So, most people know Sheba has been a royal pain in my ass since forever    . It's been a constant roller coaster with her with some pretty low lows. Recently, she had been trying to eat my foster Spoo Luna while I was away working.

WELL..

I have to give an update on my little hellion.

Since I have been back, and granted, it has only been about 3 weeks (ish?) I couldn't be happier with everything I've been seeing. This will be kind of long, so bare with me if you chose to read   .

First off- Sheba's resource guarding
Luna loves toys, and I usually keep them separated when Luna gets bit by the toy bug. Recently, Luna has figured out where I keep the toys hidden in the bedroom and has slowly been dragging them out and hiding them throughout the bedroom. Sheba likes to go in the bedroom and chill by herself and do some crazy zoomies by herself. It's totally adorable, but one day I heard squeaking while she was in there. I sneaked a peak in, and she had a kong tennis ball. Now, where ever I go Luna goes (total velcro dog, and after 8 months I'm still not used to it lol) and I got SO SCARED that something was about to go down. BUT NOPE! Sheba put her butt up in the air and threw the ball in the middle of them and they played!! We also have another Kong toy (can't remember the name) that Luna drug out that Sheba is obsessed with. I heard her in the bedroom doing her usual bark/howl thing at herself, then I hear a WACK! She had thrown the toy against the wall and was playing tug with BOTH Kennedy and Luna!! She INSTIGATES play now and I LOVE IT!

Second-Sheba's "guarding" over me
This has happened with Luna, Ares, and Kennedy (Ares was my male Sibe foster before Luna), but especially Luna. For example, Sheba would be on the couch next to me, Luna comes up for pets, and Sheba lashes out and bites. Luna has some pretty bad scars from Sheba, and this was really the hardest thing for me to "fix" since it would only happen sometimes. I couldn't predict when as Sheba would only sometimes give a warning and other times she'd just go for it.

We have not had ANY instances, and trust me, I was on hiiigh alert when I came home. All the girls were super clingy (obvi) so I figured if anything, that would be the time it would happen. NOPE!! So proud! Sheba has not given any signs of "this is mine", nor has she shown any discomfort when Luna and her are laying with/by me.

Third-Sheba's space problems
For this, Sheba could be laying on the ground, on the couch, walking by, sitting down or whatever; and she would randomly decide her personal space bubble size and attack if she felt it was threatened. For example- One of her favorite spots to lay is in front of the couch by the TV, which is maybe 2-3 ft from the hallway that connects the bedroom and living room. If Luna got off the couch or made a move to go to the bedroom, sometimes Sheba would leave her alone, and other times that was just too close and she'd go for it. Sheba rarely likes to give signals that last longer then 5 seconds, and the saying is Poodles don't get their brains until after 2 years old (Luna was 12-14 months at the time  , and it was very true for her), so it was a conundrum of miscommunications.

NOW, Sheba makes the moves to cuddle with Luna and is very forgiving of her "space" being invaded. Sheba has raised her lips, raised her hackles, made any vocalizations, or given the stare down to Luna since I have been home.

Hopefully I haven't shot myself in the foot by typing this, but I'm so so sooooo proud of Sheba. She turns 2 soon, so I'm sure it's a mixture of training for both girls, maturity on both her and Luna's end, and time  . So, that is my biiig brag for my girls!

So glad that she is making process

This is great, Kelsey.

That's awesome! What do you think changed?

Thank you all!!

When I saw Sheba actually engage Luna in play with a toy, I think my heart stopped lol!!! It has been a big adjustment on my end trusting them to be in the bedroom alone without supervision.

Jen, I'm not too sure. While I was away Chris said they had those few spats in the first couple weeks after I left, and turns out Sheba went into a full blown heat cycle in the middle of week 2 and 3, so I'm going to blame a lot of the initial problems on that and adjusting to me being gone. Other than that, he said they got along great and would play and cuddle together. From what he said he never left toys out unattended, but I don't really believe that lol. I'm not sure if me being gone helped them forge a bond or what lol!!

That is great news So happy for you! Ever since I started lurking around the forum about a year ago, I saw you struggling with Sheba. Seems your love and patience has finally payed off.

This is great to hear! I also remember your rants with Sheba, so it's really nice to hear that there is good progress!

I hope things keep getting better for you