Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Enthusiasm


Briza, like all Canaans, is an excellent and devoted mother. But while some are very worried and protective, Briza, even in the first days after her puppies are born, is quite happy to leave them for a few minutes, to go out and relax, and get a bit of fresh air and sunshine.  That is not to say that she is not vigilant – she is completely aware of what is going on and whether anyone not approved might be getting close to her family.  But she remains relaxed and calm unless there is really a reason to react.

So two and a half weeks after her current puppies were born, when I observed that she was lying with them constantly and not leaving them, I knew that something was not quite right.

On examination, I found that indeed there was a problem.  Several of her nipples were swollen and hard.  She had obviously developed some sort of infection in a few of her breasts.  This was a very unusual situation; the Canaans are very healthy dogs and I had never had this with any other bitch.

She of course was examined by the vet and started on a course of treatment.  The puppies seemed to be fine.  They were plump and content, not crying and not seeming to be lacking in anything, and she was caring for them with typical Canaan devotion.  This in itself amazed me. I am sure that the condition must have been very unpleasant to her, if not downright painful.  In any other breed, I would not have been surprised for the bitch to abandon the puppies, not wanting to be touched, and certainly not allowing them to suckle.  But Briza, on the other hand, did not want to move from her puppies and let them climb all over her and suckle to their hearts’ content.

However, I was worried that she might not have enough milk, and that the puppies’ demands would be hard on her.  So I decided to give the puppies some supplemental feeding.  At the age of two and a half weeks, they were certainly old enough to get some additional food.

I decided to prepare bottles with milk substitute to give them extra feeds a few times a day.  To start with, the puppies made faces and tried to spit the nipple out when I put it in their mouths.  “This isn’t the real thing!”, they seemed to be saying.  “We know what real milk tastes like!”  But most of them within minutes learned that this was food, and grabbed hold of the nipple and SUCKED!  After a few feeds, they were sucking so hard that they could have been lifted into the air and left dangling there, held up by the strength of their nursing. Not that I tried it, of course, but when on occasion they grabbed my finger by mistake, I could certainly feel the power!

Two of the six puppies, however, were very stubborn.  They were sure that this was not real food, and it took them about two days to decide that they really could drink this stuff.  They were plump and full, and obviously were indeed getting fed by Mom. So why bother with something strange? But finally they agreed to take a taste and then also grabbed on and took advantage of the offer of additional food.

There was no point when the puppies seemed to be hungry or not getting food from Briza – she cared for them all the time, and they were very plump and happy.  But if they were being offered an extra treat – well, why not?  I actually, at times, started to wonder if a puppy could explode from eating too much….

For these puppies, I had now become a second mommy.  They just had to hear me coming and their noses were in the air, all of them screaming, “Me, me, me!!!!”, as they stretched up to my hands to be picked up and fed.  They were aware of my approach from a distance and scrabbled over one another to try to be the first in line for the bottle.

Three weeks of age is when I usually start offering puppies additional meals, usually special early age puppy kibble moistened to make it soft.  So now was the time to start the transition from supplemental milk feeds to real food.

Canaan pups never have a problem in starting to eat.  The collie puppies sometimes are very hesitant, and it can take them a few days to get accustomed to the idea that this stuff is food and it is supposed to be eaten and not spread around the nest.  But with Canaans, you can immediately see those little noses start to work and they usually dive right into the dish and start to slurp it up.

With most of Briza’s puppies, this was the case – I offered them a dish of food, and they quickly realized that this was good eating.  But there were two that refused. They kept following my hand around, with their noses in the air, and tried to climb up my legs.  “We know you bring milk!  Where is it???? We want the milk!!!!!” was the attitude.

Canaans can be very stubborn in trying to get what they want.  Although I knew, by now, that Briza, herself totally recovered and full of energy again, was feeding her puppies very well, I still felt that I might as well go on giving a supplement, just to be sure…So when these puppies, one cream male and one red female, decided to refuse to eat, they won – I fed them their bottle.

Finally, after a few days, I decided that they were not going to beat me, and I refused to give them the bottle.  It took them one missed feed, watching the other puppies guzzling down the food with enormous enthusiasm, and finding that I was ignoring their nose in the air demands for milk, to decide to join in and eat.  And of course, when they started to eat, it was with the typical enthusiasm.

Even drinking water warrants enthusiasm.  When I put in a water dish the first time, they almost climbed in it, and drank and drank and drank… Obviously, anything I was about to offer, was something to get excited about.

