Our Non-human Companions

We've been crate training for decades now. It's sooooo easy! Just need to keep the crate near the outer door and after waking the pup it IMMEDIATELY goes outside. One needs to be ready and prepared to do that, jacket on, boots on, yada yada. Maybe not even let the pup touch the floor if it can be carried since they appear to need a certain position to release.

The breeder, and I use the term very loosely since her dogs are also family members and are allowed only one litter per year, put a hard crate in the brood area so that they could go in and play to get accustomed to it. Laura did lots of stuff correctly IMO. Another item... early nail clippings. Today we clipped her nails and no fighting, not even a murmur from the pup. So easy!

I'm so glad we bought from the woman we did. I would have preferred a rescue SBT, but that just wasn't happening, so we purchased. She is such a nice person and wants to hear progress reports and if the dog will no longer work in a placement she'll travel to take it back to make sure it has a good home. Very caring even in the long term. Yeah, not the typical "breeder" IMO.

A good breeder and (obviously) good pedigree can make dog ownership what you want it to be. Be that enhanced life enjoyment or security or working dog of some kind. While a rescue can look and feel good at the time, it can really be a crapshoot and I’ve seen people have their  lives go to hell because of issues with rescue dogs. Health, behaviour, aggression etc. you have to be honest with yourself about what you really want in a dog. Brian, it looks like you knew what you wanted and got what you wanted.

Yes, I definitely knew what I wanted this time. 14 years ago I wanted us to downsize to a Staffordshire Bull Terrier but we weren't really serious about that. We found 2 rescues that have been fantastic over the years. But the female had to be put down out of kindness. This time I wasn't going to settle no matter how much a dog tugged at our heart strings. It took awhile to find the right pup and breeder. It's just obscene what some breeders were asking. Then shipping tacked on to that. Rescue SBTs? Not available, and I searched every day. We did really good to get the breeder and pup that we did. The husband told Laura that if they kept a pup the one sent to us would have been the one they kept. She's a fantastic pup. I want to enjoy her puppyhood (and am), but I eagerly anticipate her adulthood as well. She's going to be a fantastic dog. There was a point that I began to give up hope whether we would ever find a flight nanny as the breeder and we didn't want her to fly in with the cargo. I was a month trying to find a flight nanny (4 services tried) then I contacted TLC Flight Nannys and they got serious. Part of the problem might have been us. We don't do text and they all require it. But TLC worked with me and a friend who does text acted as my comms person. I'd go with TLC Flight Nannys again in a heartbeat. They just came across as actually caring and not just being a profit making business. Even the flight nanny was very professional and caring for the pup. One flight nanny service wanted over $2k for the flight and over $1k for over the road. We declined. But almost took them up on it as we were getting desperate. Covid madness! But it was during the holidays and flights were nuts.

My wife keeps stating, "We've never had a dog this small.", and she's 100% correct. She's tiny. But she is a big dog, just trapped in a small body. In the bull ring their job was to latch onto the bull and hang on. We can see that trait in her. But she's also a very loving and human centered pup. She's definitely my dog. That's OK with me. She's going to be one heck of a dog (even if tiny). She just needs more training and I'll get to it as her attention span get bigger. Doing what I can in her 2 minute puppyhood attention span. :-) She knows "come" , "pee', "poop", and her name, she's also house trained to a degree I never anticipated so soon, but most of that was due to her intelligence.

Excellent dog breed even if she is small. We live in rural Maine and we're just not accustomed to dogs under 150#.

I don't know if I wrote it... I took her to a local gun dealer to socialize her. OK she needs no additional socializing, but I will anyway, she loves everybody. But there was a 150# Cane Corso there. We've had a Cane Corso, excellent dog breed. She attacked him in play same as she does her 90# brother. He (Goliath) took it in stride. My point is that she didn't hold back. Big dog in a small body. I would dislike a small dog in both mind and body, it just wouldn't work for us. A foo-foo dog just couldn't work where we live.

I can see some concessions. During heavy snowfalls I'll need to go out and clear a space so that she can do her business. With a really big dog they just plow through. We'll get through it and adjust.

This post has brought back good memories of dogs long gone that I miss greatly. Sorry, I took a break, my keyboard was getting blurry. I miss my gentle giants, Rotties and one Cane Corso. Fantastic dogs. Too many died in my arms.

Took her to the vet today, same vet we've used for decades. Covid rules so we had to stay outside but they knew what to do. The vet came out and hinted that he wanted to kidnap her for his own*. The vet tech brought her out and told us, "She was the hit of the day today.". She's just a joy to be around and always happy, but a handful. She'll calm down, and is, as she's maturing. She spends less time in the sky kennel that we had from another pup. We got home and she sacked out on the big dog bed while her older sibling went to sleep next to her kennel. It was a big day for them both. He had his nails clipped at the vet and for him it's a BIG ADVENTURE. We say those words and he knows where he's going and gets all excited.

*We had her chipped.

Wonderful story, Brian. And they almost look like they're resting! The pup looks like she is getting ready to play if anyone else is ready!

It's incredibly difficult to get a picture of them together sleeping and spooning, but it's happening. When I grab the camera and get in position she wakes up instantly. That was one of those times. I took the pic anyway.

Shadow has learned to handle her when she's getting annoying, and she does so deliberately. Any attention is better than no attention, right? Or so she thinks. He'll take his paw and anchor her to the ground. That really ticks her off and it takes her awhile to escape it.

edit: she weighed 18.x # (18.6?) today and I don't think she'll get much larger in height or length, but she'll get beefier. The standard for a female is near 28# and stocky. She's not stocky yet. We need to find a good dog bell for her that they won't destroy or swallow when they play. We just can't hear where she is esp' when she's under us.

The latest pix. She wakes up instantly if I get the camera so I had to get stealthy for the overhead (2nd) one. 4 weeks old today we're hoping she starts to lose her needle teeth soon.

These pix were taken minutes apart. She climbed all over him not to wake him up, just to get comfortable. He's just a warm prop.




Tonight he has the best bed in the house. It's cold so we're burning the woodstove and he's getting all the radiant IR. She will be in the BR with us, in her kennel. We don't dare trust her with a night of freedom yet.

That's a great report Brian.  A house with harmony and warmth is hard to beat.

This big boy is Burly, my Leonberger. Got a really lucky shot of him a few weeks ago; I think it might be my favorite picture so far.

That’s a great picture. Looks like he’s got a great face wiper. Charlie loved licking faces, elbows, behind the knees or wherever