Quote: Vanessa Vleck

Hey Lauren...are you from Boston? Is your Tasha from Candle Hill? If so, then technically, Tonto IS Tasha's half-brother! I was amazed at how alike they look. If I could figure out how to post a pic I would! Small world!

Vanessa

Hey, how cool is that!

She was VERY mouthy as a puppy. I couldn't even walk around barefoot until she was 5 months old! There were a few times up until she was 6 months that I found myself seriously considering whether or not I could keep her. Once she started to gain in attention span at around Tonto's age things started improving.

She's still a little mouthy, her favorite attention getting move is what I call the squeak and pinch. She squeaks and then nips me under the arm or on the thigh with her front teeth.

If he's like her, you have one thing on your side. She is SMART. I work a weird schedule so I had to do in home puppy training with her. We moved through so quickly that she was doing a distance down and off leash heeling at 4 months old.

The brains also make her into a little master of manipulation at times. I used treats to house train her, one day she actually couched down, PRETENDED to poop and then sat in front of me as if to say "Wheres my piece of cheese?".

But, she was fully house trained in three days.

Lauren,

How neat to have found you and Tasha. Tonto's mom was Daila as well. His dad was Hero. He sounds very much like your Tasha. He is getting way better with the mouthiness as he matures. And, like Tasha, he is so very smart. I try to get in training as much as I can. Lately I have been taking him with me on a nice long walk to pick up my daughter. He will sit still while hundreds of kids skip and run past him...until he sees my daughter! Then he gets super excited and wants to jump all over her.

I was at a point a few weeks ago where I thought I had gotten way too much dog for my ability and my family. As you know, his lineage is darn impressive and I felt like I was trying to turn a potential working dog into a pet. I guess now I am focusing on keeping my pet working through training. He loves to have a job to do. I may start him in agility when he's around 1 year old and hopefully consistent with his training.

Glad to have found you and enjoy Tasha! -Vanessa

Vanessa,

Just keep at it. It sounds like with time you guys will be on the right track.

I have had many moments of wondering where I was going wrong. I have raised this dog really thoughtfully and spent so much time training that sometimes I find myself wondering why she isn't perfectly behaved, and I feel a little frustrated. Tasha isn't as calm as how you describe Tonto to be, she gets wired up very easily. We work on focus and self control a lot. "Wait" is my favorite command.

As Leih pointed out it comes with time. Tasha's first birthday is today and just in this past week I'm starting to see all the hard work fall in place. Its very reassuring.

I know well the feeling of wondering whether the dog should be a working dog. When compared to their litter mates our dogs are actually pet quality. I know this for sure because when I picked Tasha here were three pups left, and I was informed that one of them was off the table for me. After dealing with Elizabeth I'm completely sure that she wouldn't give one of her puppies to somebody unless she sincerely thought they could handle them.

However, the trainer that we worked with did suggest training Tasha for explosives or narcotics detection and selling her to the police. I think that was more about money making for him than it was about her not being appropriate for me.

I have decided that she needs a job to do, but she's staying with me. I'm looking into different stuff to do with her, I'm just not sure what I want yet.

If anything, owning one of these pups will give you the training bug. As soon as I own a house I'm probably going to be calling up Elizabeth for a Hero son to raise for schutzhund!

This is really cool. Glad to meet you!