but I'm going to insist that she learns the basics, eg. putting a harness on her to protect her neck is not a good substitute for teaching her to walk properly.
If she doesn't do it then I'm going to talk to her about finding Skye a new home. Hopefully that doesn't happen because I know it will be extremely difficult to find a home that I think is good enough.

 

[Amateur]

Yanno I don't know just how old you are but I am guessing younger ....
These may not be the dogs you necessarily wanted or hoped for but maybe you are just the person they wished for.
Obviously they are bonding to you for some reason ...

And if you are "younger" I am thinking you have plenty of time to get the dog you want and under your own terms.

 

[648117]

I gave Skye a bath today (after we all went out for a walk in the rain):



I think she looks better already. We are pretty sure she's put on weight. We got her weighed today and she is 3kgs, that's half what Lewis weighs (don't know what she was to start with but she feels less bony).

 

[MissyBC]

She's adorable!