Dogs in my life

[jackpine]

I probably know wolf behavior much better than I do dog behaviour. So I'm coming at this as a relatively new dog owner and am simply trying to understand the difference. My puppy, Bucky is the third dog in my life, and my second border collie. My first dog was a shepherd/husky cross, a female and she was so very easy, even as a puppy. No problems with my resident cat, no problems with, well anything actually. A wonderful, easy companion from day one. She (Kip) was a big part of my life till she met with an accident. We lived in Northern Ontario and she wandered one day and was either taken by wolves or was shot. Such is the way it is in that part of the woods. She had never been tied up before and never strayed (we had 300 acres of bush) but, that one time, she did. And I never saw her again. She was 7 years old.

 

Years later, a friend of mine got a border collie pup but couldn't really look after him. And so I kind inherited Jack. He was four months old when I took him. He had originally come from a working sheep farm in south western Ontario.

 

I soon realized that this pup was verry different from my easy going Kip. I knew nothing about border collies so I read everything I could about them. Yikes!, I wondered, am I up for this? Well I tried. Jack and I did everything together. We lived in a town but I was always going on field and canoe trips up north and Jack came too. Actually, every time I went out in my jeep or anywhere else, Jack was with me. He became the best canoe, camping and trecking dog ever. When we portaged, he carried a pack on his back. Once, when we were out in the middle of a lake, a sudden, violent storm came up. I used all my strength and knowledge to keep us from tipping and Jack was, of course nervous. I needed him to help balance the canoe and so I got him to lean left or right according to what was necessary to counter the waves. He knew exactly what I meant because ever since he was a pup I had taught him to turn left or right as we were walking. We made it to shore thanks to Jack,

 

And by god did we celebrate!

 

Jack got cancer when he was five and it was a long haul. Finally, my dear friend and constant companion died in my arms.

 

Everyone said, get another. Nope, I just couldn't do it. It takes as long as it takes.

 

Now, seven years later, I've got this little BC, Bucky. He is almost four months old now. Different in temperament from Jack, but still, unmistakably, a BC. Getting to know each other, we two.

 

 

thanks for listening.

 

tara

[KrisK]

They do have their ways, don't they? Looking forward to hearing more about Bucky's adventures

[jackpine]

They do have their ways, don't they? Looking forward to hearing more about Bucky's adventures

 

 

Hi up there in N.Ont.

 

and Thanks!

[rossie]

Hi! I love the name Bucky, but maybe that is just because of my love for Bucky Badger!

 

 

 

 

While I think ethology, or the study of animal behavior in their natural environments, such as wolf packs or populations of feral domestic dogs, has its place in helping us understand dogs; I am really more interested in psychology, the study of thought processes and behavior. I know my dog is domesticated and eager to please, so while I might learn a bit about body language and communication from wolf studies, but I don’t imitate that behavior or ever get rough with my dog the way a wild animal might.

 

Here’s a cool article on ethology/dog psychology.

 

http://www.4pawsu.com/dogpsychology.htm

 

If you scroll down to “Dominance” it talks about why the flaws in the studies of wolf packs in the 1940's (which are what the dog training books published in the 1970's were based on).