23
Dec
Sage discovered the other dog
Not Grover, but her reflection. For years we’ve noticed that Grover seemed to be able to use the mirror to look elsewhere in the room and recognize the real world correspondence. Sage never was interested in the images in the mirror, almost like she couldn’t see anything.
A few weeks ago when Nicole was getting ready in the mirror that goes to the floor, she suddenly saw herself and started barking at her reflection. Then she would move to the side and peek around to see the other dog doing the same and would bark more. Then at night she saw teh other dog in the glass sliding door, and if she caught sight of herself in the mirror during the day she would have to start barking again.
I was petting Sage in front of the mirror to assure her that it was ok but that got her really pissed, seeing me pet that other dog!
We looked for ways to make Sage accept the other dog and only found one suggestion which was to give the dog treats next to the mirror so they would associate it with good things. Nicole put peanut butter on the mirror and Sage ate it all. Then Nicole put the mirror in a place where Sage could look at both sides and after a lot of investigation between the front and back seems to have made her at peace with the dog in the mirror. She still goes to check on the other dog but now it’s allowed in her territory.