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Is Your Dog a Picky Player?

What Your Dog May Be Trying to Tell You

By Kaycee GrantPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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Anniebelle(Shetland Sheepdog)

Most of us see our dogs as playful and happy pups ready to chew and bark at nearly anything that comes their way, but if you're like me, you might have discovered this is not always the case.

It feels just like yesterday I was picking up my pooch for the first time. Her eyes were so bright and full of mischievousness. Before I had gone to my breeder to pick her up I had earlier bought a cart full of toys and treats galore for my new baby. I was so excited and joyed to take her home and show her all these wonderful new toys and treats.

As I held her and walked into my home, she jumped out of my arms and began to run around. At first she ran all over the floor then soon to the sofa and the love-seat, wreaking havoc amongst the pillows and my poor cat. As she ran upstairs, I crept down to the den to grab those new toys and treats I was so anxiously waiting to give her.

When she finally ran back downstairs, I gave her this plush toy hedgehog that squeaked when you squeezed it. She picked it up slowly and for a moment I thought she was going to start running around with it and rip into it like most of my previous dogs had done before her.

Instead to my shock and at the time hilarity, she handed it back to me! At first I thought this was adorable and couldn't stop laughing, but as I handed her other toys including a tennis ball and a rope, each one she would gently grab then hand back to me!

Over the next couple months I could not to all my might find her a toy to which she would play with. To my even further dismay she would not eat treats, whether they were the expensive kind or even table scraps!

I began to worry and think she was depressed and or sick. I took her to the vet on multiple occasions trying to solve her lethargy but everything indicated she was perfectly healthy.

Pretty soon she started to cry in the night and began nipping at me when we played. Eventually I had to start sleeping next to her at night to calm her and make sure she wouldn't wake the rest of the house up.

The nipping though! It never ended. I tried everything from poking her nose to a spray bottle with water, nothing worked.

Then it hit me as I was reading the newspaper. I came across an ad for a puppy. Another Shetland just like her, a little male puppy. He was the last one in his litter and had not been sold yet. When I researched his ad online I realized he was only a day older than my current pup. What were the odds?

I thought on this for a few days then decided to take a 2 hour trip to go get this pup. (I know what you're thinking right now. "Get a second pup when the other isn't acting right?" But something felt right about it.)

I finally arrived home with this tiny male pup around 11 pm. I took him out to the back porch where my female puppy was laying. As I gently set him on the ground my female pup approached and began to sniff him.

Then it happened.

She began to play! Not only did she began to run and jump again but she picked up her toys out of her basket and gave them to this new pup to play with! She actually handed her toys to this new puppy which began to start a match of "tug-a-war" with her.

After a few weeks of playing with Leo, which is what I had named my new puppy, she gained 5 pounds, which is a great amount for Shetlands. She also had quit nipping at people and has become the sweetest dog I've ever known.

It has been almost a year and they are still the best of buds.

You see, I always thought dogs were Man's best friend, but now I'm thinking, maybe... Man's best friend sometimes needs a best friend too.

Together Forever

Leo(left) and Anniebelle(right)

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