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| Ziva and Jezi |
So when did my evil puppy turn into the class clown? God I/we worried about her, to the point that we opted not to sell her as we felt that in the wrong hands she could have been a liability.
At 2 weeks old Jezi (puppy Maggie as she was then) made it out of the whelping box, the youngest I'd ever known a pup want to make it out of the safety of the nest. She wobbled her way across the kitchen floor before I scooped her in my arms and put her back in. Seconds later she was back out and the first guard rail had to be put on the box to keep her in! Maybe alarm bells should have rang then! As second pick of the litter for conformation we decided that she would stay, but with Danni steeling our hearts it became harder to stick to that decision, our hearts were quickly starting to rule our heads.
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| Danni with evil eye Jezi |
We had never had a puppy like Jezi before, she was aloof, disobedient, distant and difficult. She fought viciously with Danni and Ziva (but never with Enya) had no respect for the adults and even pissed off Finlay. As the weeks went by and the situation escalated at times I felt I was even starting to hate her. Their certainly was nothing between us, nothing there that felt like love. Danni was still here and became the victim of Jezi's aggression. Steve loved Danni so deeply and it broke his heart to let her go but we felt we had no options. Danni was noisy, but lovable, kind, safe and very very homeable, Jezi simply was not. We felt that to keep both together now was asking for trouble, Danni would have to go. Through heartbreak and tears we said goodbye to Danni in May 2012, we still pray we will see her again but know in our heart that it was the right thing to do. Danni has more than we could give her here, actually Danni has it all!
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| Mellowing |
Still I had sleepless nights and I worried my self sick over Jezi, what was to become of this young unpredictable bitch? How could we keep her safe? She barked and growled at visitors, made no eye contact with us and didn't interact well with the other dogs. I truly believed that with maturity we would have a dangerous dog, at times you could just see evil in her eye. But she was just a baby, our baby and there was no way we would give up on her. We had to help her become an acceptable member of society, we had to help her find happiness in her life. So we carried on with everyday life, and as the weeks went by she became more relaxed and even started developing a relationship with us. With Kai sadly gone I walked her with Louis, Kiri and Finlay, a balanced an obedient trio. Though she was still quite disobedient I found walking her away from her immediate family quite successful and she and Ziva seemed to develop a bond around the home. Nico's arrival was also a milestone in her life, she now had a "special" friend who she adores. Actually she is slightly possessive of him and though she's happy for Tali or Asha to play with him she get very very jealous if Ziva and Nico play together. Saying all of this , to be honest, from the day Danni left thing gradually started to improve here....
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| Relaxed Smiling and Happy |
So where did the evil puppy go? How did she grow up into such a clown? Where did the unpredictability come from? Was it the pressure of being one of three sisters still together when in a normal pack situation they really should not have been? Was it hormonal, after all she was in season at an early age? Was it her intelligence level? She is far far cleverer than little Ziva. It's usually the clever ones who do cause the problems.
All I know is that the Jezi we now live with is happy, playful, affectionate and so so funny. She's reasonably obedient, though her intelligence makes her headstrong, and she questions things. She is still aloof with strangers and doesn't make friends easily, but she is comfortable in their company. Really she is as the standard for the breed portrays. I'm not complacent, I'm still aware of her capabilities, but generally she's a very good fun loving young lady now. Really our Jezi Baba is no longer a "forest witch and friend of the devil," she's now just Jezi and we love her so very much ....
