# Foster Pups Lyla & Darcy



## goonmom (Mar 28, 2013)

So, I'm still fostering my two pitbull girls. They're so great! I've *finally* decided that we won't be keeping either of them. (Waaahh!) I'd love to, but our house is just crazy right now with an 8 month old human baby and a nearly 3 year old human (plus our two dogs, but they're not crazy.  ) 

So, here are some updated pics of the girls. They're growing so fast and are such smart little ones. We do have a lot of chewed up toys, though.. 





Lyla's a head tilter. ;D


They both LOVE sleeping on my baby boy while he's drinking his milk-- usually lasts a whole 3 minutes. But they do it anyway! He is quite snuggly and cozy..  


Pretty Lyla. She has the prettiest, most expressive eyes! Love them.  

And an update-- Lyla is getting adopted tomorrow! A sweet couple came to look at the dogs and puppies at the event last weekend and fell in love with Lyla. But they wanted to double check with their Veterinarian regarding introducing their 3 cats to her and make sure Home Owners Insurance wasn't going to be a problem with getting a pitbull/pitbull mix. Everything checked out, and I have been in contact with the couple all week. They are so excited and have her kennel set up with toys and blankets & bowls & food & have bought her a new "bling" ID tag & collar/leash! This home is going to be amazing and I'm so excited that Lyla will have such a wonderful home.

Now for Darcy to find one just as awesome!!


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## cookieface (Jul 6, 2011)

They're so sweet looking! Congratulations to Lyla on her new home. Hope Darcy is adopted to just as nice a family.


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## goonmom (Mar 28, 2013)

cookieface said:


> They're so sweet looking! Congratulations to Lyla on her new home. Hope Darcy is adopted to just as nice a family.


Thank you so much! They're sweethearts, but I'm admittedly glad to have just ONE crazy puppy in the house instead of two.. Phew! Darcy seems to be the less active one of the two, and she gets along great with my dogs (so did Lyla, but Darcy really likes to play with Joon!)

Lyla was adopted *officially* early this afternoon and I couldn't be more thrilled! I'm glad I'm not sad and crying, but it's totally the Lord keeping me sane. He changed my heart completely in regards to fostering!  (I'm great with giving them away to wonderful homes!) 

Keep praying for a great home for Darcy as well. She deserves it!


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## goonmom (Mar 28, 2013)

Lyla (Now Grace/Gracie Lyla)  Went to her new home *officially* today! She got spayed today and got to go home for good. 

I'm so happy for her!

And also feeling selfish! 

I want that girl back so badly. I told my hubby that if Darcy had been adopted first and we were left with just Lyla, there'd be no question about it. She'd be ours. Having it the other way around is tough, but good, because we really don't NEED a third dog right now. Sigh! *heartache*. 

Pray for me! To be content and continue being happy for her. She really has an AWESOME home and they have done tons of research and have been so kind-- keeping Lyla as her middle name, asking me if I mind if they change her name because they'd keep it Lyla if I did mind! (I said of course not, she IS their dog after all and isn't super responsive to Lyla yet, though she does know it a bit), and always keeping me updated on what's going on/asking my opinion on certain things. 

Anyway.. tough times. Fostering is not easy!


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

Such cuties! Congrats to Lyla/Gracie and her new home 

It's always so hard when you have to let them go, but its totally worth it in the end  I find that it gets easier when you realize that the new home is perfect for them, and that they'll be very happy there ^_^

You're doing a great thing


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## goonmom (Mar 28, 2013)

taquitos said:


> Such cuties! Congrats to Lyla/Gracie and her new home
> 
> It's always so hard when you have to let them go, but its totally worth it in the end  I find that it gets easier when you realize that the new home is perfect for them, and that they'll be very happy there ^_^
> 
> You're doing a great thing


Thank you, Taquitos. I'm feeling better today and know that she does have an awesome home! Can't help but miss her, though!


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## goonmom (Mar 28, 2013)

Darcy has done a few growling moments with my soon to be 3 year old daughter. The first one was when my daughter was being too rough with her-- Darcy did a growl/lunge at her. She did not bite, but it was more of a warning. 

The second growling session was over a toy-- actually one of my daughter's fake food (fabric) toys, and my daughter was being gentle when trying to take it from her-- Darcy growled & placed her teeth on my daughters' fingers and did not hurt her, but it's worrisome all the same.

What can I do to help correct this behavior? Is this Darcy's personality & something that will need lifelong training, or just puppy behavior that needs to be corrected? 


I read somewhere that she could become more possessive if she thinks she's the dominant dog-- things that could make her think this is if a dog is fed by itself and has the mentality that it gets to eat before everyone else as an alpha would. She DOES get fed separately from my two dogs, so I have begun feeding my two dogs & taking her in there to watch them eat, then feeding her where she gets fed.

We haven't had an incident since this happened, but I've been more careful about letting my daughter around Darcy's toys & keeping a closer eye on her when she's playing with Darcy.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

goonmom said:


> Darcy has done a few growling moments with my soon to be 3 year old daughter. The first one was when my daughter was being too rough with her-- Darcy did a growl/lunge at her. She did not bite, but it was more of a warning.
> 
> *It was a warning. Growls are communication. If your daughter starts to play roughly with the puppy, you need to separate the kid and the dog. The dog was saying "Quit bothering me!"*
> 
> ...


