Saturday 31 January 2009

those alsatians...

if they're not barking, they're scarfing!

this time, it was a trainee police dog named gunner who decided to taste duchess camilla's nice plaid scarf. (daily mail has the best pictures)

it must therefore be sam's alsatian genes which prompted him, that day in the busy city centre, to attach himself to a lady's crocheted poncho. okay, he was upset by the crowds as well. and he didn't actually try to eat it, just to catch it. still, the incident kept us away from the city centre for a while.

today, we made a new attempt, and sam was very well behaved. he stayed away from ponchos and scarves. he walked nicely by my side. he did want to take in as many interesting smells as possible, and became somewhat skittish among to many people, bikes and a highly interesting pram, but he conquered his demons and walked to heel.

Friday 30 January 2009

dogs might fly!

from A Dog Year by Jon Katz. the author has just picked up his new border collie at the airport after chasing him through the crowds there.

I decided to take Devon for a short walk before introducing him to Paula and the house. Partway down the block, he was walking alongside me so easily, his nose to the ground sniffing the pavement, that I relaxed a bit for the first time that night. My tree-lined suburban street seemed serene compared to Newark Airport.

An ill-advised reverie: With a sharp jerk of the leash from my hand, Devon was gone. I spun around in all directions and saw no trace of him--until I happened to glance at a passing minivan and saw him perched on the roof as it drove slowly down the street. I didn't believe it. I couldn't believe it. Dogs don't fly.

Brandishing a pooper-scooper in my right hand, I gave chase, shouting as I went, "Hey! Hey, stop! Stop, there's a dog on the car." My neighbors walking their terrier across the street paused in shock and stared.

the book explains the trials and tribulations of getting an adolescent border collie, which makes sam seem like a dignified king poodle in comparison. perversely, the book made me want a collie even more.

Thursday 29 January 2009

encounters three

once upon a time, there was a dog whose fur was as white as snow, as black as night and as grey and tan as a washed-out alsatian. one day, the dog left his house behind to go on a quest; a quest for Fun, and possibly Food.

he walked far, farther than i can tell, and then by the side of the road he spotted a cat. the cat was big and fluffy and stared at him with big, blue eyes. was this Fun, or Food? the dog wagged his tail, but the cat jumped onto a pedestal and grew big, and the dog was pulled onward by an invisible force

then he met an old crone in a disguise. she had no warts or a lengthy nose; instead she looked like a kindly old woman. "ooh, aren't you a pretty boy," she said to the dog. "i used to have an alsatian, long ago." was this Fun? the dog leapt up excitedly, but the invisible force returned and pulled him away.

now he walked into a field, and what should he see but a hound? the hound had long, floppy ears and red eyes as large as dog treats. it also had an impressive bass bark.



the dog and the hound sniffed each other, and the dog decided this was certainly Fun. he jumped, but the insvisible force pulled him away yet again, while the hound was pulled its way by a human.

the dog walked far, farther than i can tell, and at the end of that, he was back home. and what should he find there but a big bowl, brimful with Food? his quest had been successful. the dog fell asleep, ready for more Fun on his next walk.

cat and dog from flickr. now with scary eyes.

husky voice

i was under the assumption that northern inuit was based on malamute and alsatian, mixed with a liberal dose of the famous breed known as "cross", but upon closer reading found that huskies were also involved. this means when i've been telling people sam is part husky, part alsatian, i haven't been lying after all.

looking at pictures of huskies, i see many similarities. but what does sam most resemble: the alaskan husky on the right, or the siberian below?

"Alaskan Husky" was taken by James (scubadiver67) and shared under a Creative Commons by 2.0 license.

"Husky Relaxing" was taken by Red Wolf (redwolfoz) and shared under a Creative Commons by-nc-sa 2.0 license.

Wednesday 28 January 2009

product recall

amazement! in a daring act of recklessness i let sam off the lead after a long break. and yay, all that reading about recall training and the actual training process seems to have worked (knock bones!). or at the very least, sam decided to cooperate last night, and did the right thing when called: turned towards me, looked happy, and bounded up. he even sat and took his treat.

i'm not pushing my luck -- the area was small and fairly secure, and he hadn't had the time to go completely "wild" as he does sometimes. it also remains to be seen if he'll be as good next time. still, i think sam and i have made a good start.

Saturday 17 January 2009

treats!

we all went to the "pet's pantry" today, and returned with a big bag of food, a puzzle toy, and some super fishy treats. the nice lady at the shop oberved that sam would be a spoiled dog in the coming week.

after he'd been very good dog on his walks, hardly pulling at all, accepting his bath with little fuss, and bugging no one except for his Great Leader, who deserves it, i felt quite justified in letting the spoiling commence. first he got his treat ball, with merely normal dog food in it, but a great success nevertheless. then the fish treat was brought out -- and the big dog heaved himself into the air for it. he then bugged the Great Leader a little as a thank you, before settling into a contented sleep.

Thursday 15 January 2009

upset

oh no, not again! i had hoped that sam's upset stomach upon first arriving with us would be the last, but of course not. he is a sensitive dog, if only when it comes to his tummy. we're still debating whether it was the type of dog food, the river water drink or the bit of waffle with jam that did it. the end result is indisputable, however: liquid poo appears on the carpet during the night. i'm so happy it's an old, ugly carpet now.

we had a long, nice walk yesterday, where sam played around on the extendable lead a lot. he was very good -- not running off like a mad dog, just being crazy in a cute and controlled manner. he seemed quite happy on the lead, and i was happy to, being able to push the pram and keep both safely arms in their sockets.

