ChulaLuka (a deep brown chow mix with a very sweet face) is becoming a really good dog. Have noticed lately her honey-brown eyes will hold my gaze for a long time now, and she’s far more responsive when I call her in from outside where she loves to hunt in the weeds at the edge of the berm. She’s only been her about 6 weeks and was very reticent to connect in the beginning, so I let her settle in mostly on her own, watch how the other dogs interact with each other and with me, get used to the schedule and the pace, and find her comfort in us as she felt the need. Shy and skittish, I get the feeling she needs to set her own pace and it’s a relatively slow one. Fine with me. She teaches me patience while she reveals herself to me.
Yesterday I took them all out for our usual walk around the farm. Having hooked ChulaLuka to WookieRosie (my sweet golden, her size) I thought all was secure, but I was mistaken. I’d hooked the hook to her collar instead of a looped leash around her neck. When she scented the recently disappeared deer, she slipped slick out of the collar and took off to the woods, and would not come to her name (yes, she needs some recall work).
I thought I was in for an afternoon, evening, night, a possible-forever of hopelessly searching (no collar, no tags!!) So I turned around and started jogging back to the house to settle the other dogs in and come back out with the car to search and search.
But just as we reached the barn, full-flight ChulaLuka came bounding back from the field, tongue lolling, overjoyed with her adventure and very full of herself. As I guided the pack back into the garden compound, she came along on her own and took the lead, clearly happy to be back where she gets her cookies, which she got in great number along with hugs and kisses.
GREAT DOG!
I have not closed her in her crate (in the far end of our bedroom) even once since the first night, but she still sleeps there part of almost every night, obviously a safe place for her. I’ve covered it with quilted blankets and filled it with a soft cedar smelling dog bed so she’s really comfy in there, but gradually, she’s been spending the dark end of the night curled up in the big brown chair at the foot of my bed, slowly joining the pack. Her coat is several deep, rich shades of brown. It’s often hard to tell if she’s there unless she moves, she blends in so well.
Her only difficult trait is stealing food. She’ll grab anything not nailed down and can snatch food pretty far back on the kitchen counter, and does, as soon as I turn my back. (Am not used to the abilities of big dogs — have gotten spoiled with WookieRosie who is a saint, never takes anything not given her, and I have no idea where she got that from.) ChulaLuka’s also figured out how to upend and empty the big dog food bin if I don’t tuck it carefully into the closet. Am so lucky she didn’t die of bloat the last time — she devoured about five days worth, and didn’t even venture a burp.` The upside: I’ve been keeping the kitchen a lot neater and cleaner lately. Every cloud… 🙂
Four's Flights 
Kathy Duffy Thomas said,
January 15, 2012 at 1:15 pm
You paint a lovely picture of a devilish big dog. I don’t know if the food stealing will stop, although if anyone can do it you can. We had a cat who had lived on his own for awhile. Even with a full cat bowl, he’d chew through plastic bags in search of food. Mostly bread bags, but once he chewed through a plastic bag that had a silk sweater. Dumb cat made four different holes in the bag and sweater before he realized it wasn’t food!