Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Stranger in the house

Suka has a new housemate, at least for the near term.

Dakota, an ISSR Shiloh Shepherd, has moved in with us.





The "ISSR" part is critical - There have been multiple schisms in the breed club. Even the factions have split still further. ISSR is the parent group, still led by the breed founder, and still adhering to the original breed development plan. This is important to note, because there've been some bad words floating about about the general breed - The ISSR dogs are to a standard, and are very well documented. And no, despite scandalous slurs, there is no wolf in the breed. None, unless you're going to go about 120 thousand years ago, when wolves and dogs split.


Dakota is a five year-old plush-coat spayed female, qualified by St. John Ambulance as a therapy dog. St. John Ambulance doesn't do much, if any, work in the US, but readers from elsewhere will recognize the name - Descended from the Knights Hospitaller, they do good medical and charitable works world-wide.

Some weeks ago, Dakota's owner, a licensed breeder, woke up with a bad case of death. Cause unknown. Sometimes, quite fit and healthy people, even fairly young people, simply die, and medicine has no asnwer. Dakota and her kennel mate, Cain, have been drains on the estate ever since; Her late owner's daughter is not able to continue to run a kennel, and the dogs needed new homes, ASAP. Cain is breed-quality, so he went to a home within easy reach of a licensed breeder, for occasional stud services - The breed's genetic baseline is too narrow to casually neuter a good stud. Because of my rescue work, I was picked to take Dakota in, and get her settled down. I have first right of refusal, if I can get her settled. If not, we'll find another home for her, once she's got her head back on straight.

Make no bones about it; this is a rescue situation. Dakota's entire world has been turfed - Her 'mother' gone, her kennel mate moved off, the kennel closed, and now she's been moved to an alien environment.

The introduction plan has been pretty straight forward:
Introduce the dogs at a neutral ground ( a nearby poark - Y'all've seen images of it), walk them together about the neighborhood, then walk them around the yard, then introduce them into the house. Dakota is spending most of her time crated, to give her a chance to settle into the household by observing, with no pressure on her to make any decisions. She doesn't much care for this, and is very vocal about it. *shrug* Not a big thing - The crated dog is invisible, and she's learning.

She's been off her feed, but that's not surprising. It's very common for grieving dogs, and rescued dogs, to have some dietary issues. She *is* eating, though not as much as would make me happy. Her stools remain regular, firm, and normal, save that they're just a touch mucousy. I'm watching that, and have both the vet and her original breeder on speed dial.

Walking with Suka, or in the yard, there is no issue, but in the house, Dakota has pushed boundaries a few times, and gotten a sharp rebuke from Suka for it - Suka is a bit intimidated by Dakota's great size and noise, but has drawn some obvious boundaries, and is holding to them. Meanwhile, I've instituted NILIF with Dakota - She's an orphan, but that doesn't mean she gets to play the chuklehead! Meanwhile, crating for Dakota remains the normal course of events until such time as I feel confident letting her slowly into the full life of the family.

When Dakota is out and about, she's on the other end of a ten foot lead, tied off to my waist - She's got to follow the routine, and can't go off and just do things on her own - Not just yet. On the other hand, she's quite content to be led about. She's also an absolute slut for brushing and belly rubs. ;-)

Suka has generally taken the intrusion as well as can be expected - There's a big, loud stranger in the house! Another bitch, to boot! :-o God bless her lovely little head, Suka is behaving herself well, and is declining to start any crap. She's got a limit, and holds to it, but she doesn't go looking for trouble. I have observed some mutual resource guarding behaviors from each - I've already got Suka's number, so that's not worrisome to me - I put a stop to it. Dakota, well, she's still rattled, and will be more work. Not that I'm going to let her get away with it, mind you!

The primary action between the two remains the fenced yard, and walking on leads. In both situations, they're social and well-behaved, even rubbing shoulders companionably as they trot along. There's been some marking/counter-marking games, but those, whilst also dominance games, are without teeth, and are a more gentle means of settling dominance questions.



I really didn't want to be settling these kinds of issues so soon after Shadow's death, but it does provide a good distraction. And not just for me, but for my daughter, whom was devestated by Shadow's death.

Suka remains the dog of my heart, and if Dakota doesn't settle in, well, there are others, highly qualified, nearby whom would love to have her, once I get her head back on as straight as is possible. But I do love also Shilohs, and would love it if Dakota and Suka can come to an agreement. In her basic nature, Dakota is as good a dog as Suka, if different in expression. I owe her an honest chance - The same chance I gave Suka - to see what we'll see. I'm not rushing this, and good things take time and effort.