Monday 12 January 2009

sad squeeze

FAMILY pets are becoming the forgotten victims of the economic squeeze as animal shelters see a massive rise in those abandoned. ... some people who have lost their homes have been slumming it out in their cars to hold on to animals because of restrictions in rented accommodation. WalesOnline

the telegarph reports that pretty much all rescue centres and council facilities (pounds) are filled to overflowing. in addition to the animals that would normally get surrendered because of owner death, family breakups and failure to cope, many families are simply forced to give up their pets by economic reasons. most rented accommodation, for instance, does not allow dogs.

we had an inkling it was going to become bad for dogs when the recession hit, which was one additional reason to adopt sam. now i wish we could take another... but it would merely be a drop taken from an ocean. our best bet would be that the dogs trust were successful in making more landlords accept pets. but you need a lot of dog's trust to believe that's going to happen.

Sunday 11 January 2009

a bumpy flight

sam has been improving alotly with his recall on lead, so i decided to let him off it in a small, fairly well enclosed area by the river yesterday. he did great, sniffing trees and fences, but running back to my sticks or treats when called. he then ran close to my feet as i walked along the path towards the bridge that takes the road across the river.

and then... he took off, and disappeared under the bridge. i called him, to no avail, then walked under the bridge, certain to see him somewhere in the undergrowth, but he wasn't there. i called out "sam", and looked wildly around me. then i saw him -- a shadowy dog form, on the other side of the river. this clever/stupid dog must have run up the stairs, along the road, and down on the other side.

since i wasn't about to lure him back the same way, i ran up those stairs, across the river, and called into the darkness. this time he did come, but there was a fence between us, and the slats were just too thin for him to comfortably squeeze through. so he went off again. i stood about the roadside, thinking "he can't be thinking about crossing the road," realising "yes he can," and starting to look for cars when i saw him coming... on the other side.

i tried a feeble "sit!", but he was already trotting across. luckily for us both, it was a late saturday evening with few cars about, and the road remained empty. sam came straight to me, and i gave him a treat for coming, after all.

now the great leader of the pack tells me northern inuits can be difficult to teach recall. oh. really?

Tuesday 6 January 2009

meeting alsatians

speaking of alsatians, sam has met a few of them and not enjoyed it much. there were a few at the rescue centre, one a few kennels down which barked furiously whenever anyone walked past and was "not for rehoming", and another mad barker at the other side of an endless, flimsy fence.

then there are the two alsatians down the road. we met them with their owner early on at one of the nice green spaces where dogs can run. i had a nice chat with him until suddenly one of the dogs started... guess what... indeed, barking furiously, and we had to part ways rather hastily.

a few days later, we met them at the same place, but this time, the alsatians were lose. the aggressive one ignored its owners commands to come back and tore towards us. i'd recently read dog books about not getting involved in dog fights, so let go of the leash and let sam fly as best he could. the other dog caught up with him and sam yelped, but luckily, that was it. sam didn't seem overly damaged physically, and he can be a bit loud when something is disagreeable to him. however, his submissive attitude to other dogs seemed more like fear from that day on.

today, we met the owner again, sans alsatians, which meant i hardly recognised him. he held his hand out to sam, and this usually fairly friendly dog sniffed it carefully. "still timid, eh?" said the owner. i didn't mention my theory that the smell on his hands might have something to do with it...

Saturday 3 January 2009

alsatianness

the other main heritage of northern inuits is german shepherd dog, which i usually refer to as alsatian for shortness, whereas others call it GSD, presumably for confusion.

alsatians are lovely dogs, well-known throughout the world with good reason. they're known for their loyalty, trainability and suitability as guard dogs. like all breeds, however, they do have their faults. i used to be neighbours with an alsatian which would come out onto the balcony every sunday morning and bark... bark... bark.

the alsatian in sam is less visible than the "snow dog". he doesn't look like an alsatian, but you do see traces in his shape and colouring. i like to call him a washed-out alsatian. he has none of the aggressiveness or assertiveness to dogs or people of some alsatians. he does seem to be more trainable than your average malamute, and he has an alsatian's bark -- but only if desperate, like when we leave him alone outside a shop.

so i guess the passers-by are correct in thinking sam is a snow dog. but who says alsatians can't be that as well?

"German shepherd in the snow" was taken by Maurice Koop and shared under a Creative Commons by-sa 2.0 license.

Friday 2 January 2009

snow dog

we keep being asked if our northern inuit sam is a "snow dog". i'd never heard the term before, but it seems to refer to dogs from the arctic, such as huskies (huskys?) and malamutes. i'd never heard of those either, but the net is my friend, and the US alaskan malamute rescue has taught me a lot. yup, there is a lot of the behaviour they describe in our sam. and of course, he has the brown eyes typical of malamutes, not the blue ones often found in husk...s.

the photo is "yuki snow run" by paulmoody. published under Creative Commons by-nc 2.0

Thursday 1 January 2009

glossy fame

sam is a bit of a local celebrity now. his accident was witnessed by a lot of people, who are all relieved to see him out and about with nothing worse than a scratch on his front paw to show from it. after they've made sure all is well, they remember to ask us how we are. luckily, our bite marks are healing too.

recall training is going fairly well. i can get sam to come, sit down and get a treat in all safe situations -- that is, indoors, from the garden, and out when on a leash. still, there is some way to go before he'll be totally safe to let off it. i have lost hold of the leash twice in the last few days, resulting in an ecstatic dog that preferred to ignore any entreaties to "come". the other day, i got him when he lay down. today, he actually did come to get a treat, after i'd waited and watched him fight his extendable chain for a while. we'll get there, eventually.