Sorry folks no pictures today. Just didn't have the time. We're in the garbage business and I had some garbage related stuff to do today which took up a good portion of the day.
Tonight I had to let Arie's collar out one notch. Actually the collar I got for her was too big originally and I had to make a hole to fit her 8 1/2 week old neck when we first got her. And that was a bit loose. So now she has filled out the collar and the new hole fits perfectly. However I think this collar will be wore out before she gets a chance to out grow it. But, that's alright because I have another brand new one waiting to be put to good use.
Arie certainly challenges my knowledge of how to train a puppy. She is not like any dog I've ever had. She has a strong will that can be compared to the Rottweiler I had as a kid but, that is where the similarity ends.
She has started kind of a new thing each time that I come to her pen to bring her out for chores. Arie gets excited to see me and thinks it's play time as I put on her leash and those sharp little teeth sometimes puncture even my work hardened hands. My first reaction is to "bite" her back by chopping her under the chin or grabbing her muzzle and holding it shut until she lets out a bit of a yelp. But, I have found that approach is not working. So today I tried a different angle. I did not attempt to put the leash on her right away. Instead I just greeted her and petted her and let her wiggle and be happy to see me. Basically, I had to slow down. When I do chores I'm usually moving at a pretty fast pace so I can get done without it taking me half the day. So by going the slower gentler route she seemed to respond more positively, rather than me going quick and reacting firmly with her.
But, this biting when she is excited has been getting to be a trend with her. She has been doing that with the rest of the family and with friends too. When they greet her she gets all wound up and wiggles and is happy but, then she wants to play and begins to bite. She does this while on a leash and I can control her better than when I'm trying to attach the leash. This is definitely an area where I need to spend more time working on. She responds very well to praise and to treats so I will continue with that approach as the disciplinary approach does not produce favorable results.
It almost seems like Arie has alot of pent up energy after spending hours lounging around with her lambs. She gets good activity following me around up to a couple hours a day but, as she is getting bigger her stamina is growing as well. So today we went out for about a quarter mile walk and hung out in the woods for awhile. She loved it out in the woods with all the downed branches to chew on and play with.
Arie is all puppy right now and wants to play alot. I'm not really sure at this point how to play with her. I don't want to encourage biting but, all puppies love to play bite and tussle and growl and get rough. So I am concentrating more on giving her things to do rather than to get her all worked up and playing rough.
I've been watching her close and so far she is doing well with the lambs and she hasn't been trying to play with them.
Yesterday, I took her in with the big sheep for the first time. I was right there with her and had her on a leash. Within the first minute a bigger doe blasted her. Spun Arie right around , didn't hurt her in the least bit but, gave her a pretty good jolt. That one took me by surprise the doe hit her before I could react. So I kept Arie closer and within another minute or so another doe tried to butt her. She got hit but, I was on my toes and helped deflect the charge. That time Arie snarled fiercely and snapped her teeth at the ewe. The rest of the sheep seemed to get the message after Arie's defensive out burst and the rest of the time none of them went after her again. But, then again, I was right there too. And Arie adopted a defensive posture as well. When I first took her in she was all happy and rambunctious wanting to play with the sheep. The attacks from the ewes took the playfulness right out of her.
Arie continues to amaze me with her ingrained protective instincts. As it is getting dark earlier now I've been finishing my evening shores when it is almost dark. A number of times in the past week if she sees a person or one of our farm cats after the sun starts going down and visibility gets more difficult she will bark and growl ferociously. Just tonight we were in the truck and she saw one of the cats stalking something in the tall grass and she got absolutely fierce growling and barking at it. I thought she was going to jump out the window. This is a deeply ingrained trait and not something I've encouraged at all. As I've stated before I don't want her doing that to our animals but, I welcome it towards predators, varmints and stray dogs. It makes me feel good that she has this strong of an instinct. Yet, a little wary because it will be hard work to train her to be trustworthy with the friends and animals that belong here.
Two days ago our friend John was here and brought his dog Owen. Owen is an almost grown puppy, a mix breed with boundless energy. He loves other dogs and is close to the size that Arie is now. John asked if it was alright to let Owen out to greet Arie and I said, yes. John opened the truck door and Owen was all over Arie in a heart beat. He was at her head then at her tail. At her head then at her tail over and over. Sniffing and licking a dozen times before Arie knew what hit her. She had no idea what to make of this creature who was completely in her space. So she snarled, bared her teeth and arched her back almost cat like, her tail was tight between her legs. Hair standing strait up. Of course John got a good chuckle out of that but, as quick as Owen greeted Arie he was off in an instant to chase a couple farm cats. So John called him off and put him back in the truck. Arie didn't know what to think of the little tornado that just blew by her. I suspect if she was older and bigger the encounter wouldn't have fared well for Owen. As I said indicated I have alot of work ahead of me.
I am both impressed and quite respectful of the caliber animal this little Kangal Dog is proving to be. To me, some of her responses seem almost primitive and wild. I suspect it is from the centuries old living in the harsh and rugged environment which forged this impressive breed.
We have an older female Canaan Dog which we had since a pup, we call her Sidon and she
exhibits some wild like behaviors as well. Canaan Dogs were partly developed from semi-wild stock and Arie's traits reminds me of Sidon's in some ways.
Well, this is about all I have time to put down tonight about our Kangal Dog puppy. I'm sure there's alot I've left out. Before the weekend is over I'll try to get some more pictures and maybe a video and other pertinent info.
