stay, Oh, stay. I've polar mixture egos here, and the other day I realized (though I really already knew that) Egon certainly is quite high in rank, when it comes to dogs and their interaction in exercise paddocks. I was up to the rest garden for Egon to meet a couple of Border Collie guys I will take out on Saturday night when he is here.
There are certain things which shows that a dog is high in rank. For example, when the tail is straight up and the dog's body language in a very clear way shows that he or she has good self-confidence and high thoughts about himself or herself. Much like the Dalmatian Sigge who has been here and comes here again a little to and fro, ahead. Egon also has a high tail and says with his whole body that he at least stands for what he thinks and thinks, and do not back down if someone says otherwise.
It certainly was dominance in the picnic area. Repeatedly, in addition. Nothing that became a super brawl, but enough that I felt the need to meddle in and separate the dogs involved; including Egon. He did not like to be told – at all, actually. But sometimes you do not get what you want, even if one is called Egon, thats how it is.
I have'nt had a male dog before, but according to those who have had it, male dogs are not equal “dangerous” when there is a conflict, as bitches. Ever since Ella became a young dog, I have chosen not to take her to the resting area, or for that matter, health too much on other dogs. Especially other bitches. Ella has been quite sharp and a bit sharp in her contacts with most other dogs. There have been some pieces she has come to terms with, but the times she got into fights it has not been fun to watch (or to cancel, for that part).
This is my biggest weakness. To monitor several dogs together and know when it is time to interrupt, to see the earliest signs that something is going on, and so on. I am, in general, quite good at watching one dog at a time what's going on. Ella I felt inside and out, so it was her, in addition to the energy level, very easy to interrupt a behavior of. But when it comes to dogs I do not know very well, it is a little trickier.
It got me though to think a little. The dog I will get eventually will be of a breed that is in itself quite dominant. I and the dog will have no problems, but I started thinking about what to do with any day dogs. I have no desire to have to separate dogs that end up in just dominance teasing in time and out of time. And the fact is that if all dogs are unneutered (which I know the BC guys are) sooner or later there will be some form of fuss about who is the biggest, tough, coolest, strongest and so on. Considering that my dog will be at least twice as big as the BC guys… *says no more*
So this will be be, I think, my biggest challenge ahead. To make sure that my dog works together with other dogs without any fuss. Normally, I do not think this necessarily has to be a problem, but considering that I want to challenge myself with something other than an extremely high-energy dog, it feels undeniably exciting.
Maybe it will be one focus, ahead, when I actually have my puppy who becomes a young dog and an adult dog. How to meet, handles and raises a high-ranking dog, and makes sure it works with other dogs without fuss and fuss. I actually think I should start reading a little bit about just that. For how oats; it will be a completely different type of dog than Ella. No matter how much energy this new dog has, it will never reach Ella's level. On the other hand, it will in all probability see itself as higher in rank than Ella ever did.
There is undeniably very many thoughts about this. I'll try to get some of them down as time goes on. A lot of them will be about myself, because it is with me my dog's stability begins and ends.
Am I fucking stupid in my head if I get a little excited about the thought of this? 😀