Long-Dangerous Tails

10 month-old Alta-Tollhaus Kaper (k litter: XBox – Maika) and friend having some fun.

This afternoon I did a private lesson with a lovely family who inexplicably purchased *two* littermate Labradoodles — the puppies are 16 wks. old, had never been “off the farm,” and had been taken away from mom at six weeks of age because she didn’t “belong” to the “breeders” (and oh, am I using that term loosely here!). That said, the pups are nicer than expected but neither parent has owned/had a dog since childhood. They have three children — 4, 6, and 10; youngest is a boy, the other two are girls. The boy, typical of his age and gender, was a hellion (albeit a pleasant and bright one) and ran around the training building, first pulling one of the puppies, then by himself. When he landed, he proceeded to first run up to Kaper and throw both arms around her and hug her tightly, then explore and pull on her ears, after proclaiming that she must be “sad” since her ears were standing up. She licked him in the face. Then, he sat on the floor and leaned up against her. She laid down beside him. Next I noticed he was draped across her midsection, and then he sat on her shoulder. She laid there and thumped her tail. Finally, he laid on the floor next to her and she licked the top of his head, his ears and face, as he giggled uncontrollably.
Now, before you ask where the parents were, they constantly either picked him up, or made him sit on a chair, but we were there for an hour and forty-five minutes, and he’s a four year old boy with more energy than I ever had! He wasn’t being a “bad” kid, and bless her German Shepherd heart, Kaper was amazing. Keep in mind that she hasn’t interacted with little kids since she was eight weeks old, although she’s seen a number of them. She’s pretty wild at times, so I have limited her direct play with small kids. I was so darned impressed with her gentleness, especially since she can roughhouse with the best of them!
Good girl, Kape!! I’m so proud of her and I’m letting her breeder know what an awesome puppy I have!! This breed is incredible.

Julie — I’m not sure that you have heard about my personalized Kaper alarm clock. It works like this: my dear husband lets dogs outside in the morning, in groups — the house dogs go out together, then he lets three of them back inside, and lets the “kennel” dogs out (our dogs are rotated in and out on a regular basis). As soon as a certain GSD puppy is let back into the house (she’s one of the full-time house dogs), she blasts through the house, into the bedroom, and throws herself at full-throttle onto the bed, and unfortunately, onto my head. Usually when this happens, it’s followed by Mike calling her and she retreats to her crate for another hour or so, grinning the whole way, I’m sure. She does enjoy a good joke, and she, and my husband, apparently find this quite amusing. I, however, find it much less so, as you might imagine. This morning, I was half awake when she pulled her leap-onto-mom’s-head routine. I waited for Mike to call her. And waited. And. Waited. Finally (the entire time she’s pawing at my now-covered head, whining, attempting to lick my face, BTW), I uncover my face and find my ‘real’ alarm clock, which reveals that it is 2:50 in the friggin’ a.m. The little bugger has opened her crate door!!!!!!!!!! Stayed tuned for more adventures as I attempt to outsmart the living alarm clock. First effort will be simple snaps on the crate door…. — Anne

    I was asked, because Kaper is fed a raw diet, if her ‘menu’ includes fruits and veggies.  First things first:  dogs are carnivores and I’m always amused by people, including (apologies to Mos) veterinarians, who insist that they are omnivores.  If you have evidence to the contrary, I’m sure The Smithsonian would be delighted to know!  As such, dogs have *zero* nutritional need for veggies, fruits, grains.

        By DNA, dentition, by their very physiology, they are wolves in designer clothes! Their dietary needs are simple: lots of meat, small amounts of edible bone, small amounts of organs.

   Note: my dogs (between 7-22 including puppies, fosters, our own dogs) have been raw fed for almost nine years now.

                 — Anne