Determination vs doofiness

Today involved a lot of moving furniture to clean thoroughly, interrupted by bouts of this:

I wish I could look upon the world with the eyes of a dog

Today can be summed up like so:

Observing dogs

Four days ago I was playing with our visitor, Kiana, and a de-squeaked Good Cuz toy (the orange one that has seen Dexter through puppy months and into adulthood, somewhere along the way losing its squeakability). Eventually she grew tired of me throwing it for her and laid down to chew on it. Dex got up, approached and tried to entice her to play (posturing, pawing, nose-bopping, nomming on her head; the usual stuff they do to each other when they want to play). It didn't work. Instead, she kind of became protective of the Good Cuz. (Or, at least that's how it appeared to me). She tensed before lifting her lip at him while clenching the toy. He took a step back but didn't leave. When he didn't leave she dropped the Good Cuz to bare her teeth. As the Good Cuz rolled away, Dex laid his muzzle across her muzzle. When he did this Kiana stopped baring her teeth. He stood there for a moment, his body relaxed and his muzzle rested on hers. Then he slowly walked away, picked up the Good Cuz and brought it back to her. He dropped it in between her paws, gave a goofy grin, and asked her to play again. She responded by initiating biteyface with him.

The Good Cuz was quickly forgotten.

Why socializing puppies (and dogs) is so important

Socialization is giving your puppy (or dog) lots of opportunities to explore and experience the world (and its inhabitants) at his or her own pace. It's discovering all the fascinating aspects that make up life in our society, from your vacuum cleaner vacuuming up dog hair to your next door neighbor that towers over 6'5" tall. Lots of positive experiences early--carefully guided by you, the patient, loving owner--in life translate into an adult dog that isn't spooked by things or people that are "different."

The biggest reason to socialize is two-fold:
- To raise a dog that isn't fearful and anxious, which is a sorry way to live and experience life, and
- To raise a dog that isn't a threat to your family, friends and neighbors, because aggressive behavior is often rooted in fear.

Looking back, many people realize their dog's aggressive behavior is tied to what the dog didn't learn as a puppy. Some folks either didn't know about socialization, didn't understand how to go about it, or started off with a puppy (or dog) that was already far behind in socialization (or a combination of these). Some people are content to manage their dog and their dog's life as best as possible. Others tackle the sometimes painfully slow task of playing catch-up with socialization.

I've been there, that heart-breaking moment where you realize you failed to do something or didn't quite do it right. It's not normal to have visitors over and have your 8-month-old puppy lunge and bark menacingly. It's not normal to have [so-called] behavior experts label your 10-month-old puppy a dangerous liability and suggest euthanasia. This is the sad reality of failing to properly socialize a puppy. A premature end due to behavior problems can be prevented. A puppy should never be a lost cause.

In 2007 I adopted Dexter, who was listed as a 7-month-old puppy, from the Hawai'ian Humane Society. The HHS couldn't tell me anything about his socialization and he was already well past the critical socialization window (which is between 3 and 12 weeks, a time frame that demonstrates how important a responsible breeder is as a responsible breeder will have begun socializing puppies before they go to their new homes). I mentally prepared myself for issues, particularly related to lack of proper socialization, and did a lot of reading and planning in advance.

The good news is that whatever early socialization Dexter did or did not receive he grew into a fantastic, social dog. I cannot take a lot of credit for that though I did immediately begin (or continue) socializing him when he came home. I went about it slowly at first, not knowing what he could or could not handle. And when I saw what he was capable of, we went out every day and met lots of new people and dogs. We went on as many outings as we could and I worked hard to keep experiences positive for him.

There were hiccups along the way. Like when my husband and I realized he was afraid of men in uniform. I found this interesting as the HHS told us his previous owners were a military family. (Hmm...) Or when I discovered he was skittish around black men. Then there was the night I discovered Dexter found motorcycles to be very creepy, untrustworthy things (that spawned from the eighth level of hell, Dexter believed). Each of these obstacles was an opportunity for me to teach Dex something new. But wouldn't it have been nice if I hadn't have needed to change his opinion of these perfectly normal people and things in life?

As I said previously, Dex did grow up to be a wonderful, social dog. Last week we were invited to a New Year's Eve party. Yes, you read that correctly: We, as in Dexter, Figlet, our visitor Kiana and myself. (How cool is that?) In the end, only Dexter and I went.* We had a blast! There were sixteen other people there, which included: One senior, ten adult males and females, five children ranging from ages 1 to teen. There were also two 3-month-old puppies.

Dear Dexter handled loud music, fireworks going off in the background, some goofy drunks, annoying puppy antics, and a new environment like a champ. He was not phased by the differences amongst the people: Age, height, size, colour, or differences in behavior. He even got hit by a guitar at one point when he and its player zagged at the same moment. (Don't worry; he was fine!)


