Living in a house with eighteen dogs is not "oh, how nice", but constant crisis management. It's a constant tension. Sometimes I think I could use a walkie-talkie and a control tower. Because balance is not something that once set up and forgot. It's a daily job, almost like adjusting the temperature in an old house: as soon as you get distracted, it's already a draft.
And it's not because I don't understand animals well. It's different here. Each of my dogs has an own story. It's life on the street, injuries, war. That's why I have to look for an individual approach to each of them. Besides, I need to make sure that they get along with each other. And this is already a real art, but I'm not a god so that I can achieve perfection in it.
Now I have problems with one of our dogs.
I evacuated Little Bowl the last fall from the Pokrovsky direction. It was painful to look at her: clamped, with huge wary eyes. One can only guess what the little dog had to survive without help, food and hope under constant shelling. She was so lonely and scared that my heart cried. And I broke the promise I made to myself not to take new dogs.
She was shaking so much in the car that I could feel it through the seat. The first weeks at home she lived like a shadow: she ate quietly, quietly went to her corner, tried not to look into her eyes. I literally taught her to be a dog again - to walk without panic, to sleep without shuddering, to be happy.
And gradually everything leveled out. She became her own. I found my favorite place, started playing with other dogs, even allowed myself to play pranks. I exhaled. It seemed that the pack accepted it, and we switched to the mode of ordinary dog chaos - with barking and collective snoring in the evenings.
But the balance in my house, unfortunately, is not always long. Any pack is a hierarchy. And this hierarchy comes into motion from time to time. Sometimes it seems to me that the balance in my house can fall apart not only from the fact that I take a new dog, but even from a fly that flew into the house.
And a couple of months ago, everything swayed again. And I don't quite understand why. Probably because two new dogs - Nora and AmiMia, whom I took in the summer, have already fully mastered and the system, instead of calming down, started moving again.
On the other hand, the general background may have also changed - a very cold winter, a blackout, tension, my own nerves. Dogs feel it better than any psychologist. And then a few little ones (Nora, Biscuit Seal, Donut and Michelle) suddenly began to unite against her. It is the small ones that are the loudest, the most nervous. They can lift a wave out of nothing: look, movement, accidental touch. AmiMia is not involved in this.
Little Bowl, for her part, instead of ignoring these bullies, answers them. Not because she's aggressive. And because she has an experience that is not erased. If you're attacked, you don't expect a second blow. And I see how that old mode turns on in it - "protect yourself in advance".
As a result, I live in a state of constant scanning of space. Who is lying where. Who is looking at whom. Who got up too abruptly. I can't just pour myself some tea and relax - I always have one ear turned towards the dogs. Because if a fight starts, it will be instantaneous and loud. And to split eighteen bodies is another adventure. I already have such experience. A bitten belly and bitten hands are something I don't want to repeat.,
I don't have enough problems! There is no peace for a minute. And the most difficult thing here is not physical fatigue. And emotional. When you want it to be calm at home, and instead it's like on thin ice all the time. I love them all. Every one. Equally. And it hurts me to see how someone turns out to be "ennecessary" in the pack. I can't let Little Bowl feel like a stranger again.
Sometimes I get angry. On small ones - for their bussiness. On myself - that I can't fix everything quickly. Then I pull myself together. I breed dogs in different areas. I control contacts. I try to dose their communication. It's almost like social engineering, only without theory - solid practice.
And still, there are evenings when everyone lies quietly, Little Bowl sleeps next to me and I understand: for this it is worth endoring all this chaos. Balance in the house with eighteen dogs is not about perfect harmony. It's about constant attention, patience and the ability not to give up. And, probably, about love, which is stronger than fatigue. I hope we cope with this problem. 🤗
This post has been shared on Reddit by @neotopher through the HivePosh initiative.
This post has been shared on Reddit by @crstypatata through the HivePosh initiative.
OMG, you have 18 dogs? Wow!
Meanwhile me, I'm struggling with one fur baby due to financial constraints. 😁
woah 18 dogs is so many. im pretty sure you have a lot of friends to play with even though you're facing a crisis hehe. btw, your so adorable 😻
Wow, I truly admire you for everything you do for these beautiful furry friends. You have a great gift, but more than that, it's clear it's love! 🤗