Bear
Here's Bear with his kitty!
Our sweet boy has been doing very well and is clearly the darling of the whole family.
I last wrote in August. Since then Martin has returned to school and we had several days of "I miss my boy blues." However, Bear figured out the time the school bus dropped off "his boy" and could always be found waiting near the door. But sometime in November, although we live next to a busy corner with a 4 way stop sign, Bear learned the sound of Martin’s school bus brakes. He no longer sits by the door, but will stay with me until he hears the right brakes and runs to the front door and starts the "licking fest" that greets Martin’s return.
I enrolled him in basic obedience training and found out quite a bit about both his personality and intelligence I had not known before. I took him for a private lesson before the classes began, so the instructor would have the chance to get to know Bear and his background before she saw him with 9 other dogs. She worked with Bear for an hour and made several recommendations, all of which have worked out well. By the time Bear weighed 95 lbs., he had no problem giving Martin or me flying lessons. For several weeks, I had two bloody knees, but continued to go on our long walks everyday anyway. Carolyn (the dog trainer) suggested using a halti. Even at his present weight (120 lbs.), it’s like having power steering. It turned out to be a lot easier to get his attention and he started to learn commands faster.
I told Carolyn that Bear doesn’t get along well with other dogs and she told me to take Bear to one corner away from the others and we would watch him. That first class was hard for Bear, he wanted to sit between my knees, healing nicely by this time, and panted and whimpered. Strange dogs were too close! As soon as the others entered, they were told that Bear was a rescue dog and didn’t like other dogs near him but that he would probably chill out after he got used to seeing the same dogs every week. Bear and I stayed in the corner with me between him and the other dogs but he was so stressed out, it was hard to get him to listen to commands. Lesson 2 was a little better. We had practiced hard all week and Bear did very well until 2 other dogs at the other end had a disagreement. One growled, the other barked and nipped. Nothing spectacular. Both responded to correction and were parted in a couple of seconds. But the effect on Bear was remarkable and Carolyn noticed it too. I’ve never seen such a sudden display of "Don’t come over here, I’ll get you." He never barked or growled, but he stood tall with his shoulders square and his hackles up and glared. I led him to the corner and told him to sit. With his back safely facing the corner and me between him and the other dogs, talking calmly and stroking him, he calmed a little but started panting and trying to get out the door. So much for socialization, I thought. But Bear fooled me. On the night of lesson 3, Bear entered and pulled me over to an 8 month old male collie. His owner was near panic, but Bear gently licked the puppy, who happily licked him back. Bear’s first friend. During the class, a female Australian shepherd gently slipped closer and closer to Bear, but did not try to come closer than 3 feet. She just waited. As the people were listening to instructions, Bear watched her and finally made his move and licked her muzzle gently. Another female, a husky/spaniel mix, decided she couldn’t be left out. She approached slowly, laid down and licked Bear.
Class 4 began with a 4-5 month old female mix, who is very calm and very submissive, who walked and wiggled her way over to Bear, rolled over on her back and wagged her tail. Bear leaned down and hesitated for a second as all the people in the room held their breath, and licked her muzzle, then proceeded to groom her very gently. After that the puppy felt free to lick Bear, lie on Bear when he was down, rub his face and even play with his ears. Bear tolerated it all calmly. The only thing that could upset him after that was growling from one of the others. Two of the males in the group who had barked at Bear were never forgiven and regardless of their behavior afterward, he remained suspicious of them and stayed away. But, if they came near him he would try to nip their ears. So, he can learn to get along with other dogs but only if they are the right dogs, approach him slowly or allow him to approach them and never, ever growl or bark. Kind of a tall order.
