Just two mutts
Since I've only just recently joined this forum, I thought that I should post a bit about my dogs as an introduction for them as well. Though they're not nihon ken these two are a huge part of my life. Lucas is a three year old Belgian Malinois mix with some unknown terrier. Piper is an eight month old Australian Kelpie mix. Both were adopted from the rescue that I volunteer and used to foster for. I aided in Lucas's training with his foster, who became a friend. Piper was an impulse adopt just a month ago.
Lucas was left in a box on the side of a highway with his littermates. When picked up, he was left in a yard with hardly any human contact at all. When the rescue finally got him, he was a wreck. Afraid of everything and terrified of any human contact. After many attempts to get him out of his shell and gently introducing him to new things, he's become an adventurous dog who loves to meet new people and go to new places, so long as he's by my side. We've had our ups and downs, but there's a bond with him that I've never had with another dog before. Kind of sad when I think back, as before I adopted him, I actually did not want this hell raiser! I was afraid his energy would be too much for me, but with work and a bond that grew, we overcame that problem and I've come to admire that boundless excitement. When it's not driving me up the wall, anyway! I love training and working with him though. He's always very eager to please and is always so focused on the task at hand.
As for Piper, lots and lots of training has been taking place. Like I said, she was only just recently adopted and we've been working on our basics as well as our bond. She's a smart little pup, when her attention is actually on me. She's a glutton as well, so lots of treats come into the equation when training. She hated her crate, was very submissive and would pee if I so much as moved the wrong way, and didn't know any manners beforehand. Now she'll go in her crate without a protest, hardly ever has accidents and is very confident now. She still shies when cars pass us on our walks, but progress is being made. She also has most of her basic commands down, it's mostly just reinforcing and shaping them so that she'll actually follow through, no matter what. Piper also seems to enjoy jumping and will actually launch herself off of me at times. We're working on her doing that only on command. The only thing I didn't actually need to worry about was her leash training. Once she realized that she loves to go for walks she'd walk right by my side without any problems. Of course distractions reared their ugly heads, but easy enough to ignore when she realizes that paying attention to me is more rewarding for her.
Anyway... pictures!
Guess that it's probably a good thing that I'm not a proffessional photographer.
Lucas was left in a box on the side of a highway with his littermates. When picked up, he was left in a yard with hardly any human contact at all. When the rescue finally got him, he was a wreck. Afraid of everything and terrified of any human contact. After many attempts to get him out of his shell and gently introducing him to new things, he's become an adventurous dog who loves to meet new people and go to new places, so long as he's by my side. We've had our ups and downs, but there's a bond with him that I've never had with another dog before. Kind of sad when I think back, as before I adopted him, I actually did not want this hell raiser! I was afraid his energy would be too much for me, but with work and a bond that grew, we overcame that problem and I've come to admire that boundless excitement. When it's not driving me up the wall, anyway! I love training and working with him though. He's always very eager to please and is always so focused on the task at hand.
As for Piper, lots and lots of training has been taking place. Like I said, she was only just recently adopted and we've been working on our basics as well as our bond. She's a smart little pup, when her attention is actually on me. She's a glutton as well, so lots of treats come into the equation when training. She hated her crate, was very submissive and would pee if I so much as moved the wrong way, and didn't know any manners beforehand. Now she'll go in her crate without a protest, hardly ever has accidents and is very confident now. She still shies when cars pass us on our walks, but progress is being made. She also has most of her basic commands down, it's mostly just reinforcing and shaping them so that she'll actually follow through, no matter what. Piper also seems to enjoy jumping and will actually launch herself off of me at times. We're working on her doing that only on command. The only thing I didn't actually need to worry about was her leash training. Once she realized that she loves to go for walks she'd walk right by my side without any problems. Of course distractions reared their ugly heads, but easy enough to ignore when she realizes that paying attention to me is more rewarding for her.
Anyway... pictures!
Guess that it's probably a good thing that I'm not a proffessional photographer.
Comments
Thank you for rescuing them, and it sounds like you and Lucas are great for each other.
I've talked to people about Piper though, and basically everyone says they see the Kelpie in her. The woman who adopted her sister said that she used to breed them and believed that the two were pure. She also said that her females never got any bigger than the size that Piper is at now though, so that really makes me wonder.
Thank you though!