Our new family member is a Red Heeler. I don't really know too much about the breed-Damm's dad really wanted one and one of the local shelters had a brother-sister pair. He wanted the boy. I looked at the girl and decided she was for me :D I named her Bambi. I wanted to go with Suki, a name that my favoritist car and a few WoW pets have shared but it just didn't fit her. Bambi totally did.
She's about a year old. She hasn't had any training to speak of but is remarkably well-behaved. Her biggest no-no is that she jumps up onto people. Wouldn't mind so much if it were just Damm and I but her paws are at Orclette-face level so huge big bad habit. She heeled beautifully for me on the one walk we've taken so far. She knew that when I patted her blanket next to the bed that it was her bed and stayed in it all night-no accidents either. She can sit, stay as long as I don't move away, and she comes about 50% of the time. So with a little training I'm going to have a beautiful, well-behaved animal on my hands.
I told her that her job was to protect the Orclette and so far she's taken me very seriously. At the shelter she and her brother (Max) got along VERY well but as soon as she arrived home with us she got defensive and territorial. Nothing really bad, just a bit of growling. I think-and bear in mind I'm not really in sync with the canine species' mind-that she was submissive because she had nothing to protect/do. As soon as she realized that she was in a different pack than her brother she came out of that submissiveness (at least with him) and let him know he was not boss anymore. With us and Damm's parents she's very submissive. With the Orclette she's patient, loves to follow her around, and thinks the greatest thing is to lick her face. I try to discourage that because Orclette can't tell her no and Bambi gets all excited and won't stop. The Orclette is never ever alone with the dogs, of course. Too many paws and teeth that, while I don't think they'd ever hurt any of us, could cause a lot of accidental damage.
So, I'm excited about Bambi. I'm also just a wee bit overwhelmed with all the learning I have to do. I know a bit-when my mom was training our dog Shelby she learned everything she could and passed it on to me (she doesn't do things halfway). She swears by the Monks of New Skeet (I think that's the correct spelling) and I'm going to be picking up one of their books soon.
So, that's it for now. Pictures will come later in the day, I hope-we still have loads of errands/chores to do. We're about halfway done with my list. Almost there ..... Also, impressions of Las Cruces Wulfa style is a post that will be written. Hopefully. Hehe.
3 comments:
New place looks awesome! Grats on the new pup, it won't take long before she is fully part of the family and you will know how she reacts to everything. I have had a canine companion all my life and they are great friends and protectors. See ya online!
Oh yeah, when my niece was little, our dog wasn't even a puppy anymore (well, not age-wise, but she liked to think she was) and we were still so nervous about accidental claws and all that whenever she came over.
Sounds like you guys are doing great at the new place!
The Monks of New Skete (actual spelling!) have three AWESOME books on raising dogs/puppies. I use the first two when bringing up my two Siberian Huskies before Baby Bar's severe allergies forced us to get friends to adopt them (the third was not out when we got the last one).
Very humane, interactive, and spiritual way of "training" them. Though the human is often trained just as much.
You really cannot go wrong with using those as the basis for training any dog!
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