Socialize your dog

[woodchucker]

She ran up over one squirrel and had its rear haunches between her front legs but didn’t try to grab it. She hit another one from its side and rolled it. Lucky squirrels.

That's unusual, they are hunters. The force is not great with this one.

 

[David2011]

That's unusual, they are hunters. The force is not great with this one.

I think she never learned to do normal dog things when she was at that stage of development. We don't know for sure but suspect that she spent her days in an apartment in a crate alone all day every day and had little time outdoors. When we got her at 4 years old her feet were as soft as a puppy's. (She's 6-1/2 now) The people that gave her to us gave us all of her things including a metal folding crate that had obviously seen a lot of use. Her enthusiasm knows no bounds when she gets excited. When we get her a new toy and toss it across the floor she runs after it, grabs it, shakes it until it's "dead" and is never interested in it again. She won't chase a ball or other toys; just squirrels and cats.

It's been interesting and heart warming to see her development now that she is free to do more of what she wants. We're both at home with her almost all the time. She tries to keep us both in the room with her. If SWMBO is in the den and I'm in the study the dog has to come check on me periodically. She will wait to eat until we're both near her but if one of us walks away she will continue to eat. In the last 6-9 months she has become noticeably more playful with both of us. She has even occasionally reached out and touched us with a paw to get our attention but not very often. She's stubborn and hard to train but learns what benefits her learn easily. Above all, she's still a wonderful companion.