Although I have two months after Ella has barely begun to grieve properly, it must, and I still want to think ahead. Sooner or later – hopefully before, I will have a new puppy at home. I have previously raised two puppies, of which Ella was one.
In the name of honesty; to have a puppy, just, is perhaps not the most fun. They are amazingly cute, but they are also terribly cheap to have and deal with. They chew, biter, pinkies and shits inside, chasing the cats, are generally inattentive, curious into absurdity – there, anyone who has had a puppy knows what i mean.
Now I have chosen a fairly large breed of dog. With that comes a lot of things that are more important than when you have a smaller dog. Large dogs need to be trained so they don't get into the habit of jumping on people, for example. It is also smaller (read; not at all) preferably with a large dog that shows its teeth, growls or lunges. A chihuahua doesn't do that much damage, but a large dog can do serious damage regardless of the target of a possible outcome.
After ten years with a high-energy, high-intensity dog like Ella, that energy is something that is extremely important to me. My puppy will learn that high energy is not desirable. That doesn't mean he won't get to play, but that calm and sanity are much nicer. I will not give my dog room to be hysterical, because it is such an incredibly difficult situation to be in for both dog and human.
Now I actually think so not that there will be any problems in terms of energy, because the Estrela is not a high-energy breed in the same way as a military-bred dog like Ella. Therefore, the job of keeping the energy level in check will probably be the least. That's my guess anyway.
Then it will come of course the ordinary things to be important. Contact exercises feel important. Common commands like sit, lie, stay, go ahead and so on. My usual rules when it comes to exit, to enter from walk, as well as with food.
Socialization is one another thing that feels extremely important. I want my dog to be able to function in as many contexts and environments as possible. So visit the town, bus trips, train journeys, visit to friends, socializing with other dogs, walks by water, to move on different surfaces – This dog should experience everything possible.
Then I started give some thought to whether I should take and actually do something special with this dog. It is a breed bred to guard and protect livestock. Here there are no livestock to guard and protect, apart from the cats, but it's not quite the same thing. In order for my dog to have an outlet for what it was bred for, I may need to do something active with it.
I haven't really figured out what, or how yet, but an alternative is to train it in shelter (which is something I've been thinking about for years).
We'll see what it is becomes too kind of variation of activity, but I think I have to come up with something. The ultimate would be to move to a house with a fenced in large (nature)plot where the dog can run loose and guard. But I can't afford to buy a house, and it seems difficult to find houses to rent where the lot is fenced in the way that is needed.
Maybe it is slightly unrelated, but this dog will get to eat Glucosamine right from the start. I started giving it to Ella when she had already started having problems with her joints, so wise from experience I'm going to give this one (major) the dog it as a preventive measure right from the start.
The advantage of having had a dog means that I have a better idea of what I'm getting myself into. The thrill of a brand new breed is – that it is a completely new breed, with completely different characteristics to get to know and handle.
I am so excited. ♥