Vastly Different Personalities

It took me longer to adjust to having two dogs than it did to just having Target.  Especially, because Comet was very vocal and very needy.  Target was an obedient puppy until he reached adolescence, Comet on the other hand was the exact opposite.  He was a holy terror until he reached 6 months old and then mellowed right out into an obedient willing dog. 

The fact that we always seemed to pander to his neediness led Comet to believe that he was the boss. If I asked him to do anything even remotely disagreeable he would growl and bite me. I don't mean I had a puppy who was teething, I had a gremlin who had gotten a bath and resented not getting things his way.  Trying to distract Comet or convince him something else might be more fun, would only infuriate him more and the tantrums would be bigger, the bites would be more vicious.

In the end, after exhausting all of the options the only way I could really gain back any of my power was to put him in his crate. I had tried ignoring him outside the crate as I had done with Target.  This just left my more sensitive areas open and after getting needle sharp puppy teeth to the back of the ankle too many times, I would lead him to a time out.

Time out was Comet's worst nightmare, which was ridiculous. His crate was covered from top to bottom in plush blankets, his favorite Lamb Chop stuffy was in there, complete with a squeaker for entertainment, and his time outs would only last until he was calm. Then we'd play again. He was always led gently to the crate (way gentler than he was with me for sure!) And while I was firm, I was never loud or punishing. Regardless, if Comet was a person and I, his real mother, I can imagine the things he screamed at me from his crate on these occasions would be worthy of a Dr. Phil episode.

The only creature who could calm Comet out of one of his giant, tiny dog tantrums was Target. Target was Comet's favorite toy. He would often intentionally wag his tail near Comet to catch his interest and flip it around so Comet could chase it.

Target could also correct Comet in a way that I was neither communicative nor dog like enough to pull off. We had taught Target a sign for "gentle", which we didn't actually need until they were older and we nicknamed them "The Bash Brothers". Human/sign language intervention was crucial to avoid disaster.  However, if Comet ever got too rough, too bold or even too all round “twerpy”, Target had no issues knocking him over and walking off.  I envied Target’s ability and commitment to ignoring him into submission.

It wasn't until Comet was older that I managed to build a good relationship with him. I found him exhausting and hard to read when he was little.  Most of the time I could follow the clues and find out why an animal was acting a certain way. His motivations as a puppy are still a mystery to me.

This served to teach me a good lesson about my dogs though:

It was ok to have different relationships with them individually.

Target is still the one who sits on the bed with me when I have a migraine. Comet is the one who I can hug if I've had a bad day. Target sleeps on his back with his tongue hanging out. Comet makes me laugh with his clumsiness. They are proof that, like people, even dogs with the same genetics can have vastly different personalities.