Tonight I had to let Arie's collar out one notch. Actually the collar I got for her was too big originally and I had to make a hole to fit her 8 1/2 week old neck when we first got her. And that was a bit loose. So now she has filled out the collar and the new hole fits perfectly. However I think this collar will be wore out before she gets a chance to out grow it. But, that's alright because I have another brand new one waiting to be put to good use.
Arie certainly challenges my knowledge of how to train a puppy. She is not like any dog I've ever had. She has a strong will that can be compared to the Rottweiler I had as a kid but, that is where the similarity ends.
She has started kind of a new thing each time that I come to her pen to bring her out for chores. Arie gets excited to see me and thinks it's play time as I put on her leash and those sharp little teeth sometimes puncture even my work hardened hands. My first reaction is to "bite" her back by chopping her under the chin or grabbing her muzzle and holding it shut until she lets out a bit of a yelp. But, I have found that approach is not working. So today I tried a different angle. I did not attempt to put the leash on her right away. Instead I just greeted her and petted her and let her wiggle and be happy to see me. Basically, I had to slow down. When I do chores I'm usually moving at a pretty fast pace so I can get done without it taking me half the day. So by going the slower gentler route she seemed to respond more positively, rather than me going quick and reacting firmly with her.
But, this biting when she is excited has been getting to be a trend with her. She has been doing that with the rest of the family and with friends too. When they greet her she gets all wound up and wiggles and is happy but, then she wants to play and begins to bite. She does this while on a leash and I can control her better than when I'm trying to attach the leash. This is definitely an area where I need to spend more time working on. She responds very well to praise and to treats so I will continue with that approach as the disciplinary approach does not produce favorable results.
It almost seems like Arie has alot of pent up energy after spending hours lounging around with her lambs. She gets good activity following me around up to a couple hours a day but, as she is getting bigger her stamina is growing as well. So today we went out for about a quarter mile walk and hung out in the woods for awhile. She loved it out in the woods with all the downed branches to chew on and play with.
Arie is all puppy right now and wants to play alot. I'm not really sure at this point how to play with her. I don't want to encourage biting but, all puppies love to play bite and tussle and growl and get rough. So I am concentrating more on giving her things to do rather than to get her all worked up and playing rough.
I've been watching her close and so far she is doing well with the lambs and she hasn't been trying to play with them.
Yesterday, I took her in with the big sheep for the first time. I was right there with her and had her on a leash. Within the first minute a bigger doe blasted her. Spun Arie right around , didn't hurt her in the least bit but, gave her a pretty good jolt. That one took me by surprise the doe hit her before I could react. So I kept Arie closer and within another minute or so another doe tried to butt her. She got hit but, I was on my toes and helped deflect the charge. That time Arie snarled fiercely and snapped her teeth at the ewe. The rest of the sheep seemed to get the message after Arie's defensive out burst and the rest of the time none of them went after her again. But, then again, I was right there too. And Arie adopted a defensive posture as well. When I first took her in she was all happy and rambunctious wanting to play with the sheep. The attacks from the ewes took the playfulness right out of her.
Arie continues to amaze me with her ingrained protective instincts. As it is getting dark earlier now I've been finishing my evening shores when it is almost dark. A number of times in the past week if she sees a person or one of our farm cats after the sun starts going down and visibility gets more difficult she will bark and growl ferociously. Just tonight we were in the truck and she saw one of the cats stalking something in the tall grass and she got absolutely fierce growling and barking at it. I thought she was going to jump out the window. This is a deeply ingrained trait and not something I've encouraged at all. As I've stated before I don't want her doing that to our animals but, I welcome it towards predators, varmints and stray dogs. It makes me feel good that she has this strong of an instinct. Yet, a little wary because it will be hard work to train her to be trustworthy with the friends and animals that belong here.
Two days ago our friend John was here and brought his dog Owen. Owen is an almost grown puppy, a mix breed with boundless energy. He loves other dogs and is close to the size that Arie is now. John asked if it was alright to let Owen out to greet Arie and I said, yes. John opened the truck door and Owen was all over Arie in a heart beat. He was at her head then at her tail. At her head then at her tail over and over. Sniffing and licking a dozen times before Arie knew what hit her. She had no idea what to make of this creature who was completely in her space. So she snarled, bared her teeth and arched her back almost cat like, her tail was tight between her legs. Hair standing strait up. Of course John got a good chuckle out of that but, as quick as Owen greeted Arie he was off in an instant to chase a couple farm cats. So John called him off and put him back in the truck. Arie didn't know what to think of the little tornado that just blew by her. I suspect if she was older and bigger the encounter wouldn't have fared well for Owen. As I said indicated I have alot of work ahead of me.
I am both impressed and quite respectful of the caliber animal this little Kangal Dog is proving to be. To me, some of her responses seem almost primitive and wild. I suspect it is from the centuries old living in the harsh and rugged environment which forged this impressive breed.
We have an older female Canaan Dog which we had since a pup, we call her Sidon and she
exhibits some wild like behaviors as well. Canaan Dogs were partly developed from semi-wild stock and Arie's traits reminds me of Sidon's in some ways.Well, this is about all I have time to put down tonight about our Kangal Dog puppy. I'm sure there's alot I've left out. Before the weekend is over I'll try to get some more pictures and maybe a video and other pertinent info.
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