Just to update everybody that has been following Bailey’s story…
She is starting to work through her anxiety and we’re seeing definite progress now. She will now get up on her normal places to have a sleep as she slowly learns that strangers are no longer going to appear in her home. We’ve been very careful not to move too much furniture about or create too many changes (despite the place being very dusty now and us needing to change all the furniture covers and throws etc!) because re-establishing her behavioural stability is the most important thing at the moment (and it gives me an excuse to put off the massive early spring cleaning job!). She is still showing some signs of cognitive impairment such as confusion and not recognising people terribly quickly but this could just be her being EXTRA careful about her environment in general so I’m putting off investigating pharmacological intervention for this problem for the time being. It’s like caring for a beloved grandparent who needs a bit of extra help with everyday tasks, bless. And it’s the least we can do for a member of our family that has given us so much love and devotion over the years.
We’ve also been noticing a very subtle shift in the relationship between her and Sticky… He’s been with us about 6 months now and as all people in rescue know, it usually takes about this long for an adopted adult dog to finally get their paws under the table and understand this is where they are staying now. We’ve been noticing some very subtle bed-hopping going on; this is a common way of very peacefully and passively establishing hierarchy in family dogs. For example, as soon as Bailey vacates a bed space, Sticks will hop up and take the space for himself. Bailey will come back, see she has lost her space but instead of standing there for a while to see if he’ll move, or getting up on the sofa beside him, she will now immediately look for somewhere else.
It may be because Sticks has sensed the shift in Bailey in being a senior dog now, especially with the behavioural ‘weakness’ she has shown lately and is doing the very natural thing of taking over the top dog spot. It could be Sticky now realising he is here to stay and as a very confident little guy, deciding he would like to be top dog, or it could simply be because it’s getting colder in the house now and he wants the warmest spot!
It’s all been done in a very passive, peaceful way though and this, for me, is the correct interpretation of dominant behaviour in dogs; calm and gentle, without any aggression or angst.
