Learning to get along

TJ has been a bit of a challenge to incorporate into the household. He's a bit of an asshole with other dogs, particularly male dogs, which I'm told is a husky trait. He doesn't try anything with Trooper, and Sparky just avoids him, but he challenges Theo and Max, staring at them, posturing, asserting himself, and just generally being an asshole. The blog post I did on TJ generated 800 hits on the blog that day, but not a single inquiry about him, so I have to assume that he's here for the long haul. That being the case, we need to work on his interpersonal relationship skills.

Maya, Max, and TJ

Today I took him hiking together with Max, and Maya of course. Max can be an asshole himself. He doesn't really mean to be, but when he gets excited he doesn't know how to act is can be aggressive towards other dogs. I crated Max for the drive to the trailhead, but they walked together with no problems at all. All three rode home together in the back of the van without incident. I'm going to start walking him with the other male dogs, one at a time, so they develop, hopefully, a better relationship. I also continue to hope that his testosterone level will continue to drop the further we get from his neuter date and that his attitude will mellow a bit more.

They walked in every possible configuration today. Max was
generally out front because TJ is more inclined to pause for
a quick sniff and pee. Max does some, but he's pretty single-
mindedly focused on the trail when we walk.

We did another five miles today. TJ refuses to act his age.

It was warm enough today and the water crossings were a
welcome respite. We paused there longer than usual.

Maybe it's a husky thing, but TJ isn't really interested in the
water. Max wades into the deepest part and splashes to cool
himself off. TJ gets a quick drink and they usually sniffs around
on the bank rather than stay in the water.

I hadn't had Max out on the trails for a while and he was very
happy to join us today. Walking three really isn't much harder
than two, although we were slower than yesterday's pace.