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Cheri
I can't thank you enough for taking the time to
respond. I Know she is a special lady like none I have ever encountered.
Rose has done an incredible job socializing her and I intend not to loose that
gift. I would dearly love your feed back as we grow together. Thank
you.
Terri
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, June 29, 2008 3:52 PM
Subject: Re: Look who's on the home
page
Look
who's on the home page
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| From: shadow_wlk |
Terri,
I think that all dogs
go through stages. Even the "gentle" Golden goes through an
addle minded stage from about 1-3yrs.
I agree that you
sound like you have a good start. I wouldn't be as inclined as
James to say a fight is inevitable, but don't be surprised if
there is an altercation in the future.
When Sadie was a
pup she went everywhere with me that a dog could go. She was
socialized in just about every situation you could think of. She
is great with people. Mostly she doesn't care too much about
other dogs (except for her "boyfriend" Rantoul - those two are
inseparable).
However, she scared the hades out of me
one time at the dog park. There was a full grown Mastiff who
just wouldn't leave her alone. I asked the owner to call her dog
away and her response was "he doesn't mean anything by it". I
told her that Sadie didn't like being bothered after she had
told the dog a few times so "please call your dog". Almost as if
on cue Sadie went chest to chest with this huge dog. My heart
stopped for a moment. She is smart enough to use her smaller
size to her advantage and momentarily the Mastiff was on its
back calling Uncle. Unless a dog is actively attacking her I
call her off in these situations, so since the dog gave up, and
the owner came over to finally get her dog away from us, I
called Sadie off and we continued to play. But it is imperative
that you start that kind of training very early and continue
with it.
As far as smart is concerned...There is a very
accomplished trainer around here who will not work with TRD's.
According to him they are too dang smart...I told him he's just
a lazy trainer.
Just like Ginger could solve the route
puzzle, Sadie had her problem solving epiphany at the beach one
summer. Her mouth is too small for two tennis balls, but she
just cannot allow another dog the chance to get her balls. So in
my own version of torture, I threw two balls out into the lake
for her to get. Her distress at having to leave one was
apparent. Leaving one ball was totally unacceptable. She swam
around the extra ball for a moment and you could see her
thinking. Then she swam about 4 feet toward shore, dropped the
ball in her mouth into the water, went back for the other ball
and leap frogged it 4 feet in front of the other ball, dropped
that ball in the water, went back...... By leap frogging the
balls she got them both to shore without leaving one vulnerable
to stealing by another dog.
These dogs really are
frighteningly intelligent. But you will never have a dull moment
and they are fun and full of personality (at least that's my
experience).
As far as loose on the farm is
concerned...I would never give any dog more freedom than they
can handle. I've had dogs I never let off leash, I had one that
I trusted implicitly to come to me directly on recall from
anywhere he could hear me (Barney). I would say that Sadie is
about 90% of Barney in the recall arena. Some of that is her
getting side tracked into something she finds interesting...that
could be digging bugs out of the ground, or stalking a squirrel.
Sometimes I think it's just exercising her independence.
The most important thing is not to feel like you're
playing catch-up. If a TRD (or just about any other dog for that
matter) thinks they are running things, you are in a whole world
of hurt and trouble.
Cheri | |
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