Dog Drama!!!

This past Tuesday was two weeks that we have had Maestro. There have been a few instances that have raised an eyebrow of Jason and I. We are both totally torn and had a decision to make. It is freakin awful and hard to figure out. I still don't know if we are making the right decision.

So here is the situation. Chloe is ALWAYS in the dogs face, doesn't really know how to play toys with him. She squeeks his toy and then holds it over her head and makes him jump. She thinks it is funny. We have to yell at her to throw the toy. She even pulls his tail and he does nothing.

That being said, he has freak out moments. First moment, he is sleeping on the floor and Gwynne gets down off the couch and he jumps and barks at her and lunges. We kind of let it go thinking she might have stepped on him or startled him.

Second situation, I'm snuggling with Connor on the couch. Connor has his O2 mask on and is gurggling. When he has his O2 mask over his trach you can hear him breathing for sure, and some mucous back there and you hopefully get the point. Maestro came up and sat next to us. A couple minutes later Maestro is growling and barks at Connor. We put him down and discipline him. About 5 minutes later he is back up with us and I'm careful and have Connor pet him. A few minutes later again he growls and barks and lunges for him. Scared the shit out of us. Any other time he has been around Connor he has been on his vent, not much noise compared to his O2 mask.

Now we come to last night. Sigh! Our weekly night nurse shows up. Maestro is fast asleep on the couch. The nurse didn't close our gate and came in really quiet into the house. She was standing in the entry way/kitchen. Maestro comes flying off the couch barking at her. Normally he meets her at the door all happy and jumps up for attention. So I thought he will chill once he gets her scent. He gets to her feet and plants his front paws and has his hind in up and is barking aggressive. She backs up and I get up and I'm yelling at him. He lunges forward and keeps on. I pull him away and he calms down. So I think it is over. We are all in the kitchen at this point. She turns to walk away and he sniffs her pants and the top of her rubber rain boots and starts the barking thing again. UGH!

After all this he comes and lays down close to me, on my lap really and falls back to sleep. He doesn't bother her again. Then we are getting ready for bed and if I move the dog moves, he is my total shadow. The rubber boots are sitting just in side the kitchen by our water cooler. He spots them and jumps toward him and barks a couple times. I yell at him and he backs off. So was it the boots?

So....do we give him more time to settle in. Or cut the stings now? I'm so freakin torn. I don't want to wait until he does bite someone. But at the same time I don't think he will.

Well we error on the side of caution for our kids. I don't know how the hell this is going to go down with the girls. Especially Chloe. There is no way we can run out and get another dog. Money wise we have spent a lot already on this dog in two weeks. There is no way we can dish out for a puppy like Jason wants to do and pay for all the first shots. Plus we still have to pay the last installment of our pet deposit

This past Tuesday was two weeks that we have had Maestro. There have been a few instances that have raised an eyebrow of Jason and I. We are both totally torn and had a decision to make. It is freakin awful and hard to figure out. I still don't know if we are making the right decision.

So here is the situation. Chloe is ALWAYS in the dogs face, doesn't really know how to play toys with him. She squeeks his toy and then holds it over her head and makes him jump. She thinks it is funny. We have to yell at her to throw the toy. She even pulls his tail and he does nothing.

That being said, he has freak out moments. First moment, he is sleeping on the floor and Gwynne gets down off the couch and he jumps and barks at her and lunges. We kind of let it go thinking she might have stepped on him or startled him.

Second situation, I'm snuggling with Connor on the couch. Connor has his O2 mask on and is gurggling. When he has his O2 mask over his trach you can hear him breathing for sure, and some mucous back there and you hopefully get the point. Maestro came up and sat next to us. A couple minutes later Maestro is growling and barks at Connor. We put him down and discipline him. About 5 minutes later he is back up with us and I'm careful and have Connor pet him. A few minutes later again he growls and barks and lunges for him. Scared the shit out of us. Any other time he has been around Connor he has been on his vent, not much noise compared to his O2 mask.

Now we come to last night. Sigh! Our weekly night nurse shows up. Maestro is fast asleep on the couch. The nurse didn't close our gate and came in really quiet into the house. She was standing in the entry way/kitchen. Maestro comes flying off the couch barking at her. Normally he meets her at the door all happy and jumps up for attention. So I thought he will chill once he gets her scent. He gets to her feet and plants his front paws and has his hind in up and is barking aggressive. She backs up and I get up and I'm yelling at him. He lunges forward and keeps on. I pull him away and he calms down. So I think it is over. We are all in the kitchen at this point. She turns to walk away and he sniffs her pants and the top of her rubber rain boots and starts the barking thing again. UGH!

After all this he comes and lays down close to me, on my lap really and falls back to sleep. He doesn't bother her again. Then we are getting ready for bed and if I move the dog moves, he is my total shadow. The rubber boots are sitting just in side the kitchen by our water cooler. He spots them and jumps toward him and barks a couple times. I yell at him and he backs off. So was it the boots?

So....do we give him more time to settle in. Or cut the stings now? I'm so freakin torn. I don't want to wait until he does bite someone. But at the same time I don't think he will.

Well we error on the side of caution for our kids. I don't know how the hell this is going to go down with the girls. Especially Chloe. There is no way we can run out and get another dog. Money wise we have spent a lot already on this dog in two weeks. There is no way we can dish out for a puppy like Jason wants to do and pay for all the first shots. Plus we still have to pay the last installment of our pet deposit to our landlord.

We have a very rough weekend ahead. I hope we are making the right decision and don't traumtize this poor dog any more then we may already have.