My comments are in bold


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## cookieface (Jul 6, 2011)

goonmom said:


> Darcy has done a few growling moments with my soon to be 3 year old daughter. The first one was when my daughter was being too rough with her-- Darcy did a growl/lunge at her. She did not bite, but it was more of a warning.
> 
> The second growling session was over a toy-- actually one of my daughter's fake food (fabric) toys, and my daughter was being gentle when trying to take it from her-- Darcy growled & placed her teeth on my daughters' fingers and did not hurt her, but it's worrisome all the same.
> 
> ...


The first incident sounds as though is could be, as you said, that your daughter was too rough and Darcy was nervous. I'm sure you know and do this, but _always_ supervise the kids and dogs and teach your children how to be gentle and behave around dogs just as you would teach a dog to be gentle and behave around people. Again, I know you know that, but it's good advice for anyone else reading this thread  

The second could be resource guarding and it has _absolutely nothing_ to do with dominance. From what I've read, it is rooted in insecurity - the dog is afraid he will lose his possession (toy, food, space, etc.) and tries to make the threat go away the only way a dog can, by growling, snapping, and possibly biting. There have been numerous threads about it because it's not an uncommon occurrence, but does need to be addressed. 

It's "corrected" by not taking things away from the dog without trading for something better; teaching "drop it" and "leave it" cues; associating the presence of a person around his special toy, space, food, etc. with something wonderful (e.g., really good treats); and managing the environment so that no one bothers him while he has his special object or not allowing him to have certain items you know he guards. There's a book called _Mine!_, written by Jean Donaldson, I believe, that is a guide to dealing with resource guarding and is often recommended here. 

Here are some useful threads:

http://www.dogforums.com/dog-training-forum/159026-food-aggression-dominance.html
http://www.dogforums.com/general-dog-forum/137642-new-problem-dog-protective.html
http://www.dogforums.com/dog-training-forum/137218-lhasa-biting-guarding.html
http://www.dogforums.com/dog-training-forum/159034-dominance-theory-debunked-would.html

podcast from Ian Dunbar

My suggestion is to post this to one of the other sub-sections (Training, maybe?) for advice from more experienced DFers.

Or, what Shell said.  I need to learn to write faster...


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## goonmom (Mar 28, 2013)

Thank you for your advice, Shell. I believe ALL of the times Darcy has growled was JUST warnings. The time my daughter took her toy away from Darcy it was definitely a warning growl as I was watching closely and Darcy growled and then lunged towards my daughter (while laying down) and placed her teeth on my daughters fingers-- again, she did NOT hurt her, but I wasn't sure what to take away from it. 

I only started thinking about dominance when I googled "toy possession with children" and something I read suggested she might feel dominant. Do you think it would be better if I fed them all near each other? I could feed my two on one side of a gate and Darcy on the other side so that they could be getting fed at the same time and know the others are eating, too. 

I will pick up all of the toys before letting my daughter & Darcy play together- thank you for this suggestion. You're right-- puppies & young children is a tough combination. But with advice, I think we can work through it!


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## goonmom (Mar 28, 2013)

cookieface said:


> The first incident sounds as though is could be, as you said, that your daughter was too rough and Darcy was nervous. I'm sure you know and do this, but _always_ supervise the kids and dogs and teach your children how to be gentle and behave around dogs just as you would teach a dog to be gentle and behave around people. Again, I know you know that, but it's good advice for anyone else reading this thread
> 
> The second could be resource guarding and it has _absolutely nothing_ to do with dominance. From what I've read, it is rooted in insecurity - the dog is afraid he will lose his possession (toy, food, space, etc.) and tries to make the threat go away the only way a dog can, by growling, snapping, and possibly biting. There have been numerous threads about it because it's not an uncommon occurrence, but does need to be addressed.
> 
> ...


Oh yay! Thank you for the advice & links. I will definitely look in to them! You're right-- I should post in training. I almost started a new thread but then thought maybe I should keep it on my rescue thread so people would know who I was talking about! Haha!


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

Cookieface linked some good links for threads that might help you.

I don't think that where you feed Darcy has anything to do with resource guarding toys. I feed dogs in completely separate rooms. That way they feel comfortable taking their time to eat (I don't want someone to feel rushed and gulp their food) and even with a gate between them, if one dog finishes eating first, he could bother the other dog. Some people I know feed all the dogs crated but in the same room. This is also a good option IMO>


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## goonmom (Mar 28, 2013)

Shell said:


> Cookieface linked some good links for threads that might help you.
> 
> I don't think that where you feed Darcy has anything to do with resource guarding toys. I feed dogs in completely separate rooms. That way they feel comfortable taking their time to eat (I don't want someone to feel rushed and gulp their food) and even with a gate between them, if one dog finishes eating first, he could bother the other dog. Some people I know feed all the dogs crated but in the same room. This is also a good option IMO>


Okay, thanks! I will continue feeding them like I have been, with Darcy eating by herself.


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