Friday 30 August 2019

Boys, Girls And Kaiah

My Awesome Kaiser 
Over the years I've been blessed to live with 13 male GSD's and 12 females. My first GSD was a male - Blade, and though Captain another male came along with my x husband I generally consider Nikki to be "my" second GSD and my first female. I've said before that from my experience generally I consider males to be far easier than females. The females are far more devious, far more headstrong and usually a tad cleverer. Of course there are exceptions, Kai and Ross for example, Kai was a hard dog and Ross is a determined head strong boy. Both were hard work, neither would suite a first time owner but I reaped the rewards of my work with both and the bonds were/are amazing. A couple of the boys have also been less intelligent than I expect, Jay wasn't dim he was the class clown, Finlay had the excuse of being blonde but I've no idea what Loki's excuse is! Seriously I think maybe Loki is quite sensitive and complex but he does lack initiative.
I can't think of any of the bitches who have had what I consider to be below natural breed intelligence, but without doubt some have had far too much going on for their own good. I think Seffe was an eye opener .. then Krizzie, OMG, what did I let myself in for with her?  Then there was her daughter Tali, whilst Krizzie was a sweetheart Tali was different, harder, more distant, more determined. Tali did everything to suite herself and sod the consequences. To be honest though she really shone when she got pregnant, having the litter did make her complete and a nicer "person!"
 I think then I was use to clever bitches, I realised it was a different ball game to boys ... but then Sammi came along. The young Sammi was adorable, but naughty, hence the title she gained of Naughty Angle. And when you think you've seen it all, experienced it all you get a Kaiah and you have to reevaluate everything again. She is demanding of my attention, I've never had that before in a bitch, really she's like Louis and Mikey in that way .. "It's all about me!"  She runs rings around the boys, though I must admit that maybe she has almost met her match with Ross. Kaiah is very jealous and will always push to the front, she makes sure she never misses out on anything. Kaiah bullies her mother to the point that Sammi will not walk with her, it's wrong, very wrong for a daughter to have the upper hand but I'm glad Sammi doesn't retaliate or we'd no doubt have a huge fight on our hands. There is often tension between Ziva and Kaiah and I have to watch for body signals and be on the ball with them, but Asha has no interest in her and seems to have no relationship with her at all. Kaiah continually pushes everybody, she was not happy to be at the bottom of the pack, there is no doubt she is a born leader and already dominates Sammi and the boys. I think Ziva will be her next challenge but with the calm Asha still firmly in charge she will have to wait her turn to get to the top of the ladder.
If you live with a family of dogs you do see the differences in relationships and personalities. Whilst Kaiah has the upper hand she also adores Ross, they play endlessly and she was his world ... but now as is often the case with young males I am his everything. Oops sorry Miss K!
Now I'm not complaining about Kaiah's character, on the contrary it's probably close to ideal. She has a very strong character, to be fair she is generally obedient, though being so intelligent she considers often what is in it for her? Well food, I train her successfully with food. She is affectionate, trustworthy and likes most people (There was the one when she was a pup - though I do think he was to blame!) She is confident in her own skin and though she likes the boys she doesn't need them, I feel maybe she doesn't really "need" any of the other dogs! Is she a good pack member? Hmmm ... time will tell ... but without doubt she has her sights set on the very top. I think one day there will only be me in her way, but I do not envisage a challenge from her, she adores me as I said she is often very demanding of my attention, something I'm not use to in a bitch.
This weekend it'll be 6 months since Kaiah's last season, she usually goes 6.5 months between seasons. As you can see from the bottom photo she is still out of coat, but now it will grow quickly. I'm excited and nervous, what will the next generation bring? I've tried to match her with a dog who is physically and mentally suitable for her. For those of you blessed to know him I can only compare Zalu's character and outlook on life to Louis. I feel that kind happy go lucky character coupled with her strength of character may give us the ideal pet/show character. I'm watching my boys around her now, we usually get 2 weeks or so from them starting to show an interest in her to her coming in season ... so yeah watch this space as this will be the only place that I will be adding updates!