Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde: Kujo in Disguise

This just in from the homefront in Colorado...a pet story from Chloe DiVita.

I love my dog. He's the most friendly, well-mannered pup when he's surrounded by people. BUT...when another dog comes into the picture, say good-bye to Dr. Jekyll and "hello" to Mr. Hyde: Kujo has officially entered the room!

I adopted Reznor as a six-month-old puppy from our local Humane Society. They told me I was adopting a Shepard-Lab mix. White in color, with big brown eyes, this adorable puppy had a mysterious aura about him that I fell in love with. I knew pretty quickly that his breed was more like Greyhound-Lab mix; he has the shy, slightly skittishness of the Greyhound breed. And that long nose, curved spine, and racing run of his are unmistakeably Greyhound.

It only took him a day or two of feeling uncertain to finally open up and let us in to love him.

Reznor is excellent with my daughter, Miah. He chases her around and plays with her endlessly, while never letting his 'bite' do any harm. People sometimes worry when they see her arm in his mouth as they run, but both she and I (and Reznor) know his bite has no teeth to it, not when he's playing with Miah. He's the dog all the kids can poke and prod, and even pull his tail (although we draw the line when we see that), and he does nothing in return. Well, he glares a ME...as if to say, "Why are you letting this happen to me?" But, he's too gentle to even growl.

Yet...enter another dog...and all of a sudden my sweet, perfect pet has ears that stand straight up, a tail that stops wagging, and a line of hair raised so high on his back that I swear he has a line of dinosaur DNA in his background! If this reaction goes without strong words of warning from Matt, my husband, it is followed by a full on charge towards the other scent that Reznor finds too close for comfort. I've been scared into believing he could actually do damage to the other dog - if we aren't on top of things. He's surprised a bunch of people who know him as a docile, mellow, furry creature that follows me around the house.

So, why does he do this? I don't know. I have some ideas about it - based on the 6 months before he was a part of our family, but, really, I have no idea. He is not like this all the time. He has a few dog friends who can come over, and who he'll play with, but the introduction period is always a bit hairy.

And, there is only one dog who has ever made Reznor submit - the funniest thing is that this is a female dog. It's clear he feels dominated by her - every time she comes around, he pees on the floor!

For now, I'll be grateful for my perfect little people person puppy - and no, he's not really still a puppy. He's a little over 4 years old. But, he'll be a puppy forever in my eyes - as long as I avoid the dog parks!

I'd love to know if anyone else can relate to this Kujo syndrome, and if so, have you found a way of breaking the trait?

Comments

[Lisa]

OOO YES!!! I know exactly what your talking about. We had the same trouble right here in our household since we have more than one dog. My husband and I both work for a animal hospital so we had some guidance as to what our options were. First we had Hanna spayed which is suppose to help some with the aggression. Next we put her on [name of drug removed for posting purposes] a drug to help keep her calm. And we also went out and bought a Shock Collar. The good ones cost over two hundred dollars "BUT" They really work like a charm!!!! We had to be drastic and do all of this because Hanna was injuring our other dogs to the point that we had to take them in to the hospital for stitches. We paid over two thousand dollars for our Hanna because she comes from a fantastic line of show dogs, Plus we love her,, So we were not going to sell her or give her away. Hanna is a completely different dog now. We don't even have to put the Shock Collar on her anymore. We finally have our household under control.
Lisa