BrownStone Chinooks is devoted to fostering the excellent health and wonderful temperament of Chinook dogs. Hard-working Chinooks excel in many activities such as agility, obedience, back yard play, hiking, dog powered sports, search and rescue, and as service dogs. The affectionate Chinook is an excellent family dog matching its activity level to that of its companions - be it strenuous exercise or snuggling on the couch.

Sunday, September 13, 2015

BrownStone Cascade Mt Karuk - Luca's First Two Years

Luca's forever family was kind enough to not only send pictures of their beautiful "purple" girl, they also sent a narrative. I on the other hand have been lax with the blog giving fall chores, harvest and food preservation occupy my time. 
Luca had her two year health exams. She has normal hips and eyes. Her next great adventure may be finding the perfect stud and puppies.
Luca’s first two years:
Luca’s second year of life was filled with fun, new experiences and becoming a teenager.  Here are some of the highlights:
Luca has a mellow temperament and great personality.  She is sweet, calm, very smart and extremely affectionate.  We have used only positive reinforcement training methods and the only correction we use is “leave it”.  She does not recognize the word “no”. She responds very well to a positive tone and encouraging words and will immediately shut down if she is spoken to in a harsh manner.  If anyone lets out an expletive Luca feels it is her job to make everything okay and she will come from anywhere in the house wiggling and wagging until you assure her that everything’s ok. Anger or frustration is simply not allowed in Luca’s world.
Luca is game to try almost anything we ask her to do, and she learns very quickly.  
 A few months ago, she showed an interest in riding on the flatbed cart we use to transport our trash cans to the road, and we invited her to get up onto it for a ride.  She jumped right up and let us pull her around the driveway. Now she thinks the cart is hers. She recently started bikejoring and has learned some mushing terms.   

She still enjoys walking on the treadmill and playing with any dog we invite over.  She is not fearful of any of the usual dog triggers such as the vacuum cleaner, thunder, fireworks, or even the tornado warning siren that sounds off a few times each summer.  She actually howls along.  I think we owe her calm confidence to Brownstone socializing at an early age which we observed and tried to duplicate by continually exposing her to unusual experiences. She loves water, but doesn’t yet know how to swim. She fully cooperates with toenail trims, although she really doesn’t like them, and actually enjoys her daily teeth brushing and occasional baths.
Luca is very connected to her people, loves dogs, and spends a good deal of time hanging out with our cat and flock of chickens.  Her interest in other dogs makes obedience classes and dog shows very hard work for her, and us. We also have to be very aware when bikejoring around the nearby lake on the bike path.  On the bike paths, she is getting better with other dogs around and generally ignores humans unless they show interest in her first, but the sight of a squirrel or rabbit sends us careening into a hot pursuit.  Despite her small size, she has some serious power, and when inspired can launch us well off-trail in an instant.

Luca sleeps on her back and welcomes tummy rubs whenever anyone feels inclined to give her one.  

She throws her head back while lying down and waits for someone to give her kisses on her neck.  If we say, “do you want a back rub”, she comes up and sits very still, facing us with her head hanging out of the way to receive a neck massage.  She flips her food bowl over every time it’s empty, apparently just to let us know, and waits for us to come and see. Sometimes she even wants more food.   

When we are eating, she quietly lies nearby and throws her head back, rolls onto her back, and does whatever else she can think of hoping we will notice her and give her some of what we’re having (we do notice, but we have never rewarded this behavior).  She’s a 52-lb. lap dog who never misses an opportunity to cuddle and snuggle (and lick).
She loves all her toys, but especially her section of nylon climbing rope.  After her walks, her reward is to have a game of tug-of-war with her “special” rope. Just saying the word “rope” in casual conversation sends her to the door with rope in mouth expecting to play. 
Her true love is Otter, given to her by her first human mom, Kay Lee.  She would love him to death if we allowed her to.  Otter is kept in a safe place and only brought out for special occasions like birthday blog photo sessions.  Luca will occasionally lie down by the closet Otter lives in and cry for him until you distract her.  She is very persistent when she wants something.
When it’s time to play, she carefully selects a toy from her overstocked toy bin, which by the end of the day is always emptied. Luca must take the right toy with her to greet anyone that has been away, wagging her entire body and making all sorts of guttural noises while she holds the special gift in her mouth.   
She has a way of immediately curing even the toughest of days. In short, Luca is a constant source of joy in our lives. She is our perfect companion.