moments in time seen through canine lens
Feb. 2nd, 2012 11:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
summer_jackelMy pup continues to grow. For all that she strongly implies the thing that she is becoming, Zhava still remains a knobbly-kneed puppy, not fully grown in coat, height or anything else. Here are some moments.
This was the first time I ever took her up the ridge. I'd been putting it off for fear that my surprisingly responsive, attached and obedient puppy would completely lose her brain as soon as she saw open fields and dash off at full tilt in a random direction, never to be seen again. She was actually quite somber about being in a strange new place, and tended to stick behind me and pay attention to what I was doing. Not that this won't change when she's older and more confident, but she is a much smarter, more focused and strongly trainable dog than breed stereotype might suggest, and she is certainly a lot easier to train than I was prepared for. We had fun.
The pack coheres. Sadly, Rogue is now well past the point where she could take a walk this long. She's been having problems with her foreleg, but right now she's feeling fine. In this photo, we see Coba removing debris from his mane, disdainfully.
Zhava looking stately again
She is a very powerful animal, and will become a lot more so. Bliss and Coba can't really play with her in the 'full-tilt running' way she needs; they are too gentle and can't really relate. Thank goodness Rooster will run with her, and she's finally starting to let loose with it in the dog park. Zhava is the opposite of a mindless runner; she needs a good reason to engage her rockets, and if she doesn't do it regularly, she spends far too much time trying to open all of the drawers in the kitchen. I find myself frequently longing for my wolfdogs in their youth. My current pack and my past would have played together so beautifully.
When he's in a really good mood, Bliss will let Zhava chase him for a little while, and all three of them get into it. So pretty.
At the beach with Kynpack!
Chasing seafoam
She's ambushing here
And the pounce. This is basically the stalk-and-pounce game that cats like to play, only with a 70ish-lb dog. Borzoi are cheetahs crafted from wolves by humans, and have much motivation to be predatory.
Rooster and Rogue!
Zhava wants a stick.
We all get excited when Luck fetches. He is the only dog in this entire pack who thinks that chasing a stick is more interesting than chasing a dog who is chasing a stick.
Shelties shelting.
The following is a sequence of Zhava learning that she has to lay down, play gently and let Coba get some tooth in if she wants him to play with her. So cute.
Get her by the neck, Coba.
Shelties are so fierce.
Look at her letting him get her! awwwwww.
Rooster can fly!
Tri prettiness
Bliss is not always enthusiastic about puppy high-speed-chase-and-tackle games, but he and Zhava snuggle all the time. Awwwwwww
She and Bliss will sometimes play together with sticks. Watching the relationship between these two evolve is fascinating. The thing to note in this sequence is that she can absolutely take any toy from Bliss at any time; he is no match for her. Again she has to learn to curb her hard-playing impulses and share with him if she wants him to interact. Bliss is very happy to be playing with her here.
Zhava's first show is on the 19th. Weekly classes in conformation handling seem to be helping us; tonight, our teacher said that she was doing really well, and that we had both come a long way in a very short amount of time. I will indulge some unwarranted optimism and not ask her if that means we're ready to appear in a large show in two weeks. It's a puppy class, though, and if I manage to do something really stupid, we will at least provide entertainment for the spectators. For the moment, we are both puppies.
She's learned what's wanted from her quickly because she does that in general. A moment ago, she was leaning pointedly against the couch, trying to get my attention with her eyes. I looked more closely and realized that she was sitting in as close to the posture of a human sitting on a couch as a dog can comfortably manage: her behind on the cushion, legs on the floor with her weight on her back end and the forepaws a bit in the air, expression meaningful. I HOPE that this doesn't mean what it looks like, namely, "am I allowed to sit on the couch if I do it this way?" The answer to that would be no, no hounds are ever allowed to place themselves on the couch, but nice try and that is really smarter than dogs are supposed to be.
This was the first time I ever took her up the ridge. I'd been putting it off for fear that my surprisingly responsive, attached and obedient puppy would completely lose her brain as soon as she saw open fields and dash off at full tilt in a random direction, never to be seen again. She was actually quite somber about being in a strange new place, and tended to stick behind me and pay attention to what I was doing. Not that this won't change when she's older and more confident, but she is a much smarter, more focused and strongly trainable dog than breed stereotype might suggest, and she is certainly a lot easier to train than I was prepared for. We had fun.
The pack coheres. Sadly, Rogue is now well past the point where she could take a walk this long. She's been having problems with her foreleg, but right now she's feeling fine. In this photo, we see Coba removing debris from his mane, disdainfully.
Zhava looking stately again
She is a very powerful animal, and will become a lot more so. Bliss and Coba can't really play with her in the 'full-tilt running' way she needs; they are too gentle and can't really relate. Thank goodness Rooster will run with her, and she's finally starting to let loose with it in the dog park. Zhava is the opposite of a mindless runner; she needs a good reason to engage her rockets, and if she doesn't do it regularly, she spends far too much time trying to open all of the drawers in the kitchen. I find myself frequently longing for my wolfdogs in their youth. My current pack and my past would have played together so beautifully.
When he's in a really good mood, Bliss will let Zhava chase him for a little while, and all three of them get into it. So pretty.
At the beach with Kynpack!
Chasing seafoam
She's ambushing here
And the pounce. This is basically the stalk-and-pounce game that cats like to play, only with a 70ish-lb dog. Borzoi are cheetahs crafted from wolves by humans, and have much motivation to be predatory.
Rooster and Rogue!
Zhava wants a stick.
We all get excited when Luck fetches. He is the only dog in this entire pack who thinks that chasing a stick is more interesting than chasing a dog who is chasing a stick.
Shelties shelting.
The following is a sequence of Zhava learning that she has to lay down, play gently and let Coba get some tooth in if she wants him to play with her. So cute.
Get her by the neck, Coba.
Shelties are so fierce.
Look at her letting him get her! awwwwww.
Rooster can fly!
Tri prettiness
Bliss is not always enthusiastic about puppy high-speed-chase-and-tackle games, but he and Zhava snuggle all the time. Awwwwwww
She and Bliss will sometimes play together with sticks. Watching the relationship between these two evolve is fascinating. The thing to note in this sequence is that she can absolutely take any toy from Bliss at any time; he is no match for her. Again she has to learn to curb her hard-playing impulses and share with him if she wants him to interact. Bliss is very happy to be playing with her here.
Zhava's first show is on the 19th. Weekly classes in conformation handling seem to be helping us; tonight, our teacher said that she was doing really well, and that we had both come a long way in a very short amount of time. I will indulge some unwarranted optimism and not ask her if that means we're ready to appear in a large show in two weeks. It's a puppy class, though, and if I manage to do something really stupid, we will at least provide entertainment for the spectators. For the moment, we are both puppies.
She's learned what's wanted from her quickly because she does that in general. A moment ago, she was leaning pointedly against the couch, trying to get my attention with her eyes. I looked more closely and realized that she was sitting in as close to the posture of a human sitting on a couch as a dog can comfortably manage: her behind on the cushion, legs on the floor with her weight on her back end and the forepaws a bit in the air, expression meaningful. I HOPE that this doesn't mean what it looks like, namely, "am I allowed to sit on the couch if I do it this way?" The answer to that would be no, no hounds are ever allowed to place themselves on the couch, but nice try and that is really smarter than dogs are supposed to be.
