Strong instincts II - Confessions

I was once young and naive...and that time was VERY long ago...about 2 years ago...Let me explain.

Since our Carpathian Shepard puppy arrived, at 3 months old, until he was about 6-7 months old I did no real training with him. Even afterwards I did not start obedience training until recently, at around 2 years of age. Let's explore the time in between :)

The Carpathian Shepard breed is an ancient one and one of the few that remains intact to this day. The dogs fulfill the same purpose today as they did hundreds of years ago. In essence they are fairly independent. They do not rely on people to tell them what to do. They rely on instincts. Those instincts are very simple: look for threat, and eliminate it. In order to be effective against predators (bears, wolf packs, etc.) the Carpathian dogs work in packs. Practically this means that hierarchy is established very quickly when two dogs meet. What does this look like in terms of dog to dog interactions?

Well, it looks a little like this at 3 months old:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOQVqTEzAOs


When he's a year old it looks more like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzPbBsavw30


Notice that he's amazingly calm in both situations and no one is injured. This is most clear in the second video, as the first still mostly looks like play. To be perfectly clear: although there is a disagreement and Czari "jumps" the big Newfoundland dog male (aka Terra Nova), he is never "out of control". The Newfy dog challenged him and Czari solved the "issue". As soon as the other dog calmed down he got off and they just moved on. That is the main difference between an unbalanced dog that is acting aggressively and out of control and Czari. Although a form of force is still being used, Czari did not snap and lose control of himself. He simple chose to use force to make his point. And he didn't use an excess of force either; energy is usually conserved for bigger dangers :). This is perfectly within the parameters of the breed's personality.

So, why I didn't interfere or attempt to prevent the incident? It was clear from the beginning that the other dog was posturing. The Newfy ran into Czari several times chest first (one of these is why Czari was jumping in the first few seconds of the video); Czari was giving him space half way through the video, before I called him back. After I called him back, and the Newfy charged him again, Czari jumped him. So why did I just keep chatting away? Or why was I just laughing happily in the first video? Simply put I couldn't read the signs and gave my dog mixed signals.

It is now time for the confession part of this entry: Czari, the Carpathian shepherd dog, is in fact my first dog in many ways. Although we got Zuzi first, I was not able to dedicate too much time to raising her. As a result, although I knew a lot more than real first time dog owners, I did not know something crucial: how to read doggy body language. So I could not always respond appropriately to situations and guide him in how I want him to handle such situations. It took around 2 years to learn enough to "see" what's happening. In the mean time it was a very stressful, intense, non-stop crash-course in dog language. I was fortunate that I was able to dedicate as much time as I did towards learning what I didn't know. Which is why it is VERY important NOT to get this breed of dog if you lack the experience. It will give you white hairs ...or something will go REALLY wrong.

For those interested in a step by step analysis of doggy communication...enjoy :P

Someone's gonna get it!

Who's the boss?!

Total domination!!!

Now imagine the above when they're over 100 lb! Imagine it while people are seriously freaking out that they're dog is gonna get killed...no, nobody is interested in explanations at that time...they just see 100 lb of fur, muscle and teeth on top of their "precious"...odd, I know...

I rest my case :)

So how did I overcome this challenge? We'll get there soon enough.