Last Friday afternoon, in the midst of my meetings, I received a message from the hubs that he’d made contact with an owner who was giving up her 5.5 month old male cocker spaniel. She was moving away and wasn’t taking him with her (very annoying - but that's another story), so R made an appointment to view the puppy and decided to bring Misch too, and see if they could get along. Sometime during the night, I received pictures of the sweet little puppy named Cookie – the golden ECS was a dead ringer for Mischka at the same age! A total doppelganger, right down to the white chest and the melty eyes!
Can you spot the difference? ;)
Sunday afternoon, we made arrangements to meet up with Cookie again, so that I could see him for myself. I was totally won over by his exuberance and affection, he licked me all over my face, and just wanted to play! Chasing Mischy all around the playground, and rolling over for tummy rubs – so adorable! Unfortunately, despite it being Misch’s 2nd encounter with Cookie, she couldn’t get over the psychological trauma from the bite she received from evil LeeLee*, and her first instincts whenever Cookie approached, was to bolt, and if we tried to hold her still, she’d let out the most pitiful, strangled whine. The closest we could get them to be to each other was one foot away, lying down. If Cookie so much as leaned over to sniff her, Misch would jump away.
It was a sad moment when we came to the realization that we could never adopt Cookie, but it was even more heartbreaking to see Mischy so tortured. Our main reason for getting a second dog was to give Misch a playmate, but now we know, it would only serve to upset her and cause her distress. So for as long as Misch doesn’t get over the LeeLee episode, we will never be able to get a second dog. Not that Misch doesn’t bring us enough joy. She absolutely does. She’s the perfect dog – in our eyes at least – sweet, intelligent, affectionate, fun loving, and she’s won so many hearts with her endearing ways. I’m just sometimes resentful that the act of an irresponsible owner has brought so much pain (physical and psychological) to Misch, and I can’t help but feel immensely sad that Misch can’t enjoy the company of another dog. All we can do is try to socialize her more at dog runs and let her meet with other dogs as much as possible, in the hope that one day, she will come to realize that they mean no harm, and she won’t feel the terror rising up in her when a furry friend approaches. Hopefully one day she will learn that most doggies just want to sniff and play. In the meantime, we’ll be patient and as loving as can be. And we’ll only have eyes for her.
[* At barely 3.5 months old, Misch was bitten by LeeLee, an adult cocker spaniel, at the pet shop round the corner. He snapped on Misch's snout and refused to let go, despite Misch's desperate cries. She was frightful and refused to come near us for the rest of the day, and it took a few days before she trusted us again. Since then, she's been afraid of other dogs. Even after 2 months of puppy classes with friendly dogs smaller in size than her, she is still wary and sometimes barks and backs away in fear.]