The puppies are now five weeks old, and getting several feeds a day of kibble.  I don’t think I have ever had puppies that are so very enthusiastic about eating.  They seem to be as wide as they are long, and don’t stop until they have cleaned the dish.  Briza, who would have enthusiastically cleaned up any leftovers, is left with her own portion, which she says is less tasty…



Saturday, February 11, 2012

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr........

Aggression is one of the catchwords of our modern world.  I have, over the last years, had a lot of questions on the subject of aggression in dogs.

In centuries gone by, people didn’t worry about being called aggressive.  They did what they had to in order to protect their loved ones and their property, and that could mean the necessity for aggression in greater or lesser degree.  It was not that they preferred to behave that way, but that was one of the necessities of life and survival.

In our modern world, we have developed other and, we hope, more effective ways of dealing with our problems than blatant aggression – or perhaps we have learned to disguise our aggressions behind a camouflage of manners and proper behavior and legal systems and such.  We teach our children that aggression is not the solution and that they should not beat up the other kids in their class.

We also expect that our dogs should behave and never be aggressive.  But we neglect to consider a number of factors – aggressive behavior is part of the language of the dog, they don’t have words to express these things.  This behavior  can look extremely aggressive to those of us who don’t really understand, but in fact it is communication.  Dogs are equipped by nature with tools that are meant to support this behavior.   Although we educate our children how to behave in ways that will allow them to communicate effectively and circumvent the necessity of aggression, we often don’t do the same for our dogs.

There are many different breeds of dog in the world, a very great percentage of them being dogs that we have created, through selective breeding over a period of, in some cases, even thousands of years, to suit our way of life.  They were bred to perform a wide variety of tasks, which required a wide variety of behaviors.

My collies, who were originally bred to be sheep dogs, to be gentle with the lambs and kind in their work, and that never had to be aggressive in protection of the flock, since they developed in an area where there were no large and vicious predators, are not aggressive.  They are outgoing, friendly, playful, and nurturing to people and to other animals, and for them meeting another dog means a possibility of a new friend and a lovely romp.  I would never breed from a collie that was aggressive, as this is completely opposed to what the breed is supposed to be.

The Canaans, however, are different.  I myself have learned a great deal over the years that I have lived with them, and one of my conclusions is that first of all, we must stop calling them “wild” dogs.  Dogs by definition are not wild animals.  There are no dogs that are wild, all dogs, even dingoes, which are the most shy and difficult to keep as pets, have a natural tendency and connection that draws them to the vicinity of man and makes it possible to easily build up a mutual relationship.  Having had a number of dogs, over the years, that were brought to me as totally “wild” adults, I can testify to their immediate interest and willingness to relate to me.  The Canaans can more accurately be called feral, free living or pariah dogs, but they are dogs, not wild animals.

Wild animals also are not indiscriminately aggressive. Aggression can be very dangerous and can result in injury, also to the aggressor, and therefore damage the possibilities of survival. 

Dogs that  are free living have to use aggression to survive, to protect themselves, their pack mates, their territory and their resources.  The amount of aggression used is the amount that is necessary to achieve the necessary goals, and in most cases it is much more a show than actual aggression.  It is communication – we may threaten someone verbally, shout, gesticulate, without doing more, and a dog may threaten with facial expression, bared teeth, body posture, growling and snarling, and never more than that.  The understanding is there.

There are many different kinds of aggression – territorial, resource guarding, protection of puppies, position in the hierarchy, sexual competition, and so on.  The levels of aggression and causes can be widely varied, but the language is the same.

In Canaans, this language is very well developed and full of many subtleties that we are not even aware of, but it is definitely part of the breed character and is used to the degree that the dogs feel necessary and appropriate to the situation.

We humans are probably one of the most aggressive species in existence.  But we teach our children from a very young age that these impulses must be controlled and that there are alternatives that are just as effective and even more so than the use of violence.  Our dogs, when raised and educated properly, and when related to correctly, also can learn very effectively to control aggressive impulses and to use alternative behaviors. 

However, we must always consider the breed and the background of the dog, and never be complacent, with the idea that every pet must be sweet and passive under all circumstances.

Out of the many different breeds available to us, if you want a dog that is soft, sweet and never aggressive under any circumstances, you have a wide choice of breeds that are like that.  Why on earth should you choose a Canaan and then try to make him something he isn’t?