This is Hank aka Mr. Innocent (yeah right)
Sonic, you already know. Who would've guess that inside that angelic face lurks a crazed Tazmanian Devil.
Tess, you also know. She is Miss Perfect, the peace maker, mediator and border collie control freak.
Who says that miracles don't happen? Of course, if I'd thrown that stick, it would've been a WHOLE different photo.
Hank has been a guest in our house for a week now. He goes home to his family tomorrow. He's a good boy, but for some reason, when our friend N. first got him, Sonic took an immediate and intense dislike to him. We think it was because of another dog that our friend had who was a bit aggressive towards Sonic, so any dog she would've gotten would've received the same treatment from Miss Sonic the Taz.
At first everyone laughed about it, thinking they would work it out. It WAS pretty funny with Sonic seeing Hank from a distance and immediately start to give the evil teeth glare at him. Of course, with most people laughing about it, Sonic thought this sort of behaviour was ok, so I had a bit of a time with her. Even though she'd glare and show teeth to him at the first meeting, once they were running, everything was fine. Except when Hank would run too far ahead and N. would call him back. Sonic would take off like a rocket, charging up to him and circling him till he came back to the group. This of course, pissed Hank off. Who can blame him? He didn't need a Border collie Taz for a babysitter.
It continued to escalated till Sonic would launch herself at Hank upon first meeting him. The last time this happened, I had to give her a very firm correction. More than I normally like doing with any of my dogs, but she started to get the idea that this was not going to be allowed. Gradually, things started to ease off. There were minor battles, but usually, when I knew I would be meeting Hank and N. I would leash Sonic for the initial meeting. It kept her from fly into that "point of no return", when all reason flies out the window.
Of course, Miss Tess, who hates conflict of any sort was very stressed by this who ordeal. Each time we'd run up to meet the running group, she KNEW Sonic was gonna catch hell again, so she'd lag further and further behind. She finally figured out that if SHE could control Sonic, then all would be solved. So whenever she started to see Sonic make a move on Hank, she'd get in between the two of them and start to circle Sonic like a border collie would do to a misbehaving sheep. It's actually quite funny to see and also quite amazing that she was not taught to do this. It's something she figured out all by herself. These dogs are scary smart sometimes.
So, the point of all this rambling is we had Hank as a house guest for a few days in March. I was fairly apprehensive because of the history, but they have gotten along quite well. This past week with Hank has gone well too. It's been very interesting watching the doggie dynamics. It's also rather interesting having 3 dogs and 2 cats sleeping in our bedroom.
Hank has been a good boy, although somewhat goofy as only a retriever/border collie can be. He's been living quite well with the 2 cats as well. Rooney has been rather leary of him and went into hiding for a couple of days. He has finally decided it's safe to come out. Sportz on the other hand has been giving Hank that disdainful "screw you" look that only a cat can give. I think Hank has decided Sportz is not to be messed with.
Hank will be going home tomorrow. I know he has missed his family. He is a real mama's boy. He is a very nice houseguest though and is welcome back here any time.
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