Sunday morning

Good morning all. The dogs are curled up on my bed awaiting their canyon run. It rained yesterday so they missed out and it was obvious by Luke's behavior that he really missed out on his energy outlet. When Luke doesn't get out somewhere each day; somewhere to either use up his brain or body energy you can see it manifest in different behaviors.

As I said in a previous post; due to Tilley's recent wound issue there has been a shift attempt in the pack. Luke has been displaying some very obnoxious behavior lately. He has been pushier than normal with Tilley and when she was down with her tail would she would just shrink away. This behavior that she displayed only made his worse. But she is back on track and gave it to him yesterday.

Luke gets a look when he is looking for trouble. There is no missing it. He decided that he was going to harrass her and she was not in the mood. Typically she ignores him until he goes away which can be quite a while. But this ignoring routine works and is one that I use in my training regime as well. But if for some reason he really has it in him and she is short on patience then she lets him know much sooner.

Tilley goes from meek princess girl to fierce lightning dog. Anyone who has not seen her in action before would be shocked to hear what comes out of her. She has a huge and fierce growl, even when playing. She sounds very much like a grizzly bear. So she will growl and lunge with such speed that Luke doesn't know what has hit him. He is set back and left pondering his next move. Often that one attack is enough, sometimes not.

If she needs to tell him again, it is louder and with more force. Tilley also owns the sharpest set of adult teeth I have ever felt on a dog and one hit with those canines and he doesn't usually try again. Mustering up all the courage he can he goes for it again. This time she means to put and end to his harrassment and she does. He seems humiliated and Tilley is always unsure how far she is allowed to tell him and comes to us for reassurance. Of course I give it to her.

If for some reason I stopped Tilley from giving Luke the appropriate feedback; we then would have a monster on our hands.