Well, it’s official. Cerbie is ours. Yesterday afternoon, I went to Paypal to pay the adoption fee.
Monday, the second full day came and went without any major issues. Cerbie – as we now call him – did splendidly during the day. After the early morning walk where Lizzie’s tantrum in Barb’s office was the sold downside, he settled into a calm day. I seem to recall someone mentioning that he needed lots of exercise. Monday, you could have fooled me by how much time he spent sacked out on the couch.
From 3:00 to almost 4:00 while Barb was at the gym, I reclined on the couch to watch some TV, and Cerbie was sleeping next to me. No sleep agression there (a common Greyhound issue).
In the evening, about 7:00, he and Lizzie got into their rough and tumble playing. That gets exiting, as there are lots of big mouthing, lunges for the legs, and neck play. Barb is terrified, but by and large, while there is plenty of drooling and wet fur, there isn’t any real damage. Tails are still wagging. Lizzie has found her match, energy wise at least, that she couldn’t get from either Sugar or Ted. I did separate them a couple times to de-escalate, but clearly they weren’t out for blood. Probably a little pecking order establishment.
Lizzie does seem somewhat sad that she isn’t the uncontested queen. And that is OK.
We are still keeping Lizzie in her crate at bed time, just in case, but I think that it is time to halt that. It does seem like forcibly separating them is a bit unfair to Lizzie. It is time to give it a try. Fingers crossed.
In general, Lizzie is becoming more deferential to Cerbie. However, they do play well together, as evidenced by their combined shredding of a few toys, as in this picture. (pro tip: the Kong toys with stout rope at their core are outstanding in their resistance to abuse.)
This morning, I took both of them for a walk, with the acknowledgement that we would turn around when Lizzie was done. We did plenty of exploring of our neighbors house, and even the next house over. Then our other neighbor, Tim, came by for a jog. Lizzie was barking and retreating, but Cerbie walked right up to him for some lovin’. Still have a lot of work to do for Lizzie, but there is no doubt that Cerbie is setting a good example.
Now, to get Barb to not panic at their very physical playing. Small steps. (It doesn’t help that their playing would be enough to completely skin a greyhound. They are quite abit tougher though – phew!)
Update: This morning, I have let them play, and judging by how much drool is on Cerbie’s neck, I am guessing that Lizzie had the upper hand. She is learning to stand on the steps or the couch to compensate for the 2″ or so that Cerbie has on her. It is all in good fun though.
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