Changes
Apart from that though I thought I would report that Benny was neutered on Wednesday. All went very well, but a result he is on leash exercise only, no running, no jumping, no climbing, for anywhere from a week to ten days. That adds up to no playing with Nico because what they do together is run, jump and climb all over each other!
Before surgery Benny weighed in at a little over 69 pounds. He's a very lean puppy and we have to work to keep his ribs from showing too much, so we know its all dog. He's going to be one big boy! We could already see that he was almost as tall as Nico, and at 69 pounds now we know he's even a little bit heavier. He's already showing his strength and because he gets lots of exercise there is no reason not to expect him to just to get stronger. Nico remains of course faster, more co-ordinated and experienced in his movements, therefore dominant in the relationship. We will be watching closely though to see what happens when they get back together as we could already see, before the play stopped last week, that Nico is feeling Benny's strength and size. Also Benny will be at the stage where serious testing begins. But so far we have no reason not to expect things will go well enough.
Meanwhile, on the entertainment front: Benny has discovered mirrors. I caught him in the bedroom the other day falling in love with his image, then running away and back again to see if that good looking dog with no scent at all was still there! He remains a most affectionate pup, lapping up the cuddles now that go with non-stop supervision to make sure he doesn't lick his incision. He's on a short leash all of the time right now, which means an opportunity to work on training. He's actually pretty good at a full attention heel and can do all the patterns on loose leash or without it entirely. But on the trail I let him go out front and do not correct him if he pulls forward: he is after all, a sled dog with a pulling career, however amateurish on my part, ahead of him. He is incredibly powerful however, so I am glad that I have worked on come, finish (which gets him around to the heeling side) and then heel for when he is excited. He does it really well when its just me and him. Distractions however are something we'll start working with more seriously now that he's crossed the six month mark and more can be asked of his attention span.
So that's an update for Benny's breeder and anyone else interested in the developmental progress of this particular pup. My next installment will likely be about what happens when we get Nico and Benny back together, and how the relationship develops. Benny and Nico look longingly across the yard at each other, but at least they can each still be with Thunder, separately. When Thunder is on leash or in the house he ignores all play overtures from Benny, so they can be together despite the exercise restrictions. As for Nico, when he sees Thunder coming his tail always does that slow heavy swing, a particular greeting reserved for the old guy who helped him find his comfort here from the very first hour he arrived. They are still spending lots of time together in the yard. Thunder, being the consummate manager that he is, seems to have enough patience and control over his space to share part of each day and night with each dog, all the while insisting on the rest his senior status dictates. There is no question: my boys have formed a pack, with Benny very much included, Thunder very much in charge or at least, quite capably taking over where we leave off, and Nico, my golden Nico happier and more relaxed than I've ever seen him be.
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