# She Made Me Proud!



## Springbrz (Aug 13, 2013)

So, Ziva hasn't been known to care much for small dogs. Mostly because most of the small dogs she's meet are of the "small dog syndrome" type. Yappy and in her face and she hates that. She also has high prey drive. The combination has lead to some tense moments in the past. So when my elderly mom came to visit with my sisters Chihuahua mix in tow I was worried how things would go. Prepared for the worst and expecting to have to do a lot of management. I removed all the toys (Ziva resource guards toys from other dogs) and rearrange a few things around the house for safety.

To my surprise things went great. We did a controlled greeting outside when they arrived and it went way better than I would have ever imagined. Bambi was intimidated by Ziva's size so I made sure Z gave Bambi some space to get settled in and relax. Bambi growled several times at Z when she got to close. My mom was really good about correcting Bambi for growling (verbal correction) and I of course made Z leave it. Bambi has remained suspicious of Ziva but Z has taken to the little girl. She wanted to play with her in a very good way. I will say Bambi is a calm, well mannered little dog. I was even able to bring some toys out and Z let Bambi play with some of her toys without incident. I was so proud when she let Bambi play with some of her balls(again in a supervised and very controlled way). Z let Bambi have one of her bully sticks...amazing . 

Ziva did well with food. Ziva left Bambi's food alone and they ate apart but in the same room with supervision of course. Ziva left some treats (they were always given treats at the same time) and when Bambi went to check them out before I could pick them up Z let Bambi have them. Good girl for sharing  Tonight Bambi kept trying to check out Ziva's dinner (Z eats raw, Bambi does not). I heard my mom tell Bambi NO! so I moved Z's dinner to another place. Turned my back for a second and when I turned around Bambi was eating Z's food and Ziva was letting her. I picked up Z's dinner and praised Z for being a good girl. We removed Bambi so Z could finish her meal. 

I was sure that Ziva would try to eat my sister's little dog. But Ziva surpassed my expectation and proved to be a gracious host to her little house guest. I'm so proud of my girl for being such a good girl. 0


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I think our stress causes more stress sometimes. I just posted in another thread about how I wouldn't allow my male GSDs to interact with the beagle I have for safety. Of course the beagle isn't really a calm dog so that plays a role. 

I'm glad both of you were on top of the dogs and it's great to see them getting along.


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

That's a refreshing change from the usual Gsd vs small dog!Good job Ziva!Excellent job dog parents


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## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

I'm glad it went so well. Varik is well versed in small dogs since he lived with my 13 lb shih Tzu until his death back in November. Rai Li was a grouchy old man who growled, snapped, snarled at Varik the whole time they were in the same room and would even follow him around barking at him. Poor Varik. He was always respectful and still seemed to like Rai Li. I don't know why.

Since Rai Li was so old (almost 16 when he left me), I didn't bother correcting him. I just kept them separate for the most part and supervised any interactions. Varik was stellar about it.


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