![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Sitting at the table, dogwatching. I hear a snarl and a yip, and turn around to see Coba, with great vehemence, chasing Chaos away from the salmon-cooking pan he's been working on for about half an hour. The complete hilarity of Mr. Parfait Fluff being all dominant and chasing a puppy now twice his height across the kitchen aside, I find it fascinating to witness their interactions. One of the great things about having so many of them is seeing them develop as a pack as well as individually, watching the subtleties and intricacies of their interaction and trying to understand.
And then there's seeing a Sheltie bear his fangs in what is essentially wolf behavior, and for someone who keeps actual wolfdogs, it's too silly for words. I mean, shelties. Can I ever really take Coba 100% seriously? They are such an odd mix of resilience and tenderness. Coba has grown into an interesting and quirky little dog. Wary of most human strangers, offering me a silly and affectionate side he rarely lets others share, Coba is surprisingly dominant with many other dogs. He seems to have the sense to back down from the ones that are big and genuinely fierce (good; I hope he learned something from Pryde) but I am continually surprised to see my parfait being the one all stiff-legged and raised-tailed when he meets a stranger. Watching a husky try to get its face below Coba's eye level was pretty funny; now that's genuflecting.
We walked for a long time today in the forest, and Coba and Chaos played their way along the trail in a succession of puppy brawls. Coba still usually ends up on top. They are good for each other; older dogs may help you train a pup, but I realize more than I used to how nice it is for them to have a companion closer to their own age as well. Coba is still not quite certain what to do with adulthood, apparent confidence amongst other dogs aside, but Chaos is still a young puppy, all paws and legs and gawkiness. I wonder how they will be together when they grow older, how they will interact, who will ultimately end up alpha male. Chaos shows signs of great confidence with people and dogs, more so than the retiring Coba, and he will of course be bigger. Then again, one should never underestimate the motivation of a sheltie protecting a pan with salmon skin baked on.
Rogue, of course, can remove a puppy from her presence with one curled lip and a quiet growl.
I heard Chaos bark today for the first time, when he was startled walking past the neighbor's noisy Labrador. It was much deeper than I thought it would be, given his less than 5 months of age and the notoriously piercing collie's bark. Why hello there, little dog, where did that come from? Coba and Chaos are still becoming. I have a lot of time with the two of them, I hope. I wonder who they will be almost as much as I wonder the same thing about myself.
And then there's seeing a Sheltie bear his fangs in what is essentially wolf behavior, and for someone who keeps actual wolfdogs, it's too silly for words. I mean, shelties. Can I ever really take Coba 100% seriously? They are such an odd mix of resilience and tenderness. Coba has grown into an interesting and quirky little dog. Wary of most human strangers, offering me a silly and affectionate side he rarely lets others share, Coba is surprisingly dominant with many other dogs. He seems to have the sense to back down from the ones that are big and genuinely fierce (good; I hope he learned something from Pryde) but I am continually surprised to see my parfait being the one all stiff-legged and raised-tailed when he meets a stranger. Watching a husky try to get its face below Coba's eye level was pretty funny; now that's genuflecting.
We walked for a long time today in the forest, and Coba and Chaos played their way along the trail in a succession of puppy brawls. Coba still usually ends up on top. They are good for each other; older dogs may help you train a pup, but I realize more than I used to how nice it is for them to have a companion closer to their own age as well. Coba is still not quite certain what to do with adulthood, apparent confidence amongst other dogs aside, but Chaos is still a young puppy, all paws and legs and gawkiness. I wonder how they will be together when they grow older, how they will interact, who will ultimately end up alpha male. Chaos shows signs of great confidence with people and dogs, more so than the retiring Coba, and he will of course be bigger. Then again, one should never underestimate the motivation of a sheltie protecting a pan with salmon skin baked on.
Rogue, of course, can remove a puppy from her presence with one curled lip and a quiet growl.
I heard Chaos bark today for the first time, when he was startled walking past the neighbor's noisy Labrador. It was much deeper than I thought it would be, given his less than 5 months of age and the notoriously piercing collie's bark. Why hello there, little dog, where did that come from? Coba and Chaos are still becoming. I have a lot of time with the two of them, I hope. I wonder who they will be almost as much as I wonder the same thing about myself.
