He’s Baaaaack…..
For the last week we have had our good buddy Lucas back visiting us for the next month. If you remember, Lucas is a large white Labrador whose parents go to Argentina every summer for a month. Last year Oscar was very young when he came and they got along great but because of Oscar’s weirdness these last couple of months we were a little concerned with how he would react to having another dog in the house now. Well, not really CONCERNED per se, more like curious. Oscar is a very dominant alpha dog. He falls into step with my husband when he is home, but for me there is a battle with Oscar over who is alpha quite a lot of the time. He really doesn’t listen to me very well. Mommy is optional.
Last Saturday we were expecting Lucas early afternoonish. So in the morning my husband took the dog out to the pool after he got back from a run. Oscar and Tim were swimming and suddenly there’s a knock on the door as i was cutting up mango. It is mango season here in Florida. I just had to throw that out there because it is my favorite time of year here. Mangoes are the most perfect food on the planet! Every single one we pull off of the tree and cut open is an absolute joy. It is ridiculous to me that something can be so outstandingly perfect and delicious! I am astounded at how much I enjoy them. It makes me feel rich. Who needs money when you can pick a delicious fruit like that off of a tree and eat it? I am slightly allergic as the skin has a somewhat poison ivy effect, but I don’t care. It is so worth it. Okay, sorry for the tangent I’m back now….
So as I said, husband and Oscar are in the pool enjoying getting cooled off after a run. I’m in the house and I hear knock on the door. I was not expecting to open the door to Lucas, who ran inside and jumped around as if he remembered everything about the house and me. He was so excited to see me and jumped in circles giving me kisses and whining a little bit. It was hilarious and totally unexpected. His daddy came in and was shocked at the way this eight-year-old Labrador was acting. Very puppy like. I told them that Oscar and hubby were outside and so off they went. As soon as we opened the back door Lucas and Oscar were in the pool! Lucas’s daddy said that he never goes in their pool. He was shocked to see Lucas jump right in and sit on the step wading in the shallow end. We ended up keeping them outside almost all day. Lucas has a very dense coat, so getting him dry enough for the house was a challenge he stays wet for a really long time.
The two dogs have been roughhousing all week-long. Oscar pretty much tortures Lucas. He taunts him with toys, tries to get Lucas to chase him around the couch which works sometimes but not every time. Oscar can’t seem to just leave him be. Even when Lucas is just laying down Oscar has to get in his face and smell him or bite his legs or torture him in someway. We were correct in our assumption that Oscar would battle for alpha position even though Lucas doesn’t really challenge it in any real way. Something that Oscar has gotten in the habit of doing even to our small black cat Albert, he ambushes anyone who is walking through a door. So let’s say for example the cat has been out on the porch and wants to come in. If I start to walk over to the slider to let Albert in, Oscar runs over to the door and stands with his legs apart right in front of where it will open. I tell him to get back but he does not listen to me, and as soon as Albert sets foot inside the door Oscar charges him with his mouth open and chases him through the house sometimes getting his mouth around Albert’s neck. It is just play but it is rough play and with Lucas it seems a little bit more aggressive than it does with anyone else.
Aside from that it seems like Oscar and Lucas get along pretty good. They don’t lay side-by-side or anything cute like that but they do play together. Anyone seeing it from the outside would think that they were actually fighting with the amount of growling and barking that goes on. It sounds absolutely vicious. But it is quite the opposite. Both are still wagging their tails as they are making all this noise.
I think Lucas is a good influence on Oscar too. Lucas is very well-adjusted, not afraid of the TV by any means (HAHA!) and may teach Oscar some good habits like not barking uncontrollably when someone comes to the door ane enters the house. We had some friends over Saturday night and Oscar calmed down a lot faster than he usually does. Win win!
I’ve always wondered what Oscar would be like if we decided to get another dog. And I think Oscar understands that Lucas is just visiting. But they seem to have fallen to step and it’s getting easier as time progresses. Lucas has made me really miss having a true Labrador in the house however. He is a big fluffy harp seal looking bear of a dog. He has those big dark eyes and that white fluffy for. And he’s so large and sweet. As soon as you look at him he wags his tail, he wants to be petted and rolls over immediately with his legs in the air and just wants to be loved. Oscar will be taunting him with the ball running around the couch and all of us wants to do is interact with me. As soon as I sit down on the couch he comes over and rest his head on my knee just wanting me to invite him up.
So needless to say things have been interesting around the house lately. The amount of fur that blows across my floor is insurmountable. I am just getting ready to vacuum the whole house as I write this. Fun for the whole family! But this experience has been great for all of us, and it makes me want to add another dog to the house… a Labrador.
Saving Cody 