How Train Your Humans By- The Dogs

I think we can safely say that as dog owners we have fallen short more than a couple times.  Since we are have three female dogs (all with aspirations of alphadom) it has not always been easy to manage our little pack.

Isis’s birthday has just passed and so she has officially entered the “terrible twos” in human years and doggie-early adulthood at the same time.  What a magical combination!

She is pretty adorable, unfortunately she knows it.

I have come to believe that under that beautiful coat she is secretly harboring 10 square miles worth of New Zeland sheep country.

She has been shedding for three months now.

We can only hope this last fluffy bottom coat will be the last.  On the upside; she will spends hours outside in the winter snow.  Wondering why no one wants to play with her.

It has not been easy to raise a husky.   I think having her from such a young age has put her on par with the other two girls, who both have issues left over from being rescue animals.

For example; since Pele was raised in a concrete cell and then a boat:

She still doesn’t trust going to the bathroom on dirt or anything outside a manmade walkway.   Instead she will choose any stone, wood or concrete surface at her disposal in the dog run.

It is the weirdest thing but the habit probably kept her from falling into the Santa Cruz harbor.

Also, she mortified of her water dispenser.  It ocasianlly gives a bubble-burp that she might suspect is some form of witchcraft or a trap, I don’t know.

When we contemplated a third member of the pack we thought it best for the other two that the new addition be a ‘known variable.’  We wanted to know exactly what breed and how old (we have argued for year about the linage and history of the other two.)

I know buying a pure breed can be contraversial in this day and age but since this was my first one after many dogs I don’t feel too bad.  We also thought we owed it to the other two to get a very young dog who would accept her Omaga place in the pack without a power struggle.

So much for that!

The first two weeks were amazing.

Till the day she decided (at 9 weeks old) to tell Honey the food was HERS.  It did not end well.

Picking a fight with a dog that outweighs you by almost 60 lbs is not a recommended Darwinian manever.  Honey let her know quickly and in no uncertain terms this was a grave mistake.

New Year’s day 2013, I heard growling coming from the dog food corner.  I instantly assumed it was Honey warning the little dog off.  To my utter shock I turned and saw Isis growling over Honey’s food.

Claiming it for herself.

No sooner than the admonishing word “Isis…” left my mouth- I watch Honey grab her by the face and flip her on to her back.   It was as if she reasoned that; since we were acknowledging this unprecedented disrespect- it should be enforced properly.

She was brutally gentle. Normally Honey is our most well behaved dog.  She can be trusted with all manner of critter.

I think the disrespect was just too great for her and she lost it.

It would have been easy to give Isis one extra shake and kill or severely mamme the little fluff ball but restrained herself.   The resulting puppy noises were way more than I wanted to deal with on a holiday.

Of course, the local vet office was closed (holiday and all) so I had to drive her to the emergency vet in Portsmouth.

SHE WHINED/CRIED/HOWLED THE WHOLE WAY.

Huskies can manage sounds that are so unnatural it is utterly astounding.   She was responding more to the emotional trama than the severity of the injury.  She had not bleed much at all but since her fur is so thick I took her in just to make sure it would heal properly and did not need stitches.

After a hair cut it turned out that there was no medical procedure of any kind necessary.

 

I was happy for the shaving- the injuries would be able to heal without the constant interference of the aforementioned sheep.

Since that first/immidate hiccup; the girls have gotten along well.  Days begin with “GOOD MORNING!!!” play between all three of them.  Followed by mid-morning nap time.

The older ladies teaching the younger one how a self respecting canine properly uses the couch and other comfort resources at their disposal.

This leads me to our biggest dog ownership fail.  We allow them on the couch/pillows/under blankets etc…  In fact when our current couch was delivered Ry was at work and so I sent him this picture of it.

He responded “wait, so the dogs got to sit on it before I did?!”

“Ah, well.  Yes.”

The two California girls understand that you sleep UNDERNEATH blankets and insist on it. Frankly during the cold months, WE insist on it.  They both sleep in our bed, unless the boys are here.

I’ll give you two guesses where Pele ends up those nights.

Isis is the only one who is not allowed in bed.  I would be lying if I said this was because we finally learned our lesson- really it’s just because we have a queen and there is no more room.

Our dogs have us trained well but it makes for a happy home and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.   They are part of the family, with all the rights and benefits therein.

I have no regrets, I DO have pictures.  Lots and lots of pictures of dogs on handmade quilts and pillows.