Benny and Nico: Together, Almost!

 

Benny and Nico: Together, Almost!

Yesterday we put Benny in the yard with Nico again. It was our third attempt and each time is is with less trepidation, but we must continue to be careful. Benny is four months old, still covered by his puppy license when it comes to interacting with adult dogs. Nico, at four years of age, gets along well with Thunder his constant buddy for the last three years. So, why all the fuss about Benny and Nico running loose together?

The answer is this: Nico has not been able to hang out with anybody but Thunder since the first year he came to our home. Initially he had playmates, but things went bad and eventually we had to stop the visits.

The reason for the problems were not obvious to me. Malamutes are not always the best playmates: Most people who keep Malamutes know they can be overbearing and even dog-aggressive. The man who built my dog sled said his father-in-law used to run Malamutes but quit. “They'd be going along just fine, even winning a race, and then about 100 feet short of the finish line they'd stop to have a fight. All the other teams would run by, and then his dogs would just stop fighting and trot on home for supper.”

Well, it's a good story. But is it true that Malamutes like to fight? I don't think so. Nobody really likes to fight. Malamutes are the original work hard, play hard dogs and their play is often fearsome, even to other dogs, dogs who are not similar in build, strength and attitude. But pack order is essential to their ability to work as a team and hard aggressive play is part of establishing that order. It doesn't mean the dogs are trying to kill each other. Our new puppy, Benny came from a working kennel where the Malamutes run in twelve dog teams. At the end of the day they play freely together without incident in a fenced yard. Dog-dog aggression in Malamutes is real, but so is the capacity to live together as do Nico and Thunder, and as do the pack-running wolves who are their immediate ancestors.

So what was up with Nico that his friends stopped wanting to come to his parties? The only thing I knew for sure was that his previous playmates were all smaller dogs. Maybe we just needed more Malamute in the equation. When it came time to look for a playmate and companion for Nico I figured it had best be a female Malamute of comparable age and size who knew her own mind. Failing that, and it did indeed prove to be an impossible order to fill, maybe a puppy might work out: a pup young enough to not seek status until Nico had come to see him as part of his own pack, a Malamute who would grow big enough to go shoulder to shoulder with Nico in any kind of contest, playful or otherwise.

That is why it was Benny, a four and half month old pup of not inconsequential size but easy going temperament from a kennel of working, highly socialized Malamutes, who arrived at our house late in the evening Sept. 9. It was dark when we came in: Nico and Thunder were in the yard. They didn't see much of Benny until the next morning. Then, predictably, when the puppy went out to do his business in the daylight, Nico hit the wire, screaming intruder alert, calling all troops to protect the realm.

Well, that was a good start. Fortunately, Thunder, being older and wiser, although showing interest was far less agitated than Nico. Later in the day we separated the two big dogs and introduced Benny to Thunder. It was, to say the least and the most, anticlimactic in every way.

Thunder ignored Benny, and Benny ignored Thunder, after a fashion. He walked by giving the old boy that sidelong puppy glance that says, “I'm not here, but I could be here if you'd like to play, but that's o.k. if you don't, I'm just a puppy.” Thunder said, “I'm too old to play, bugger off.” But then a minute or so later said, “Oh alright, I'll sniff your tummy. There. Does that make you feel better?” Since then Thunder gets along with Benny just like any other grumpy but kindly old grandfather compelled to babysit a young grandchild, pretending not to notice when the little guy imitates his manners and expressions.

You could say when Thunder met Benny nothing really happened. But I think maybe a great deal happened. In watching the two of them together I learned from Thunder what I had to do with Nico to facilitate integration between the two younger dogs. This is important to us: the whole point of bringing another dog into this household was to allow Thunder to retire as Nico's full time yard companion and running mate. Thunder has reached that venerable age where a cozy bed beside a hot fire in the winter looks a lot more inviting than a snowbank. Meanwhile Nico still goes absolutely bonkers if he has to stay inside once the snow starts to fall. Nico needs someone to spend the winter outside with: it was clear to me from the get-go that integration between Nico and Benny was going to be hard work. Now here was Thunder, whose winter by the fire was on the line, telling me exactly what that work should entail.

Thunder: Older, wiser, just plain smart!

The bottom line, Thunder was saying, is this: Nico has to be able to ignore Benny before you can even think about introductions. So we began: Benny had to be in the kennel; key to this strategy was teaching him the kennel was a nice place to be. That meant spending hours sitting in there with him so he could learn it was but an extension of our living room, one where he could chew on whatever he wanted, pee if he felt like peeing, and even take a dump if necessary, although like most dogs, even pups, he prefered to take that a little further away from home.

