2 weeks Skipper

It's been 2 weeks already that Skipper has been here ...

And where after the first week it all seemed to go in the right direction in terms of careful friendship between the dogs. In the second week it suddenly became a lot harder. Why?

The ladies decided to make a pact.

Skipper is of course a bit freer in his behavior, he wants to play with Lana and Myla, but the ladies have decided to make a pact not to play with him. Partly because he is of course still young and wild, the ladies have suddenly decided that they do not like that. But worse is that Lana suddenly spontaneously decided to throw a heat in it. And Lana in heat is just like a very grumpy Lana, extremely affectionate towards us. But suddenly she doesn't want to know anything about other dogs except Myla. At least, if they approach her ... As soon as the lady herself approaches Skipper it is suddenly okay. Only he is not allowed to move because she then snarls him to another corner of the room. Poor Skipper, he doesn't get it. According to him, she smells incredibly nice, and he is so eager to get to know her more closely ... But instead of that he gets to know her friendly character, he gets to know her in a totally different way than he likes.

Oh boy, not only Lana ...

And in response to Lana's behavior, Myla has suddenly decided that she doesn't like it at all ... and as a result, she doesn't want to know much about Skipper now either. Very occasionally she tries to approach him, but even then he is supposed to remain calm. And that is not easy for a young dog of 1 year who wants to play.

Skipper decided that he better put his focus on me.

Consequently Skipper focuses enormously on me, I am his safe haven and he does not want to be without me for a minute. And that is just a bit impossible because during the day I am only alone with all three dogs and I will also have to walk Lana and Myla without him! So he will have to be alone twice a day for half an hour. He clearly indicated that he did not agree with this this week ... the living room door now bears significant traces of his teeth. "Oops" case.

Trying to train him ...

Today I left for an hour without dogs while my partner was at home. This is to teach Skipper that I too can go away without having him to go crazy. Because that is necessary. My partner of course goes to his work every day, Skipper now knows that very well ... but I, on the other hand, have been with him almost all day.

Make him walk less behind me during the week.

To make sure that he attaches just as much to my partner, I always leave home during the weekends and therefore try to make him walk behind me less during the week. Although that is not easy because I cannot leave Lana and Skipper in one and the same space now that Lana has become in heat.

Doubts about which dog to be sterilized / castrated

With that joke, she has also completely preceded us, because of course we knew that bringing an intact dog into our home meant that something had to happen. Just because she was still in heat in November / December, we had not expected such a period at all and thought that we would still have enough time to make a decision. Castrate Skipper or sterilize Lana. The advantage of choosing Lana is that you will never have to go through this intrusive behavior of Skipper again. Lana will never be in heat again and will no longer smell extra nice for him. In addition, Lana is also a preference because it would be better for her medically. The risk of uterine infection is then excluded because, given her age, they will also immediately remove the entire uterus during surgery.

Advantages and disadvantages.

And there is also the disadvantage. Lana turns 10 in April, which means that surgery also carries a risk for her. She should have a blood test prior to surgery to see if her kidneys and other organs are still functioning properly and an anesthetic with continuous monitoring. which in all it will be quite a major operation that will entail the necessary costs.

If we decided not to have Lana sterilized, it would be a choice to castrate Skipper, chemical or surgical. What the advantages and disadvantages of this is also something to really think about.

Both with an operative and with a chemical procedure, Skipper remains fertile for another six to eight weeks, so it was no longer useful for us to now immediately choose Skipper. But his behavior can also change as a result. Males that are neutered can become much easier to deal with, but that only applies if you have a dominant male. If you have an uncertain dog, this behavior can also get worse. And that is just something that we first have to find out ... because you don't want to be made worse.

One little step back ...

So where I was very positive after the first week, I have now had to take a step back ... and unfortunately I have spent many hours of my day playing a police officer to lead everything in the right direction. Playing with Skipper what he just needs now comes down to me because Myla and Lana have decided that they will not do it ... and that is again difficult to train his 'learning to be alone'.

When I want to train him to be in the bench, Lana is right there with her snout. If I want to do a few exercises with him, Myla is right there with her snout. And they both do not understand that I need to be busy with Skipper to teach him something. So I expect the real changes to come in about 2/3 of a week, after Lana's heat is over. And until then I fear that it is a kind of survival with the necessary troubles, but also many beautiful moments. Because despite everything, they are all very sweet.

Mentally handicapped wolves

Recently my partner read on the internet that ALL dogs of today are more like 'mentally handicapped wolves' ... and maybe it is true. When I look at the behavior of many dogs, I sure can believe that ...

Whatever it is, Skipper was very tired of all the impressions, the behavior of the ladies, and of his own behavior ...