Penny and Bravo

I was excited to have Bravo come into our home for Penny's first days because I thought it would give her a chance to learn from him and an opportunity to play with a member of her own species. Penny is fascinated by Bravo and mesmerized by his every move, his wagging tail and his big snout. Unfortunately, Bravo does not seem to like Penny that much. When they first met, Bravo tried to play with her but then was almost immediately annoyed by her. And later on that first day together, he growled at her. That one growl instilled a fear in me that Bravo was going to hurt Penny. In some ways, this fear is irrational - Bravo is a good dog; one of the best dogs I've ever known. He is patient and gentle and loving. However, Bravo is also a hunter. He's killed things bigger than Penny and I started to worry that his prey drive got switched on. The other night he snapped at her and it scared me very deeply. What if a tooth hit her unintentionally in the wrong way? What if his mouth caught on her small body? But at the same time, I know that the only way for Penny to learn social skills is to be taught by dogs like Bravo. She needs to learn that after three growls, she needs to back away and leave the dog alone. As a protective dog parent, how do I let go of my fears and allow Penny to learn some hard lessons from Bravo? I feel as if my own fears are making the situation more confusing for both dogs. They pick up on my sense of fear and it makes them both act differently.

The fear is partially just a natural reaction to one protecting a baby but it also comes from a traumatic experience in my childhood. When I was about 13 or so, a dog that we adopted, a young brown boxer, killed my favorite cat - Perseus. On Thanksgiving. I don't think I was mature enough to process the pain that that experience caused me and the fear of that happening again has come up for me when I witness Bravo and Penny together.

Hopefully I can get over my fear, place my trust in the fact that Bravo is a good dog that I've never seen get in a fight, and allow Penny to learn some social cues from a beast of the doggie world.