Now that Sasha’s been at the house a few days, there’s been a lot of learning.
I mean, a LOT.
And mostly, it’s us learning, not her. 🙂
It IS exactly like having a child. Well not exactly. Dogs can come with instruction manuals, kids don’t.
I’m wondering what sort of baggage Sasha has. Been talking things over with a friend of mine and I’m coming to the conclusion that something from her previous owner wasn’t right. I don’t know. Did they neglect her? Did they not give her the attention, socialization, and training that a Kuvasz needs (especially as a puppy)? I mean, I know for a fact when she went back to the breeder that her coat was not where it should be, and we need to continue the rebuilding of it. So that’s an indicator of something not right, that the original owner didn’t do (some) things right. But to what extent? just what specifically? No way to know.
Bottom line: girl has baggage.
*sigh*
But she’s not a lost cause. I mean, that our family has been accepted? That’s a good sign. There’s no question from how she behaves that she loves us and adores us and knows we’re her flock to protect. I know that we have “alpha” over her since I can fully manipulate her, we can brush her, I stuck my fingers in her mouth today to remove a rock she picked up (wasn’t going to struggle with “drop” commands, just had to remove it) and I didn’t get bit. I exert alpha when she needs it, and she submits. So I suspect we’ll be able to make this work, but it’s going to take time.
She knows commands like sit, stay, down, come, drop it, leave it, and a few other things. But she isn’t perfect in obeying. Why? I’m not sure. Sometimes I suspect she’s intentionally disobeying because she’s decided working is more important (e.g. she’s guarding the kids and my telling her to “come” would require her to leave her tactically superior position, and she’s decided she can’t do that for whatever reason). Sometimes I think she’s trying to find our boundaries. And sometimes I think she’s just not conditioned to say “how high?” when I say “jump”, each time, every time, all the time. So, I’m starting to work with her on all the basic commands… let’s go back to remedial work and establish the ground rules. I’m seeing progress, because she’s responding to “come” and “sit” much better this evening than she did before. We’re up to 10 seconds on stay and I betcha I could do more, but baby steps at this point. When I took her outside today, I’d have her got potty then start to work on “loose leash” walking. That’s going to take more work.
Just have to work on it every day. Just have to schedule in time for work and practice every day, at least twice a day.
But apart from all this work and baggage? She’s a sweet girl. Very loving, and has shown a silly, clown side too. I do adore her. I have no regrets (yet?) about this. It’s a lot of work, and it’s likely going to be more work than normal because we’re going to have things to undo and/or reestablish. But you know… the things you do for love. 🙂
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You aren’t looking at this right. You aren’t seeing things as a dog sees them.
How do dogs survive in the wild? Through the pack! They collectively bring down animals that are too big for any one dog to attack. In such a way is the pack fed.
There is a pecking order. Big, mean dogs get to eat first, which makes sense since they are the best at bringing down the big prey. Then the not quite so mean and big, then the smaller than, and so on. Teensy beasts eat last.
No problem if there is plenty to go around, but populations of prey animals eventually crash. Then the alphas still eat, but the guys on the bottom die by slow starvation. Bad way to die.
To us, this is a silly way to look at the world. The dog eats kibble out of a bowl, for Pete’s sake! No stalking or killing necessary!
But dogs operate on instinct, and their ability to reason (while it exists) is extremely limited. Your house is a den in the earth to them, the dog food twice a day the guts of a downed Kibble Beast, their daily walk the serious matter of marking their territory so the other dogs in the neighborhood won’t eat all the Kibble Beasts needed to feed the pack.
So what is Sasha doing? Just what any other dog would do. She is trying to see if she can inch her way up the pecking order, and she is doing this because she is desperate to keep from starving to death.
It is a dangerous and terrifying world that dogs inhabit, full of dominance and submission, hidden dangers, and territory to defend. If they fail, they and all they know will die.
This isn’t true because you and your family are there to take care of her. But Sasha can’t understand that.
Yup. I do KNOW I have to think like a dog, but I’m still working on getting my brain to actually think that way.
I do know there is an issue (issues?) with her — looking at the state of her coat and what the breeder said about that situation, it’s evident something wasn’t handled right in her past. But exactly WHY things are now as they are? Don’t know. And ultimately, it only matters to satisfy my curiousity. Things are as they are and I just have to accept and move forward from here.
I do expect some degree (if not all) of it is her learning her place in this new pack. And well, she’s just gotta learn her place. Lots of love, but no putting up with any bullshit. 🙂
“Lots of love, but no putting up with any bullshit.”
Sounds to me like you have it well in hand!
I hope so. I admit a little “fear” (for lack of a better word) in the whole thing, but only because I want this to work out well.
I admit a little “fear” (for lack of a better word) in the whole thing,…
Would “apprehension” be a closer fit?
Perhaps. If the definition used is “anxiety or fear that something bad or unpleasant will happen” well… yeah, I do have that, but I’d say “COULD happen”.
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