Hostess Luna

It's been another crazy week (are you tired of hearing that phrase yet?).  To add to our busy week we've been dogsitting Chewie while her family is away on vacation.  You may remember Chewie from previous posts.  She is a rescued Shih Tzu that was found running loose on a local highway.  Luna and Chewie are good buddies and have traveled on several adventures together.  However, this was the first time that Chewie has slept over at our house.

Luna was quite content to have Chewie hanging out with us the first evening.  I think she enjoyed the company.  When it was time for bed, Chewie settled into her crate.  Luna stared at Chewie from her pillow as if wondering why Chewie was still in our house.  Doesn't she go home at night?

Luna has also been having trouble giving Chewie space while she is eating.  Chewie is very submissive so if Luna comes too close Chewie will walk away from her food allowing Luna to swoop in.  The "leave it" command has been very helpful this week.

The trickiest part of having Chewie stay with us has been walks.  We are used to walking at a brisk pace which equates to a sprint for Chewie.  The first walk I took with both dogs had me walking sideways with Luna out front and Chewie lagging behind.  Both dogs were frustrated and I don't even want to think about how the neighbors saw me.  To solve this problem I've been using Chewie's retractable leash to give her a little more space.  However, this solution has it's flaws when Luna steps over Chewie or Chewie runs underneath Luna.

I think Luna enjoys having Chewie around, but I know she will be very happy to be an only dog again.