We have had a confusing 2023 for my dog, Nadi. For most of her life Nadi has only really known me and a few other people and because of where we have lived, she hasn't had a great deal of interaction with other dogs at any point in her life aside from a few instances where I was looking after someone else's dog while they went somewhere out of the city.
Kennels or boarding services are generally not very good so I can totally understand why someone would rather their dog stay with a friend even if it means that the dog is just going to mostly be sleeping or sitting around but at least the dog has freedom in those situations, even if it is boring freedom. A lot of the boarding services I have seen over here in SE Asia consist of your dog sitting in a kennel 23 hours a day with a little bit of outdoor time. That makes me sad to think about my dog being like that, or anyone else's. Therefore, when someone needs someone to look after their dog for a few days I am more than happy to do that for them.
Meet Charlie, the 5 year old Shih-Tzu female who looks an awful lot like Nadi but is not Nadi. I have said in the past that Nadi is not a pure-breed Shih-Tzu and it is only when she is around another Shih-Tzu type dog that is confirmed purebred that this is particularly evident. Nadi's face and body is slightly different than a purebred Shih-Tzu and that is just fine with me. It's not like I went out of my way to get a Shih-Tzu, Nadi was a rescue dog of sorts.
Charlie's caretaker / owner has to go out of town for some sort of business thing for 5 days and Charlie is staying with us. So far, she hasn't been any trouble at all even though she isn't very good on a leash because of a life of being taken on considerably fewer walks than Nadi's regular 2 per day routine.
When we went to a nearby pub for a few hours to watch a sporting event, I took both dogs with me. Nadi is allowed to wander the floor but since Charlie is not my dog and doesn't come to me when I call, she was relegated to a chair and she was perfectly ok with that. She never made any attempt to get down from there and got plenty of attention from the humans in attendance anyway.
Just like all dogs whenever I am having something to eat the two of them stand at attention to watch every single bite until I eventually relent and let them have a tiny bit of whatever I am eating at the time. Charlie, unlike Nadi, is very fickle with what she will eat and getting her to have her breakfast can be a chore. I'm one of those guys that feels that if a dog is hungry, they will eat so I don't make special accommodations for Charlie and as the days go by she is starting to eat the food that I put out for her. On day one she basically refused to eat anything at all but I think a lot of this comes from separation anxiety with her owner not being present.
Her and Nadi aren't exactly best friends and that isn't Charlie's fault. Nadi simply doesn't care for other dogs and the last time that we had another dog staying here her reaction to the other dog's presence was the same. Nadi isn't aggressive, she just prefers to be left alone. A couple of times Charlie has tried to play with Nadi but Nadi was having none of that and just barked at her until she left Nadi alone . It was funny to watch. Nadi is a grumpy old lady for sure.
Charlie is only staying with us for a few more days and has been no problem at all. Unlike my own dog, Charlie actually loves cuddles. Nadi is ok with you petting her but if you try to snatch her up and hold her she quickly gets claustrophobic and will demand that you put her down. Charlie will go to sleep on your shoulder and at night sits directly next to me in the bed. Nadi actively moves away from people if they get too close. All dogs are different and cute in their own way!
It's been interesting having Charlie here and the two of them get along about as well as can be expected. I am sure that Nadi will probably be happier once Charlie is gone but in the meantime it has been relatively effortless having the other dog here. It's been kind of nice actually. Don't worry though. I am not going to get another dog. Having one as an expat is difficult enough!