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Happy Piper and sad Veda!

aperfectsonnettt

Well-known member
From the day i got Veda at nine weeks old there was two dogs in the house. Itchy and Veda were best friends for the whole year! Ran around and played with toys together and chased each other around the living room. Two months ago i moved out. Veda and i lived alone in a studio apartment.. At first she looked around for things to do.. Looked bored but not unhappy.... followed me from room to room.. couch to chair. chair to bed and then to the bathroom... Veda has always been shy but very loving and playful. There is almost always someone at my house for her to play with, but she was searching for her best friend.. a dog who understands how she likes to play.

Sunday night (three days ago) i bought my second cavalier!!!! a pretty little ruby girl named Piper. (lil pipes) She is fourteen weeks old and the happiest most playful little girl in the world. Veda is angry. VERY angry. this was expected but it seems to be getting worse, not better. I always dote over Veda and not Piper (to ensure that she is still the dominant dog and that i do love her very much) I feed her first, let her out first and speak to her in happy tones more often than before Piper came... She looks sad and angry. She barely responds when called and doesn't obey as well as before. I used to say kennel and clap my hands and she would run in her kennel, sit down, and wait excitedly for her treat. Now, i do the notions, she looks at me, bows her head and walks the other way.. she barely kisses and backs away when i get close to her face.

I'm so sad.. I try and keep Piper out of Vedas space and often times will put piper away in her kennel and play strictly with Veda only. I live in a large studio apartment so i cant block off rooms the way you would normally train a new puppy... Piper doesnt bother her much at all, but does show interest in wanting to play a little bit.

Is there anything anyone can suggest outside of what i have been doing?! I'm also wondering how long this typically lasts?

Help my sad doggie!
 
It is still very early days indeed here, some dogs "gel" instantly whilst others go through (almost) a "mourning" period then get on with it, it sounds like Veda had become used to being an "only" one and now this "upstart" has come bounding in and gone and upset things!
You are doing everything right with regards to going to Veda first, but don't over compensate too much, just make a point of going to her first so that Piper learns her place in the pecking order!

Agree with Sandy's advice too re an X-pen, then Piper can play in there whilst you and Veda spend some quality 1-2-1 time together!
 
My two got along right away, but then they are both around the same age, 8 months and 6 months. Their problem is they get along too well! Always playing together. Sometimes fun and sometimes too rough :mad:
Give each their space and a place they can go to be alone. I'm sure Veda is missing her old friend. Once she realizes this one will be fun to play with too soon.
I see you are only 55 miles North of me!
 
When was Veda's last vet check? The reason I ask is that sometimes when two things happen together, one of them can go un-noticed, or we quite understandably jump to conclusions about what is happening.

Here is something that happened in our household that has prompted me to go down this line of thinking....

Not so long ago, we had (along with our other dogs) two little Boxer girls, Pebbles & Scarlett. They were good mates & rivals at times. Pebbles got sick & died. Scarlett seemed terribly sad & depressed afterwards. She just lay around, put on weight, seemed disinterested in everything. I felt so sorry as I thought Scarlett was grieving. It never occurred to me that she might be sick. Then, one day she threw a siezure. To cut a long story short, it became apparent that Scarlett was sick and had a number of medical issues, mainly related to her advancing years.

I had made the assumption that Scarlett was grieving. She wasn't, she was quite simply sick.

Now it could be that your Veda does have the dirts, but I'd most definitely be ruling out other things to be on the safe side.

To answer your question more specifically, my guys have always gotten on well with other dogs & a new one introduced. Sonny our 3 yr old Cavalier took about 3 weeks to settle down. Other than that once incident, it is usually love at first sight with my guys.
 
It took Breeze, who had been the only dog in the house for nine years, about three weeks to get used to Scout being there. Everytime Scout would get near her, she would jump up and move and look at me as if to say, "When is she going to her REAL home?". Then one day, out of the blue, Breeze just started playing with her. Then it really got scary, Scout was only about 10 lbs and Breeze was 140 lbs :eek:

Be patient, Veda will more than likely come around with time. Don't try to push them together. She will makes friends with little Piper on her own terms. Until then just do what you are doing and try not to let Piper bother her too much.
 
When Minnie came home Cinders completely ignored her for over a week.
Everytime Minnie came near her she would run away and jump up on the sofa out of her way and just glare at her. Then all of a sudden one day Cinders didn't run away she turned round and started playing with Minnie. They are now the best of friends - well most of the time:) So just be patient it will all come together eventually.:flwr:
 
** Update **

yesterday morning, out of nowhere, Veda started chasing Piper around with a tug toy thingy!! i got quiet real quiet and hit my boyfriend on his side "look look look!" he smiled big and i seriously almost started crying.. i felt like it was such a breakthrough from veda being SUCH a snot!

anyway, i still don't think she's pipers biggest fan but she is definately warming up. Last night they were chasing each other around the coffee table so obnoxiously i was almost getting annoyed as i was trying to watch the dog show on animal planet (yes i watch those.. AND enjoy them!) Maybe this will help Veda lose a few pounds as well!

Thanks for all your advice!
 
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