Well, Shisa had been exposed to many new creatures, and now it was time to see how Raiju would behave. A new lamb in May went without any trouble, other than a little rough puppy play. The lamb soon got quite good at headbutting the pup, so things evened out there. How Raiju would behave with the guineas was another question, and one we've been pretty pleased with. He's curious about them, but otherwise, is quite willing to ignore them. The most intrest he typically has though, is in what they are eating, and if he can manage to slip into the pen with me in order to raid their food. He's definitely a food motivated dog.
Really dog, it was bad enough the guineas ate all the bird food that was supposed to attract wild birds. You didn't need to try to eat it along with them every time my back was turned. Thankfully, he no longer tries to empty my bird feeders.
My other question, along with how well my dogs get along with other animals, is how well they would get along with a far more unpredictable creature - a child. Now, I knew that older kids (5 and up) my dogs had no problem with, but what about smaller children. My sister-in-law was quite happy to help me with this test, and came out for a visit, bringing her 15-month son. We were careful introducing this highly energetic toddler to the dogs, but our concerns were quickly proven needless. They let the little boy do practically anything, from sitting on their heads, hugging them, and even chewing on them (though we did put a stop to the chewing and sitting on their heads when we noticed. We didn't want to abuse the poor dogs). The worst that would happen was if they would stand up to escape his 'love' and he'd lose his balance and fall over. They even let him help himself to their dog food without any complaints, something I'd been uncertain about, having two food-loving dogs.
Overall, my worries about any possible aggression towards people and animals was unfounded, and I enjoyed being able to have friends and family over without concern over what this new dog would do.
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