7 comments:

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Dakota is beautiful. I do hope it works out. Our GSD is still a handful. Hopefully when she turns 2yrs old around Christmas, she'll calm down a little. She is serious high energy and has a bit of doggie ADHD.

She's actually finally getting spayed today.
Oh! And I adopted a new dog on Saturday from the animal control shelter in town. She's a 2 yr old chiweenie dog (I said I'd never get a chihuahua because they seem so frail and nervous...and look what I did!), but she connected with me and is the perfect lap dog, which is what I've been searching for over the past 3-5 months. And her short stuby legs crack me up! And immediately I knew what her name should be: Dobby....after Harry Potter's House Elf. She looks so much like it! lol!

~Lisa

Holly said...

Welcome Dakota!

She sounds like a basically stable dog whose world has been up-ended. I do what you are doing when I get a rescue in but I take it a bit slower, since I am dealing with not 2 dogs but my 7 plus the foster. Simple numbers make it necessary for more caution at my house. If you have started NILF, you might also start Levels work by Sue Ailsby. Might as well learn something if she has to earn her kibble. It would also make her far more adoptable should you decide she needs to move on. A dog who sits, downs, stays and crates quietly is always easier to live with than one who needs to be taught these things.

Oh...and that brought to mind another thought, might start teaching her an open door crate policy. When I get in noisy fosters, it's usually anxiety that is at the root of the noise so I begin to teach them how to go in and stay quiet in the crate by teaching open crate door manners ala Shirley Chong (on her keeper pages).

Good luck, she's fortunate to have landed at such a loving, caring and knowlegable home. I'd love to hear any updates on this gorgeous girl.

MaskedMan said...

Lisa;
The heart lands where it will. 'Chiweenie' is a hilarious description, and I've got a very amusing mental image of Dobby.
:)

As for your GSD, well, the biggest thing I can say for a high-energy dog is "A tired dog is a good dog." Not sure how you're going to wear her out, what with all the other things you have to do, but if you can find the means to tire her, you'll generally find she's better behaved.

Holly;
Dakota is trained to some degree, though I'm not entirely certain what that degree is - At the very least, to Canine Good Citizen levels, as that the baseline for all therapy certifications, but that's still a very basic level. Naturally, therapy work requires a bit more than that, but St. John Ambulance seems to have a lower level than Delta Society or TDI. She's smart, and clearly bonding with me, and is generally a fairly 'soft' dog by most GSD standards - If she were a BC, I'd call her "medium" temperment, based on observations so far. Depending on how things are going with the two dogs, I may continue to leave Dakota primarily crated for a longer time. Right now, though, she's behaving very well outside the house, and I wish to encourage the pair of them to get used to good behavior in each other's presence. The yard work and the long walks seem to be the ticket there.

The suggestion of "level" work is a good one, and not one I'd thought of previously - Thanks! I do have an open crate policy with proven dogs - Suka crates herself on her own hook, whenever there's something going on that she's uncertain about. Actually, that she's NOT crated herself in Dakota's presence is encouraging to me. I've never worried about crate manners previously, because, frankly, I've never had a dog in the house whom didn't have at least acceptable crate manners. I'll look up Chong's work, too - thanks again!

The Wades said...

Do you ever know your dogs! I loved this read.

Beautiful dog! Good for you giving it a go.

MaskedMan said...

Thank you! Mind you, I'm just doing what I think is necessary. There are others whom are real trainers - I only play one in my own house. :-p

Suka, once she got over the shock of things, started trying to stir the pot, leading to a cheapshot by Dakota. She later paid back in spades, and had Dakota back on her heels, so back to Kindergarten for Suka, too. Nothing harsh, just strict. I'm keeping a close eye on Suka, to prevent further pot-stirring.

That means back to 'square one' on the intruductions, but that's what needs to be.

AKDD said...

Dakota is a beauty, and Suka is looking good. Very good indeed. Nice work, Bro.

MaskedMan said...

Suka does look good. The skunk bath helped her coat - Brightened it up markedly. Still, I don't recommend that method too often - She still smells slightly skunky when wet.
:p
She's bouncy, happy, and sassy, and lovely.
:)

Dakota looks even better, now - I need to get some new shots of her, with her coat brushed out a bit. I need to get shots of the removed hair, too... It's impressive! Maybe not as impressive as a Sibe or 'Mutie blowing coat, but still nothing to sneer at. And her fur is long, a bit wavy, and kinda coarse... It'd probably make good strong yarn, so long as you weren't looking for a really soft 'hand.'