After missing two classes due to illness, Carolyn suggested we switch to another group that would pick up where we left off. We were both hoping Bear’s success with the other group of dogs would transfer to the second group. We were wrong. Lesson 8 with the new group was like lesson 1 with the first. Lesson 9 was no better, with Bear nipping an overly friendly female puppy who ran up to get nose to nose with him. He tried to nip her again later in the class when instead of walking toward her owner and sitting, she took a diagonal approach that brought her to within 2 feet of Bear. That’s when the perfectly obvious became clear to me. Bear has a mental perimeter. He wants his space and is willing to nip any dog, friendly or not, who is in his space, unless he has decided to approach the other dog first. If he gets a good result, then the other dog may approach at another time. The classes ended with lesson 10 and he did very well. The contest at the end of class was sort of musical chairs, with the dog not obeying the command in the alloted time being out. Bear won the "obey off" and won the blue ribbon. Bear was always the first dog to "get it" when a new command was introduced. The only thing he does not do letter perfect is heeling. He does well on the sidewalk, where he walks in front of me, but rarely pulls anymore, then as I slow before the curb, he goes into an automatic sit (I worked hard on that), then stays until I tell him to heel. He gets most of the way across the street in perfect form and then 2 steps away from the far curb, he starts to pull and lunges for the curb like it was the finish line in a race. We still have some work to do.
Bear’s intelligence became obvious with dog class 2 when Carolyn was introducing the command "wait." A yellow lab was the first "victim" being told to wait at the door and finding the door bump him in the nose when he tried to forge ahead. After trying to get past his owner 3 times and getting bumped on the nose 3 times in a row, he refused to go near the door again. The next was the collie puppy who kept going to the door, ignoring the command, getting bumped, but not learning either to wait or stay away. After 6 bumps for the collie, it was Bear’s turn. Bear was baited with a squeaky toy and later a treat from the other side of the door. When I said "wait," he looked from me to the collie, back to me, sat down while giving me a look that clearly said, "you didn’t really expect me to fall for that, did you?" His legend was made. The trainers soon realized that if Bear could see them work with 2 other dogs, he would be able to perform a new command on the first try.
His intelligence became clear at home when I was injured in an accident and had trouble walking on the stairs. Bear had always barreled up or down the stairs in front of me. But when he saw me walking slowly and holding the banister, he carefully walked slowly beside me. When he returned from his walks with Richard and Martin, he would run straight upstairs to my bed to see if I was still there. That’s also when Bear started putting me to bed. He would see Martin to bed and lie down in his bed next to Martin’s until Martin fell asleep. Then, he would come downstairs and stay beside me, even lying on the bathroom rug while I took a shower and following me to bed. He wouldn’t leave me until I layed down and pulled up the covers. Then he would give me a goodnight kiss and return to Martin’s room and his own bed. He was shepherding me.
I recovered quickly and Bear and I continue our daily walks finding interesting places to smell where there are few, if any, dogs. We have found wooded areas in the park and across from the lakefront. He tracks rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, skunks and we’ve even seen fox. With Bear I can walk anywhere and know I’ll be safe. Soon I am going to train him to track things I hide.
What he lacks in his dealings with other dogs, he makes up for with cats. Richard returned from a conference in Boston with a tiny Siamese female kitten. We kept them separated for 6 weeks, allowing her 2 rooms and Bear the rest of the house. Visits were held daily with the kitten in Richard’s arms and Bear on a leash. Bear was intrigued, but not sure what to do. After many visits where only sniffing was allowed, the kitten was put on the floor and Bear cocked his head, brought his ears forward, walked over to her and licked her. He groomed her like a puppy until she was soaking wet and we had to dry her off with a towel. She was put back in her room. The next day, whenever she would cry, Bear would go to her door and whimper. I’d let her out. When her kitten play got too much for his patience, he would open his mouth and push her to the floor, then lick her until she was so wet she would shake her paws. She soon learned an inhibited play bite and pawing with claws in. Otherwise she would be downed and given a bath. They are great friends now. She walks up and pounces on him (a considerable act of trust when you think that she weights 4 lbs. and he weights 120). Then the chase is on. She runs and he herds. He is very good at it, too. Richard says he has always heard an impossible job as being like herding cats. It is not impossible for Bear. When she is frustrated with the game because he is not giving her a chance to run away, she gives a "yeowl" and gently Bear licks the top of her head and walks several feet away and then lies down. "No hard feelings. I’m only playing." After a few minutes to cool off, she will join him lying down next to him after rubbing his front legs with her head. Then she purrs until she falls asleep.
Bear is still as gentle as he is big. The vet estimates that he was 2 years old in November (He and Martin shared a birthday party.) He also said Bear could end up weighing between 130 and 140 lbs. by the time he is 3. His size doesn’t matter. He is so obedient when we walk and so well behaved in the house, he is really our treasure. Thanks for rescuing him.
-Sherry Ritter