Seniority Perks

[Krissim Klaw]

Seniority in pets. I am curious if others find themselves giving a certain seniority to their older/pets you have had longer versus the newer additions? For me I can see it clearly in my mantises. First mantises who get their cages cleaned/ feeding/ watering and all that good stuff are my two golden girls, Tinkerbell and Merlin. Next I will tend to Tick Tock, and Glitch. Last but not least is the new baby nymph, who I still need to come up with a name for.

Although my dog, Kirby, is the oldest animal in the house now he is still often expected the most of when it comes to respecting the other animals boundaries. A large part of this of course has to do with the fact he is a dog. I can't train my mantises to give him space but I can train him to respect the mantises so should one ever fall on the ground or flutter past he knows to leave them be.

So do you find yourselves giving seniority or expecting some of your pets to differ to others?  

[Sachie Whitby]

No. I have cats, and they will sorts things out and divide up the house among themselves regardless of what I think or want. They have their own pecking order where a cat can be dominate in one room but submissive in another. I know which rooms are owned by which cat, which are shared and which are completely disputed. However there really isn't anything I can do about it unless I want to try confining the cats to specific rooms.

When it comes to cleaning their litter boxes. If one litter box has stinkies in it and another one doesn't, the box with stinkies gets cleaned first. If more than one box has stinkies, then the worst smelling gets cleaned first. Conversely if a box gets used for kitty pee pee right before the boxes get cleaned, that box gets cleaned last as trying to scoop wet litter that has been given no chance to dry up always ends up with the clump disintegrating thus the stuff you're trying to scoop out ends up not getting scooped out.  

[~ Aki - Fairy ~]

With the dogs, I find I have the least tolerance for Roxy, the newest, my brother's dog. If there's destruction when all three dogs are around, I typically blame it on her (she's the youngest, biggest, wildest, and often times it's pretty obvious it's not Bella's fault, at least).

I give Bella, the oldest and smallest, the most leeway in some respects, just on account of her being the smallest. At the same time, being that she's mine, I don't hesitate to correct bad behaviours to a certain extent (can't b***h about the other dogs doing something if I'm allowing her to do it as well).

I often give Zoe, the middle dog, the most leeway all around. She's the 'middle child' (I can sympathize with the position quite well) and my Baby Bear. I'll still correct her if she's bad, of course.

I think, with Bella and Zoe, a lot of it comes from Bella getting a brattier attitude when we added Zoe to the family, and I don't want her to think that just because she was here first she's the ultimate boss.  

[Gabrielle_AnimalLuver]

Definitely. I think it's a part of bringing in new animals, you have to consider how it affects the one you are already committed too. Rascal gets free roam of the whole house. He usually gets fed first too. Cowboy is restricted to the kitchen unless otherwise invited into my room or the basement. This allows Rascal plenty of space to get away from the dog.