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For days Snow White hid in the tall grass at the edge of the yard. During the night we’d hear Snow screaming in pain when she ventured too close for Blondie’s comfort.
Snow wandered the neighborhood looking for a spot to live. While people are good about feeding the satos (street dogs), they tend to chase the females off unless there is something about the her they like. It is definitely more difficult for the girls.
Resources are scarce, so resident street dogs protect their spots for interlopers. Blondie lead the charge to chase Snow away. Her daughter, Bonita, has had her own problems. She follows her mom backing her up.
Stormy, the resident male would gladly welcome the slender female with delicate features. Wherever Snow White goes a bigger stronger male is sure to follow. Stormy’s number one priority is keeping his spot, so he has his paws full.
Lance, the handsome American Staffordshire Terrier, followed the vagrant Snow White into our yard.
Snow White is a yearling lab x pit looking for a spot she where she can exist. She sleeps in the grass along the roads. I’ve also seen her in a rat hunting party.
Rat hunting parties are cool, if you can get past the rat part.
Snow always seems to have some male following, sniffing her butt. It doesn’t seem to matter if she’s in heat or not. Sometimes she has a second male dogging her prince charming waiting for him to go home.
In Puerto Rico dogs scour the countryside looking for a meal much the same way coyotes do in Illinois. The big difference is that dogs are tame.
People feed the feral dogs rather than feeding the rats. Puerto Rican people seem to enjoy the street dogs when their numbers are not burdensome.
Lance brandishes his tail like a saber. At times the saber is the first thing you would notice about him. He exudes confidence. His head is held high. In a group of males in this neighborhood, he is recognizable as the cock of the walk.
Blondie, the big bitch on campus, has Snow pinned. She's telling her how it's gonna be.
You can see where Stormy's head is. Notice his tail position. He is never happy when Lance is around.
Have you read The Hidden Life of Dogs by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas?
As appalled as I was that someone would let their dogs roam in an unsafe way, I was fascinated by what they did. Come on, weren’t you?
Don’t want to sound like I’m bashing Ms. Thomas. I can remember a time in America when it was common for kids and family pets to be roaming the block. That’s how I grew up in New Orleans. These days kids and pets are locked up safely at home.
Frequently I think of how Ms. Thomas would relish meeting my visiting canine friends in Puerto Rico.
Stormy, Blondie and Bonita are the resident street dogs in my neighborhood, the home team of the satos on the hill. Sato is Puerto Rican slang for street dog.
Stormy, a Border Collie x Terrier cross, was a street wise yearling when we met in fall of 2005. Stormy had no sooner unpacked his bags when he began to protect the three households where he was fed. Car chasing with gusto came just a little later.
In Puerto Rico it’s a fact of life that it is better to feed leftovers to the satos than put them in the can to feed a rat. Street dogs here continue to provide the same service to mankind that they have since the beginning of our relationship with them. Think about how awesome that is.
Blondie, a Pit-bull, came into the neighborhood sometime between 2007 and 2009. She looked like she had one litter when we met her in spring of 2009.
Blondie lead with her heart, if you were good to her she’d wag her tail so hard it would whip her body from side to side. She would throw her back squealing a high pitched sound. For the longest time she did that squeal of joy whenever we came home.
Blondie’s dalliances with all the strong machos who came sniffing her butt in spring of 09’ produced Bonita the pitiful pup we met in January of 2010.
The puppy looked like a moth eaten old rug that needs to be put in the trash when I first saw her. Her dazed stagger going nowhere told me how close to death she was.
I enjoyed the looks on my neighbor’s faces, when I told them the puppy’s name was Bonita. One fellow spat out, “Fea!” (ugly) with a curled lip. It was rather dramatic.
When last I saw her she was in fact very pretty. The day before I left the island the man who had spurned her was on one knee coaxing her to let him pet her. Bonita pranced away with her four white sox flashing. Big smile.
