Bonding

As most people know, last 2017 though mid 2018 was the worst time of my life.  It started with losing Scout unexpectedly to liver cancer in December, then finally losing Bliss to her horrible lung disease in May.  Right after that, Rival and Gypsy were bitten by the copperhead and mom went into hospice.  I was sure Rival had fully recovered from his horrible bite, just to find he had hemangiosarcoma in the location of the bite.  It was shocking as we had just ultrasounded and xrayed him in April to look for cancer (knowing his sire had died of HSA) and he was clean.  But the snake bite completely messed up his immune system and let latent DNA go crazy.  I lost mom on July 10th and Rival 12 days later.  Then two months later, Rob lost his Aussie to HSA as well but by that point I was numb and emotionless.

As often happens in life, things happen that we don't understand.  Mako was born on my beloved Chance's birthday, 20 years later.  And the breeder (who didn't know my Chance) named him Chance.  I wasn't looking for a boy, but I was hoping for a pup related to Rival at some point, and this was likely my last chance (no pun intended!).  But neither of the girls in the litter spoke to me. And little Chance did.  I would have no way of knowing that Rival would die a mere week after bringing him home.  This puppy walked into a complete shitshow.  I had nothing to give him, and the other dogs were also grieving and adjusting without their benevolent leader, Rival.  He was the king of my pack, the rock, and everyone's best friend.  None of us knew how to be without him.  But we had no choice.

The first six months of Mako's puppyhood are a blur.  I did very little with him, as honestly just getting up every day was a challenge.  I remember thinking that I couldn't wait until Mako was an adult, as I just didn't have the energy to raise a puppy.  It wasn't until I saw some behavior issues emerging that I actually got myself in gear to work with him more.  Thankfully, he was the kind of puppy that was okay without the emotional connection, he was happy to just play and wait for the bond to come.  He's always been happy and definitely could make me laugh even when I was sad.  He took it upon himself to lay on me every single time I cried.  If I was behind a closed door crying, he'd try to break it down to get to me to provide comfort.  Unfairly, I also found myself wishing I could just have Ri back, instead of him.

It's taken time to form a bond with him, and it's been slow to develop.  It's never been about him, but about my mental and emotional state after sustaining all the trauma of last year.  But from the beginning, Mako has very clear said I am his person and he's willing to wait until I am ready to open up to him.  At this point, he's 16 months old and I think he's a pretty awesome dude.  His temperament is just lovely, he's a working machine and sweet as can be.  He is a lot of dog--way more than either I or the breeder expected.  He's pushy, very physical and incredibly exuberant. But he's also very capable of being thoughtful in drive, which is huge.
 

He's been really good for the girls too---well except for maybe Rave, who still thinks he should go back!  Mako and Surf are BFFs and he's helped her recover from all her bad experiences, maybe just as much as I have.  He's never had a bad experience in his life, so he goes into everything head first and she follows his lead.  It took Gypsy a while to warm up to him, but she enjoys playing with him now, when she feels like it anyway!  She had a horrible time for about 6 months after Rival died, and didn't want anything to do with Mako.  But he won her over with his persistent charms.  :-) 

The universe had a plan with this guy, and I am so glad he's a part of our family.  Bruises and all! 

Super Surfer Girl!

It's been a long time since my last post and felt it was time for an update now that Surf is almost three years old.  I don't know where the time has gone!  Surf has matured into such a lovely young lady and I am thrilled with how she's recovered from her bad early experiences.

When we were at the beach for the 4th of July holiday, we had a situation that could have been awful.  But it showed me just how far we'd come!  We arrived at a soundside beach and we were the first ones there.  I had only Surf with us as we were hanging out with my niece for the day and didn't want too much chaos.  And Surf is Evelyn's favorite of all my dogs.  She was still on leash right near me as we got settled.  As we were setting up our chairs, tents, etc, another truck pulled in a few hundred feet from us.  They opened the back of the truck and instantly a huge silver pit/lab mix bolted for Surf.  He clearly had seen her from the car and was off like a shot towards us as soon as the door was opened.  Thankfully, I was facing that direction so I saw him coming and had enough time to react.  I got Surf behind me and held onto her leash with one hand and as the dog approached us, I was able to grab his collar with my other hand and hold him a few feet away from her.   I yelled for his owner to come get him and he kept screaming "he's friendly and just wants to say hi".  Well I yelled back that my dog did not want to say hi.  And he got mad at me! 

This is where things got interesting for me.  This man walks over, clearly in no hurry to get his dog, and says to me that he didn't bring a leash for his dog as he's very friendly.  I told him that my dog had been attacked numerous times by other dogs, and was not interested in interacting with his dog.  He actually had the nerve to tell me I should just let her say hi, they'd be fine.  Mind you, this dog was three times the size of Surf!  And while he certainly didn't look like he had any malicious intent, I still wasn't going to trust him!!!  The man finally grabbed his dog and walked off angry that he'd have to find something to secure his dog with.  Who goes to a public beach without a leash???

The best part about it was that Surf was totally cool.  She trusted that I had the situation handled and just sat behind me.  I was so proud of her!  It showed me just how far she's come in not only her own confidence, but also her trust in me.  We spent the rest of our time on the beach showing off what a good dog she is, even without a leash on!  Surf is starting to remind me a lot of Rival as he matured---the kind of dog who knows how to behave in different situations and always tries to do what I ask of her.  Okay, except maybe when she's working sheep!  But boy is she a darn good one!