Living with Weimaraners
I need to wash the taste of that previous journal entry out of my mind. With that, I want to tell you a bit about my dogs.
We should have known as soon as we brought Sebastian into the car that we were in trouble. Sebastian was six weeks old, the last of the litter of pups from a breeder. We had bought Cora, our three and a half year old Weimarauner, from the same breeder. Cora was a wonderful dog. She loved my wife, and she looked to me as her playmate and walker. My wife had gotten into the backseat of the car to hold the new puppy so that Cora could gradually get to know her new companion.
Cora was not amused. She took one sniff of this male puppy and haughtily turned away. I started the car and started for home. Within a mile, realizing that Susie was not sitting in her accustomed seat up from but continued to hold that 'thing' in her lap and invite Cora to check it out, Cora climbed up into the front passenger seat and sat looking stonily out at the passing countryside, ignoring everyone in the car. She was miffed.
Why do we need a dog? she seemed to be asking.
When we had gotten Cora, she had been quite standoffish for the first few weeks. She didn't seem to dislike us, but she didn't climb all over us for affection or attention either. Initially, we put her in a large rectangular basket, perhaps two feet by four feet by three feet. For a few weeks, it would keep her from getting out. Each night when I put her in there for bed, leaving the top open, she would just stare up at me blankly. I would scratch her and pet her, and she would tolerate it, but I got no wags of returned affection, just a blank stare.
Gradually, she warmed to Susie. When my wife, who has several health conditions that have forced her to be totally disabled for work, would take an afternoon nap she would put Cora on the bed with her. In the first few weeks, Cora would not snuggle up for warmth. She would stay on the bed--she was still small and the height was too great for her to jump down--but she would stay as far from Susie as she could on our king sized bed. But over time, she warmed to Susie and moved closer and closer until one day, finally, she would sleep touching Susie. At last, she had accepted Susie as her primary caregiver.
Cora warmed to me in much the same way, though I was more good for playing with and running with. Susie was her feeder and her full time companion. Cora would follow Susie wherever she went and always curl up in some comfortable spot where she could keep an eye on Susie.
Cora was the first dog we got a crate for, and Cora took to it like a second home. It was her favorite place, and her place of greatest safety. We always had a blanket in the cage with her. If the blanket wasn't to her liking, she would crawl out of the cage and sit there, perhaps emitting a polite whine from time to time until we got the idea that she needed her blanket straightened and smoothed. If we were so preoccupied that we didn't pay attention to this, she would pull the blanket out of the cage completely so we would have to do something with it.
When we fixed her blanket for her, it had to be perfectly smooth. If she saw a wrinkle or worse, laid down on one, we had to immediately correct the problem. Otherwise, she just could not get comfortable. Still, she loved that cage. Whenever we left for a few hours, she would go into her cage before we told her to, and all we had to do was latch the door, and she would sleep contentedly until we returned.
Sebastian hated to cage. He hated--he still hates--being separated from 'the action', whatever it is. We used the cage with him for perhaps 18 months, but he hated every day of it. Yet, there were times when he would do the most amazing thing in the cage. He could smooth a blanket out perfectly flat in the cage floor, even as a small puppy. There would be not a wrinkle or a crease! Cora still insists that her servants (my wife and I) fix her blanket each night. For the past few years, she has designated me as the one person who does it most to her satisfaction. My wife can do it as well or better than I, but I must go through the motions before Cora is satisfied.
(I'll write more about these dogs. We have a ton of stories that, we think, rival Marley.)
We should have known as soon as we brought Sebastian into the car that we were in trouble. Sebastian was six weeks old, the last of the litter of pups from a breeder. We had bought Cora, our three and a half year old Weimarauner, from the same breeder. Cora was a wonderful dog. She loved my wife, and she looked to me as her playmate and walker. My wife had gotten into the backseat of the car to hold the new puppy so that Cora could gradually get to know her new companion.
Cora was not amused. She took one sniff of this male puppy and haughtily turned away. I started the car and started for home. Within a mile, realizing that Susie was not sitting in her accustomed seat up from but continued to hold that 'thing' in her lap and invite Cora to check it out, Cora climbed up into the front passenger seat and sat looking stonily out at the passing countryside, ignoring everyone in the car. She was miffed.
Why do we need a dog? she seemed to be asking.
When we had gotten Cora, she had been quite standoffish for the first few weeks. She didn't seem to dislike us, but she didn't climb all over us for affection or attention either. Initially, we put her in a large rectangular basket, perhaps two feet by four feet by three feet. For a few weeks, it would keep her from getting out. Each night when I put her in there for bed, leaving the top open, she would just stare up at me blankly. I would scratch her and pet her, and she would tolerate it, but I got no wags of returned affection, just a blank stare.
Gradually, she warmed to Susie. When my wife, who has several health conditions that have forced her to be totally disabled for work, would take an afternoon nap she would put Cora on the bed with her. In the first few weeks, Cora would not snuggle up for warmth. She would stay on the bed--she was still small and the height was too great for her to jump down--but she would stay as far from Susie as she could on our king sized bed. But over time, she warmed to Susie and moved closer and closer until one day, finally, she would sleep touching Susie. At last, she had accepted Susie as her primary caregiver.
Cora warmed to me in much the same way, though I was more good for playing with and running with. Susie was her feeder and her full time companion. Cora would follow Susie wherever she went and always curl up in some comfortable spot where she could keep an eye on Susie.
Cora was the first dog we got a crate for, and Cora took to it like a second home. It was her favorite place, and her place of greatest safety. We always had a blanket in the cage with her. If the blanket wasn't to her liking, she would crawl out of the cage and sit there, perhaps emitting a polite whine from time to time until we got the idea that she needed her blanket straightened and smoothed. If we were so preoccupied that we didn't pay attention to this, she would pull the blanket out of the cage completely so we would have to do something with it.
When we fixed her blanket for her, it had to be perfectly smooth. If she saw a wrinkle or worse, laid down on one, we had to immediately correct the problem. Otherwise, she just could not get comfortable. Still, she loved that cage. Whenever we left for a few hours, she would go into her cage before we told her to, and all we had to do was latch the door, and she would sleep contentedly until we returned.
Sebastian hated to cage. He hated--he still hates--being separated from 'the action', whatever it is. We used the cage with him for perhaps 18 months, but he hated every day of it. Yet, there were times when he would do the most amazing thing in the cage. He could smooth a blanket out perfectly flat in the cage floor, even as a small puppy. There would be not a wrinkle or a crease! Cora still insists that her servants (my wife and I) fix her blanket each night. For the past few years, she has designated me as the one person who does it most to her satisfaction. My wife can do it as well or better than I, but I must go through the motions before Cora is satisfied.
(I'll write more about these dogs. We have a ton of stories that, we think, rival Marley.)
posted by Tom | 4:29 PM
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