Yesterday I did a behavior consult for a lady with a five month old German Sheppard Dog female puppy. The lady had taken her to another place for training where the puppy was labeled aggressive. She said that she was told to take her puppy to the far end of a store parking lot. There she was to reward the dog with treats when the pup focused on the her instead of barking at the activity by the door. She and her dog could return to class when the pup could focus on her reliably.
Ok, fine; that could take a long time without help and guidance. Dogs need to experience something when they are young if they are to be comfortable with it when they are older. A puppy that does not play with other dogs will not be as comfortable with other dogs when grown; unless great steps are taken to re-write write over that dog’s program.
This is actually a very lovely puppy, who is just being what she was bred to be. The GSD believes in intellectual superiority, theirs! I love the way first night students arrive with their GSD puppy or adult. A GSD announces, “GSD in the house.” Whether pup or adult it doesn’t matter. Unless trained they bark to inform.
Once you convince a GSD that you actually are smarter than they are, they can’t please you enough. All that attention is so flattering. I love working with them.
The dear lady was worried that her pup would never be able to play with other dogs. I allowed the young Shep, to sniff Klondyke, a ten year old Siberian Husky that has been coming to Carrvilla day care since he was six months of age. When I released her in the yard with the handsome old guy, Klondyke harrumphed her. To anthropomorphize, she looked like a little girl being corrected by grandpa. We watched her eyes as she learned manners from the wise old dog.
Next we did a leadership class. This taught her: A) she is not the leader; I am. B) Pay attention or one of us will get lost. This, as always, was so much fun. Humans always love to be the leader. When we are good leaders, the dog does not object. Who doesn’t love all that attention?
As my client enjoyed her dog’s attention, I decided it wasn’t enough to prove that she had just an untrained puppy, not a monster. I needed to show her that her puppy could get along with other females. Loose in the yard next to Carrvilla regular Roxie, the baby GSD yapped briefly. Perhaps she realized she wasn’t getting a reaction to her bluster. She then stood there just looking at the three year old lab. At this time I opened the gate allowing Roxie entry into the pup’s yard. The young dog’s ears went out to the side in a relaxed (non alert) position.
Puppies frequently become over exuberant, which seems to require them to sniff the older girl’s rear a tad too vigorously. You know what happens next: growl, possibly snap. The puppy girl backed off with Roxie’s growl. No snap required, yeah. This smart puppy learned to respect an older girl in one easy lesson.
That doesn’t mean she won’t get pushy with a younger or vulnerable pup. Youngsters who have been terrorized will frequently become k9 terrorists of the weak. If she gets the right experiences with good dogs, she can become a great day care dog.
The moral of the story is to be aware of breed tendencies before adjudicating a puppy aggressive. If this lady had squandered the dog’s puppyhood keeping her away from other dogs, adult inappropriate behavior is more likely to end in a fight.
This is a great puppy who learned a lot in an hour. I completely fell in love with her. Thanks for bringing her.
Hi,
To me dogs are some of the most interesting beings around. I started this blog to share my experiences and my love of dogs.
When I realized that people were indeed reading what I had to say, I joined a writer’s group to improve my writing. It’s been brutal. My confidence tanked, which is why there have been no new posts to my blog since July. The criticisms of my work were taken to heart. I made changes based on group input. This resulted in further criticism. Some members of the group have been supportive, but I’ve had a lifelong battle for self esteem.
In spite of all my successes in dogs, all my clients who praise my help with their dogs; my doubts became generalized to even my abilities with dogs. It felt like a curse.
People kept coming to me for help with their dog’s behavior problems. I continued to solve their problems. It reminded me that our relationship with the dogs is what is important. Stronger than my fear of rejection and disapproval is my desire to share what I think are neat stories about dogs.
My heart reaches out to dog lovers of the planet. We share a journey with these special creatures. Thanks for reading. Your comments are always welcome. Blessings,
Tricia Carr
