Hello, I’ve been very nervous to ask but I’ve searched everywhere for the answer and have got incredibly conflicting results from just about everyone so here goes
Is it okay to get a dog when I have a Sun??
The Sun was here first (over a year now! Recently celebrated their adoption day) but the dog was very suddenly acquired (someone just dumped it on me and all the shelters nearby were full)
The Sun has a mild temperament, and comes from a bit of a complicated background. (Previous home was neglectful) but the dog is very kind, a bit on the older side and is semi-trained?
I’ve made sure to keep them as separated as possible and definitely made sure to keep the dog out of the Sun’s enclosure (its common sense), but sometimes my Sun will comes out on their own and start getting weird around the dog?
they will initiate a stalking behavior but never pounce, bring the dog toys but never let it play with them, and mimics its barking anytime it does so. I’ve even seen it offer treats but skitters away if the dog gets curious! These are things its never done so im very concerned…
They also will hover around the dog, and mimic me petting it but never actually pet the dog? like they do the motion but never touch the dog, its odd. The dog itself is incredibly chill, never even growled once during its time here, even when the Sun’s being weird.
They haven’t hurt each other yet, and I’m trying to find out if these actions are warning signs or just Sun trying to familiarize itself with the dog?
hopefully you have some insight! Thanks!
(Okay, firstly, LOVE all of this. This is exactly what I’m going for. I don’t know if I’ll be able to do this ask justice because it’s just so cute and weird I love it)
Firstly, good on you for keeping the dog out of the Sun’s space and vice versa!
It seems like your Sun is trying to understand your dog through you. Watching what you do, copying motions. Your Sun is probably thinking, “If you can do that, and you don’t get hurt by the weird thing, maybe I should do that too.”
Suns are very particular about toys, and that’s the only thing I could see going wrong. Suns will not differentiate between “my toy” and “dog’s toy”. There’s only “my toy” and “my toy that dog has stolen”. So, you might need to establish that a certain set of toys is strictly no-touch.
Otherwise, this sounds like a good setup! I wish you luck with the dog and sun.
