No Trespassing! See My Teeth?

 I watched Tootsie, trying to understand why the dog was so hysterical. The dog wasn’t growling. She was screaming.

Last March, my auntie’s dog, a spunky mini Dachshund named Tootsie, left the Philippines to settle in her new home in the United States with my cousin Marie, her husband Bobby, and daughter Francine. I used to mention this dog in previous blogs because she was our first encounter with her breed. My elderly dad, when he was still alive, fell in love with this dog when she came to stay with us for basic training before going to my aunt.

Her first (and temporary) name was Tutti. The dog was plucky and high-spirited. She was a puppy when she came to live with us. Soon after settling down and noticing there were other dogs in the house, she drew up her own rules. Tutti took it upon herself to make it known before our male dogs that she was the boss. She would initiate all the chase games and the wrestling matches. She would lead and she would end.

Our male adult dogs immediately gave deference to this young pup. Adult dogs do not seem to consider a pup a threat to their hierarchy (yet). Until that pup is a year old, that is. I learned about dog aggression the hard way with Spot. But that’s another story (another blog in the future).

Doggy antics were what made my dad’s afternoons light and amusing during those days. He’d watch their wrestling competitions and their chase games. Led by a little black Dachshund puppy the size of a sewer rat, they’d scramble back and forth past his open bedroom door until they were breathless. I guess an independent-minded dog like the Dachshund makes an ideal pet for an elderly. Unlike our big dogs that lie around waiting for their master, the Dachshund can lead and entertain himself without any human prompting. They’re naturally assertive and creative. In Tutti’s case too, she had no concept of size. You can take a lesson about life when you see a small puppy dominate our larger (and older) dogs, supremely confident without a doubt in that little mind that they would follow her.

They did follow her. 

After a month of basic training at my house, Tutti moved to live with my aunt for the next five years until my aunt died last February.

 The puppy’s departure left a void with my dad. He realized he liked the Dachshund because of Tutti but Tutti was not meant for us. To replace Tutti, Marie sent my dad another Dachshund which we named Packy.

A year or two later, my aunt invited me to Christmas dinner. In keeping with the spirit of the season, I took along my Dalmatian Spot, wearing a red Santa cap. Besides, I told myself, Tutti (now Tootsie) once lived with us. She will remember Spot. They can play together and keep each other company that evening.

But it did not happen that way.  

As soon as Spot entered my aunt’s house that Christmas eve, a shrill scream pierced the air. It was Tootsie. The dog glared, barking wildly at her spotted visitor.

We were all bewildered. “Don’t you remember Spotty?” I demanded at Tootsie. “You used to play together! You lived at my house for a month!”

Tootsie’s reply was still a hysterical scream at Spot.

The only way we could resolve this was to keep the dogs apart. Marie kept Tootsie close to her while I kept Spot a distance away. Tootsie was clearly very upset every time she’d see Spot.

Tootsie snuggles up to a larger-sized Spotty during nap time. How could I expect that she would not recognize Spot a  few years later when they used to be sleeping buddies?

Some two years later, my aunt invited me to drop by her house when she found out I would be staying overnight at a farm in Cavite with my dogs. She suggested I pass by her house on my way home that Sunday morning. “Let’s introduce Tootsie to Packy,” she said. “Let’s introduce her to a boyfriend.”

That late morning, I arrived at her house. We kept the two Dalmatians outside beside the car, while I headed towards my aunt’s house across the street, Packy on leash. My friend Fely met me at the gate but I didn't want to enter, remembering what happened that Christmas eve with Spot. I stayed outside on the sidewalk.
               “Bring Tootsie out,” I said, “Packy is here.”

Fely didn’t think my aunt would want Tootsie out in the street. So I had to enter the property. I stood a distance away from the front door. “Bring Tootsie out,” I repeated.   

Fely led Tootsie out. As soon as Tootsie saw Packy it happened all over again. The little dog let out a high piercing scream, barking wildly at Packy. Packy, meanwhile, for a dog that walks with a chip on his shoulder back home, stood quietly beside me taking everything in.

I didn’t think this was working. Tootsie persisted with her noisy reception. But I’ve been learning more about dogs since. I watched Tootsie, trying to understand why the dog was so hysterical.  I was confused because the dog wasn’t growling. She was screaming. She stayed before the screen door, backed against the front step but she wasn’t displaying the familiar dog aggression stance. Then I saw a fine row of white teeth in her small mouth. 

My aunt walked out, amusement all over her face.”What’s going on?”she asked.”Why is Tootsie like that? She doesn’t like Packy?”

“She thinks Packy is trespassing,” I replied, finally understanding what I was seeing. “We shouldn’t have introduced the two dogs here. This is Tootsie’s territory.”

After awhile we gave up. Tootsie was clearly not in a social mood. My aunt led the dog back indoors while I looked down to lead Packy back to the car. I had felt him pull his leash to crawl among the bushes (to get away from that screaming female) so I pulled the leash hidden among the plants.

The leash came up empty. Packy was wearing a harness and I realized his short Dachshund legs had easily slipped out the belts.

“Packy is loose!” I hissed at Fely in a panic whisper.

Fely immediately parted the bushes while I turned the other direction calling for the dog. My aunt had other dogs and they might pounce on the "trespasser." I wasn’t sure if they were confined. I knew Packy doesn't back away from fights. Finally Packy emerged around the corner coming from the back of the house. It seemed he had already scouted the property on his own and the other dogs hadn't spotted him.

Packy was never introduced to Tootsie as a future beau. We should have taken both dogs out to a neutral territory such as the basketball court across the street, introduced the two together and let them play for awhile. But because nobody could accompany Tootsie out into the street (my hands were full and Fely would rather chat with my aunt indoors) a second  introduction was never arranged.

I learned that you can’t just walk your dog into another person’s house presuming the dog in residence there will receive the visitor amicably. Some dogs will greet the new dog sociably, others won’t. At my friend Malu's house, I've taken Spot there lots of times but her fluffy-haired terrier named Happy has never demonstrated any territorial behavior. It was a mistake for me to presume the same reception would exist in every other house we'd go to that had a dog living there.

Packy, meanwhile, after pulling his “Houdini” disappearance trick on me that morning, now wears both a collar and matching harness attached to a couplet leash when he's taken outdoors.  

    

Packy with two new Dachshund friends named Lilo and Stitch. Packy wears a collar and harness on a couplet leash (it has 2 clips) to give us a good hold on him when walking him in public.