Nico watched from the yard. Rick and I took turns sitting in the kennel with Benny. We'd done that with Nico too when he first came. Since Nico was too afraid to come into the house, sitting in his kennel with him was the only way to get him to become comfortable with our presence. With Benny the objective was totally the opposite. Each time we came into his kennel, he gleefully crawled into our arms for a cuddle. What we had teach him was that the kennel was as likely a place to get love and attention as the house. It only took a day: soon he was content to spend an hour or two at a time alone in the kennel, thinking his own thoughts. Bit by bit he began staying happily on his own there, even at night. In between kennel sessions, we played, we learned puppy manners in the house, we wandered across the lawn and round the meadow. We watched Nico, and Nico watched Benny.

The kennel is only about forty feet from the fenced-in yard. With this much activity going on around the puppy, it didn't take long for Nico to stop barking every time Benny came and went. Of course, every time we put Benny in the kennel or the house, I ran back out to give treats and hugs and kisses to my big boys in the yard. Thunder thought that was a pretty good deal; he could care less about kisses but he loves his treats. And soon Nico started coming around.

Then Nico came out of the yard and went on the leash. We started from across the field. When we got close enough to the kennel that Benny could draw Nico's attention, we worked Puppy Obedience Class, Level One: Watch me. Sit. Watch me. Heel. Down. Nico does these exercises to perfection in his sleep when it's just me and him, but now there was a distraction. If I ever wondered why I did basic obedience exercises until they were mind numbingly automatic, now I knew! Nico's focus on me was a direct gauge of his ability to control his interest in the puppy. Soon he was doing the exercises as we approached the kennel. Before long walking by the puppy not five feet away was a positive exercise filled with rewards; no straining on the leash, no lunging.

I have to say that I was not surprised. Nico has never let me down. He came to us terrified of all things human. He was so nervous that all he could do was run and hide, grab and swallow, cower as if he thought he could make himself small enough to disappear. And yet, from the day I began to work with him, he found some small part of courage in his soul that dared him to trust one more time. I remember watching him shake with fear and yet he would let me touch him and hook up the leash. Then I would open the kennel gate, he would bolt, and we would run away together. That was where it all began three years ago. Eventually, he got so he could hear my voice and listen to what I was asking of him. Soon he proved himself the most sensitive of Malamutes, highly responsive and totally trainable. Now we were going through the same process again, learning to listen when instinct said do anything but. But this time my boy was more than ready to believe in me.

By the end of Benny's third day here Nico was able to approach within three feet of the kennel, perform the exercises and walk by as if no one was there. Day four was a test for us all: I let Nico get really close to the kennel. I wanted to see if a play-gesture was forthcoming from either dog. Benny came over to say hello, Nico bent low, then growled deep.

I preface what comes next by saying that I never use physical correction on my dogs. Malamutes are way too smart to take that kind of crap from a human for long, and more to the point, I feel it is unfair to take advantage of our capacity to restrain any creature to force them to accept physical punishment. However, in our relationships with our animal companions there are times when instinct is the best guide. This was one of them: Nico growled at my puppy. I flipped him and said, “He's mine. The puppy is mine.”

Nico knows what “mine” means. We began working on this when his confidence was such that he'd come way past being afraid to eat in front of us to growling if you came near him at his food. I didn't challenge him on that. He was already a fully grown Malamute and in his formative experience had known hunger and the importance of defending his meal. Instead I started feeding him from my lap. I'd learned early on that Nico would not bite me so long as he wasn't taken by surprise. So I began by sitting down with the food in my lap and covering it with my hand. “It's mine,” I'd say. “It's mine until I give it to you.”

I cannot tell you how much respect and admiration I have for my Nico: He learned very quickly to wait until I'd said “O.k. Take it. Its yours.” Now I can rub my face in his fur while he eats and risk nothing more than a very disgusting face wash when he's done chowing down on his raw meat and bones. I can place cookies on his feet and within a centimeter of his nose. He will drool, but not take anything until I say its O.k. The other day I was trying to fix his leash with his big meaty bone in my hand. I accidentally dropped the bone, Nico caught it. I held out my hand and said, “That's mine until I give it to you.” He gave it back.

I put Nico back in the yard with Thunder after I told him the puppy was mine. I heard Nico say to Thunder, “That was a little over the top don't you think?” Thunder, being old and wise, just said, “Women and puppies: Watch yourself.”

