We’ve had our new Boston Terrier “Vinnie” in our home now for about three months.
He’s a different dog, for sure.
There is more noise and activity in the house. Boston Terriers are energetic, fun-loving dogs who can play hard and loud, which Baby and BonBon would do regularly before Vinnie entered the picture. However, the youngster brings a whole new level of competitiveness to the arena. He barks at the others when he gets excited and emits a weird howl when he gets frustrated. He also has a weird compulsion to challenge Baby to a wrestling match every fifteen minutes, or so it seems.
We think this odd behavior is explained by his upbringing before we rescued him. It appears that he wasn’t well socialized. That would explain his excitement and his tendency to get pissed when he can’t win the tug-of-war game. Although he loves to play “bitey-face” with both older dogs, he never draws blood, so he fits in with the other, more experienced practitioners of the art.
Vinnie is less than two years old. We raised Booger and BonBon from seeds, so they came to know what we expected at a very young age. JayJay was three years old when we rescued him, but he was a trained and well-behaved guy from the get-go. In contrast, little Vinnie was shuttled between a few owners, and at least one of them treated him poorly as a puppy (we think as an “outside” dog!).
Vinnie doesn’t do well on-leash. He’s now had some obedience training and he’s responsibe around the house; however, out in the community is another matter. The little bugger continues to pull while on-leash, and exhibits a burning desire to run to humans and other dogs if he spots them on his “walk”. Again, if he gets frustrated, he will let out that weird howl, which scares the bejeezus out of the other dog and his handler. He means no harm; he just wants socialize.
I need to work with him on this; it’s totally unacceptable and embarrassing.
Also, when he meets another dog on the street, particularly a big one, he tends to get in trouble by putting his mug in the other dog’s face. Some of these encounters don’t end well, as the offended party might lash out. Vinnie needs to cool it and take things a bit slower, casually move around the dog, smell its ass, and compare notes, so to speak.
He’s not aggressive, as in wanting to fight, but rather he is too impatient to make a new friend. We’ve had a number of other dogs around him in our home, in our yard, and at other people’s homes. Generally, after the initial awkwardness, he gets to playing with them and they all have a great time.
Vinnie has an innate urge to dominate. He’s an A personality, certainly not a shrinking violet. It takes him awhile to figure out where he is on the food chain when he gets thrown into a pack environment. Just like he has in our home, he will find his role in the pack. In our house, Vinnie is tied with BonBon at runner-up position behind Baby.
One thing Vinne has done in our home is to glom onto me, pretending that he’s my special sidekick. The others know where they stand and don’t seem to mind that he claims the area of the sofa nearest to me at TV time. Sometimes, he naps on my lap. Vinnie has also claimed the area next to my left hip while we’re all sleeping at night. I think it’s pretty cool that Baby and BonBon are chill with this behavior; perhaps they are going out of their way to make Vinnie feel welcome in the house. I love them all the more for doing this.
As a matter of fact, the introduction of Vinnie into our home has made me appreciate the qualities of the other two Bostons all the more. Baby is the Nice One, the Big Brother with the wonderful temperament, a pack leader who is always ready to spend time with Vinnie, even if he’s being a pain in the ass. BonBon is the Sweet One, a great companion to Vinnie who likes a lot of the same things (bone chewing, lounging in the backyard, competing for toys, sounding the alarm) and is comfortable snuggling/napping against him. Those two are BFF’s.
Like all Boston Terriers, they play hard and sleep (nap) often. While Baby prefers to nap on the sofa, Vinnie and BonBon are often found catching a few winks on our bed, or the bed in the guest room, or curled up together on the little dog bed.
Vinnie has some food issues. He’s a quick eater and, if he had his way, would move over to BonBon’s dish and clean that one up, too. We’ve never had a “food competition” problem with our other Bostons; they’ve always respected each other. However, with Vinnie, we have to move their dishes about twenty feet from each other in order to maintain order. Sometimes, Charlie sits in a chair near BonBon to wave off Vinnie if he finishes his meal and gets an urge to help himself at BonBon’s expense. I have not seen Vinnie going after Baby’s food while she was eating; he’s probably too smart for that.
Speaking of food, the little guy is my shadow whenever I’m in the kitchen or pantry, always looking/hoping for some dropped edibles or a treat that I might throw his way. Vinnie has springs for legs and the 12″-tall dog can jump up on our 37″-high kitchen “island” if his nose tells him to. I saw him do it just once; after that, I don’t leave food up there unattended.
The hair loss problem that Vinnie exhibited when we took him on seems to be gone. His coat is nice, now, and he is an amazingly handsome dog, with the best Boston Terrier markings in the pack. He does, however, still have the alopecia around his eyes, which make him look like he’s wearing pink sunglasses. I don’t know if we can resolve that malady, but I will pursue it with the vet next time we see her.
All in all, Vinnie is a 7 on a scale of 10 after three months. Once he gets fully socialized and can behave like a gentleman on-leash, we will have a gem of a Boston Terrier.
Our fingers are crossed.