Interesting discoveries

We have had more time with Momo now and have a few discoveries.  For starters, she's not as social as we originally thought she was.  She has attacked 3 of our dogs and they were unprovoked attacks.  One of which really got me hot under the collar due to the fact that it was on our 19 year old Mini-Manchester Terrier (who was an adoption from our local shelter - *YAY FOR ADOPTED PETS!*).  Now before anyone goes and gets any ideas here, let me break this down.  These attacks happened outside under supervision and there were no toys or food around and no shows of dominance or aggression by any of the dogs.  We keep Momo in the den and she is separated from the pack by a 3-foot baby gate (which over the last couple of days she has been charging in "attack" mode).  She is fed at the same time as everyone else and in the den.  Now some of you may disagree with our keeping Momo separated from the pack.  However, we find that if we bring a new dog into the house, it is less stressful on the entire house and pack if they are kept separate from the pack but not "caged" so they can get to know each other without the pack order being disturbed. 

We believe that Momo may have food aggression as she is highly motivated by food.  She dances, talks and carries on until we get her breakfast/dinner ready.  When it comes time for her to go outside to go potty, she plays possum and refuses to move.  Since the attacks, we have restricted her outside time to her alone simply out of the safety for our dogs.  She gets her social time with us and we spend time with her one-on-one, just like we do with all of our dogs.  We are starting to feed her outside as a motivator to get her out and I'm not sure how I feel about that right now.  We'll see how it goes.  I just don't want her to get the idea that every time she goes outside, she eats.

We are taking her to PetSmart tomorrow to get her weighed and we're crossing our fingers that she has lost a little weight.  I am noticing a little that she appears to be slimming down/toning a little, but it's only been 10 days.  We are also thinking that Momo was a food hoarder.  Trying to understand why she is so obese and why the others she was rescued with are under weight is the only indicator we have of this because we limit her food intake.  Make no mistake though, when it's time to eat, she cleans her bowl.

Some of you may be wondering why I am sharing these things about her if she is to ever be adopted.  I am of the belief that in order for Momo to go to the proper home all of her personality traits need to be disclosed.  We know that Shibas are a special breed and they have traits that are not for everyone.  I think any of us that have had or have a Shiba would agree that if we had gotten our first Shiba without knowing about these things, we would have been lost.  I know I certainly appreciate my support system in the person I got my Shibas from because she has taught me a lot about them and I've had at least one Shiba for 8 years now.  We all need to be educated on something before we make a commitment and that is why I share everything I observe.  It's the only fair thing to do for both Momo and her adoptive family/pack.