After that Nico wouldn't even look at Benny. For the next few days he gave the kennel wide berth and would not even be enticed to come close. Eventually I started sitting down just outside the kennel, calling Nico in, obedience class style. He came, because he knew it was desired, and eventually understood that he could come close to the pup, even greet him, so long as he was “nice.”

Now it was time: Thunder said “Nico has to ignore the puppy.” Nico was ignoring the puppy. Even better, instead of angry barking, when the puppy was out, Nico was showing positive interest, throwing his own toys in the air, running around the fenced yard like a puppy himself. Thunder said, “That's a bonus. Stay in control of your dog.”

Right Thunder. I understand. We're getting ahead of ourselves. First we have to practice control.Thunder regretted his advice: it meant his gentle senior walks with Rick, my husband, now became training walks with Benny, while I took Nico, first behind and then out front. I tell Rick that he's doing a great job leash training Benny but that's just to make him feel good. Its really Thunder's gig: Benny acts the fool, Thunder just keeps going forward, working-Malamute style. Benny crosses the line, Thunder corrects him before any human would even notice what was happening. Benny learns it in one go. I have to say it: I just love my Malamutes!

So it went, and then it was time: nine days after Benny arrived here, we felt we were ready for the play yard.  Did I say Nico never lets me down? Doing new things with Nico is always a lot of work, but he repays every effort and more. Learning to treat Benny right in the play yard proved no exception. Nico came to us a most damaged dog, and yet every step of the way has proven that his heart is Malamute through and through. He is tough, strong, capable in every way of handling himself if need be. Yet show him that he doesn't have to do anything extreme and you'd rather he didn't, and he won't. Show him clearly what you want him to do, and he'll do it, unless its something really stupid. (Malamutes are too smart to do stupid things; that's how they've survived human contact generation after generation!) Show him that you truly will take care of his back, and he gives you everything he's got and then finds a little more to get the job done. That's a Malamute!

Nico and Benny have been enjoying short play sessions in the yard now for four days. Day 1 I figured something out: I had never really understood exactly what happened that Nico's playmates became fearful of him. On all but one occasion there was never any obvious signs of aggression or status posturing. Nico has never been an overbearing, take-charge-of-everything-on-four-feet-and-maybe-two-if-you-can-get-away-with-it kind of Mal. But when I watched him running with Benny that first day I understood: Nico is one tough, fast, smart Malamute. He simply out runs, overpowers and eventually exhausts his playmates. Then they stop running for fun and start running in fear. It never got further than that with the other dogs. I always took them out when it was clear they were no longer happy being there with him. But we know what can happen in the Malamute psyche when an animal shows fear.

When Nico and Benny met in the yard the first time I did not release Nico until I saw the requisite play bow from both dogs and a happy reaction from Benny to Nico's overtures. Watching them run I called out “easy” and saw Nico jump over Benny, instead of on him. When they began to play fight I said “play nice” and saw Nico side step so as to fall down himself, instead of knocking Benny on his back. When the running started to get frantic, I called them in, and though this was the hardest thing for Nico, he made his way closer to me and I was able to stop the play. This is what we've been doing every since: praising Nico when we see him hold back, shutting down the game when we see that Benny is getting tired and Nico over excited. We end each session resting quietly together, learning to relax, the dogs side by each.

Today we introduced a rope toy into the game. Nico runs with it. Benny chases him for it and Nico slows down so he can catch him. So far so good. Nico doesn't exactly let Benny take the toy, but he doesn't guard it from him either. When its time for a drink, they take turns and when Benny forgot his manners and got too close to Nico at the pail, Nico looked to me to back Benny off, rather than growling at the pup. All good signs, but it will still be a good long while before we leave Benny in the yard alone with Nico. Benny has to get bigger, and Nico more nonchalant about his new friend's possibilities. Meanwhile, we can see that Nico understands what is required, and is trying very hard to get it right. That is just about as good as it gets, and we love him for it.

Nico has proven himself time and again to be the real thing: a dog who given the least bit of chance is ready and willing to put his whole heart into getting it right and making it work. We cannot forget that he had a bad start, and cannot help but be impressed when he shows us once again that the Malamute spirit is indomitable and generous. He's lying here beside me now as I finish off this tribute to his character. Like any other Malamute I've ever known, he doesn't really care what happened in the past, and even less about what I might say about him. What's on his mind? That squirrel with a death wish is back, just outside the screen door. I better get a leash on my dog!

Benny and Nico: one day they will run together in harness as well as freely in the yard. Of this I am now confident. And when they do, Nico's rehabilitation as a Malamute, born and bred to be part of a team, part of a family, and of course and always a huge part of someone's heart, (lucky me: it's mine!) will be complete.