Stylized image of Dexter and I sitting at the party with some people around us (and more out of frame), plus two resting puppies. Original photo by our lovely hostess.

I'm really proud of Dex. And I'm so very glad I can take him places like that and know he'll take it in stride.

*I decided to leave Kiana home after I discovered a potential fear of a specific group of people. The night before the party she met two of the party-goers and she did NOT handle it well at all. Figlet, on the other hand, was left at home both to keep Kiana company and because I have never seen Figlet in such a large group of people. (We've done groups of up to eight previously, myself included). I adopted her well into adulthood and while we've continued her socialization, which she relishes, we've yet to have such an opportunity (in ten months of living together). Perhaps I should have taken her, gone prepared, and resolved to take her home if it seemed too much for her. But it seemed so much wiser to leave her at home as company for Kiana.

The Spotty Hooligans and Visitor

Things with our visitor, Kiana, are going well. The first 48 hours she was clearly distressed, but now she has settled in and learned the routine here.

Dexter is looking less emo about Kiana staying with us. He has even stopped shooting me pleading looks when Kiana takes his favourite spot on the sofa. He's also playing with her more.

Fig and Kiana are requiring less play breaks to keep play from escalating to insane levels of excitement. (They had one small tiff the other night. Things have been considerably calmer since then.) We even had two tiny puppies visit for a play date without incident. (Five dogs in my house? Oh my!) Fig did require a couple of reminders about wrestling with puppies on top of humans. (We discourage wrestling on top of people.) Kiana needed a reminder about not stepping on tiny puppies. (Um, ow?) Meanwhile, Dexter managed to not drop his brain, minding both his manners and where his paws landed so no pups were squooshed. (Hooray!)


All three dogs playing nicely. Joy!

Breed tests -- What are you, Dexter?

Last month I surprised my husband with a very early Christmas gift: a DNA test to determine Dexter and Fig's breeds. I have seen some wild breed results with these DNA tests so I admit I'm rather skeptical. I've seen a Pit Bull come back as predominantly Saluki and a Retriever mix come back as a Basenji. They're supposed to be accurate, but they warn against testing purebred dogs. How can they confidently tell me what my mutt is when they can't guarantee they can tell a purebred Labrador Retriever from, well, any other breed?

At any rate, I ordered the DNA tests and sent in the swabs. It's for my husband so I don't need to believe in their accuracy.

When the results came back I kind of giggled. According to the Wisdom Panel Dexter was at least 12.5% Bull Terrier. Bull Terrier? If it had said any other bully breed, I'd have bought it. But Bull Terrier? Really? He doesn't appear to have any of their characteristics.

Then a friend showed me photos of Bull Arab dogs. Bull Arabs are mixed breed dogs originally bred in Australia to hunt pig. One of the breeds used to create this breed-in-the-making was the Bull Terrier. Why is this relevant? The dogs my friend showed me looked like Dexter. Some even had his colouring. Suddenly his DNA results didn't seem so ridiculous.

I asked myself: Could Dexter be a Bull Arab, whether in part or in whole?

Dexter was born and raised in Hawai'i. Hawai'i is a rabies free state so animals imported to Hawai'i must go through quarantine. There are a few exceptions, one being jumping through months of hoops to prove your animal is not a threat to Hawaii's rabies-free status. Another exception is any pet imported from Australia. A number of Hawai'i pet stores get their puppies from Australian puppy mills as a result. A Bull Arab imported from Australia was definitely a possibility. It wasn't even a difficult possibility.

Feral pigs are a problem in Hawai'i. They damage land and threaten endangered species of plants. Hunting feral pigs is not uncommon. In fact, it's not uncommon to see pickup trucks loaded with hog dogs any day of the week. Hunters can and do use many breeds and mixes. Some are always on the lookout for the next awesome hog dog and will go to great lengths to acquire one.


So I began looking for Bull Arabs in Hawai'i. And with a few quick clicks I found forums where Hawai'ian hunters were showing off their Bull Arab dogs. One even had a litter for sale that looked like Dexter, right down to the colouring. There were photos of the litter's older half-siblings who also looked like Dexter. Wow.

I thought I adopted an Australian Cattle Dog (also known as Red Heeler or Queensland Heeler) mix puppy in October of 2007. But maybe what I adopted was a Bull Arab puppy, some hunter's reject. It's certainly possible. It also explains the similarities he shares with the Hawai'ian hog dogs I'm accustomed to seeing.

If nothing else I did manage to adopt a very mixed mutt who has Bull Terrier ancestry. That much seems clear to me now.

Visitor update

Kiana, our golden visitor, has settled in nicely.



See? She's in Dexter's favourite spot. (Don't ask me how he feels about this. I had to remind him that in this house we do indeed share. He showed me that he understood by taking MY favourite spot. Nrf.)