Isabel and the Demon Dog

From the very first time that Isabel experienced the sharpness of Prince's bite, she was convinced that it was her duty to protect everyone from him.  Each time he tried to sniff Nikki or Charla, she would literally place herself as a barrier between them, raise the hair on her hackles and snarl as if she meant to tear him to pieces.  Even when he grew to be 20 times her size, she continued to stand up to him, valiantly defending whomever she suspected he wanted to accost.

Her protectiveness did not just extend to Nikki and Charla...it also included myself and my boyfriend. Prince's attempts to approach us when one of us was holding her resulted in her launching herself off of our laps and attempting to attach herself to the nearest part of his anatomy in a fit of rage.  Sometimes it was his body, sometimes his chin (whereupon he would shake his hand and send her flying).  This never deterred her, however.  She would simply race back for more, barking ferociously and hurling herself at the nearest part of him.

Sometimes Prince would tire of her attacks (especially when they involved food) and would simply pick her up in his mouth and move her.  Other times, however, he almost appeared to enjoy it, racing past her with his ears down and leaping over the gate separating the kitchen from the living room so she couldn't pursue him.

"She's so mean to him," I marveled to my boyfriend, who was Isabel's most special person...and the one she defended from Prince most ferociously.

"That's because she's scared," he said.  "Of you and your demon dog."

I had hoped that the two of them would be friends someday...but it appeared that was not to be.  At least not in my presence.  My boyfriend claims sometimes when Prince is asleep, Isabel will lie on top of him...but I have yet to see it with my own eyes.

German Shepherds and Other Dogs

When I brought Prince home at 8 weeks of age, I had three small dogs at home...Isabel, my 1 year-old Chihuahua; Nicholas, my 10-year-old Shih-Tzu, and Charla, my 10-year-old toy poodle.  Having the high opinion of German Shepherds that I did, I never expected him to have any problems with them...and, in actuality, I turned out to be somewhat right.  He never actually had any serious problems with them...but there were a few personality conflicts.

Charla, my toy poodle, was the queen of the house...and had been for many years.  Since her earliest days with me, she had an established method of showing her dominance, i.e., flipping anyone new who came into the household (be it a cat or a dog) onto their back and nipping at their belly furiously.  Usually she only had to do this once, because they got the message afterwards and never challenged her again.  When I brought Prince home, he was actually almost the same size as she was...but for some reason which I never did truly understand, she never tried it with him.  Instead, Charla simply gave him what I called "the eye."

The first and most significant time she did this was the first night they both slept with me, on Prince's first night home.  Charla had always slept on my right side, next to my pillow...and little Prince considered taking her spot that first night.  At the first sign of this defiance, Charla sat up, snarled at him in warning, and gave him "the eye."  In spite of their being newly acquainted, Prince knew what it meant, because he stopped in his tracks and began barking at her furiously.  Charla simply continued to give him "the eye," whereupon Prince backed off, went to lie down with a last defiant bark, and stayed away from the head of the bed for the rest of the night...and every night thereafter..

Nicholas had an entirely different method of handling Prince...he simply ignored him.  No matter how much Prince barked at him or danced around him, Nicholas simply stood there staring straight ahead, waiting for someone to rescue him from Prince's unwanted attention.  Considering Nicholas' advanced age, and his dignity, we always responded in the manner...by picking up Prince, gently correcting him and carrying him away.  After a while, Prince gave up on trying to make friends with Nikki...but he never gave up on Isabel.

Isabel was exactly the same size as Prince...and she ran when he chased her.  At first, she seemed to enjoy the attention...until the first time he tried to chew on her.  Isabel reacted with outrage...for the first week, anyway.  By the second week, he was twice as big as she was...and their relationship began to progress in an entirely different manner.