20/12/2023
Time to introduce you all to.... Eevee!
Since the loss of Juno and Ney we have been back to a single dog household with just Lego. He is 2.5 years old now and an incredibly sweet boy. However, he is also quite a nervous dog which, despite his great nose, makes him less suitable for the truffle work. Once a rabbit has hopped away in a corner, or a weka ran away over the orchard, he spends the rest of his time being on the lookout for any other potential "hazards". Lego is really good at truffling in his own yard, but the farm is providing too many distractions.
Whilst we are working on trying to get him as confident as possible in his work environment, we also have to be realistic and accept that Lego might not be able to really contribute. Which led us to the next debate which took place over the last couple of months. Do we:
1. Take on another dog breed that we are passionate about in hopes of making a good truffle dog (the Nova Scotia Ducktolling Retriever being top of the list).
2. Go for a breed that has a reputation for being a good truffle hunter, but we have less affinity with.
In the end it was decided when we found Eevee looking for a new home. We have got her for just over a month, and it has been a real roller coaster.
Her first 2 weeks with us were, I am not going to lie, hard!
The introduction to Lego went well. Initially it took a bit of work to introduce them properly, as Eevee was VERY excited to see Lego, and he didn't quite know what to make of that excited fluffy thing on the lead.
As always with a dog introduction, we took them on a social walk, but they had some difficulty getting used to each other. We ended up sitting in the grass with a 30-meter distance from one another, both my partner and I distracting / soothing the dog we had with us. This really helped and from there we continued our social walk and were finally able to bring them together close to home.
We kept them on the lead, walked them to the back yard where we lay out a treat search and first let Eevee off the lead. She was completely focused on the treats and when Lego noticed she was now behaving like a dog he relaxed as well. Next, we let Lego off lead and after the treat search was finished there were some proper greetings, quickly followed by joined zoomies through the yard.
So, what made it hard? Whilst Eevee fell in love with Lego, she didn't warm to us that quickly. She was really unsettled and was whining whenever she wasn't being distracted. Obviously, she wasn't sleeping enough because of it, which became a vicious cycle we had to break through.
When she was inside, she wanted to go outside, and when she was outside, she wanted to escape. With her being a tiny 5 kg, she did find some ways out and as there was no bond with us, she wasn't eager to return to us.
We "mini-dog" proofed the garden by closing the gap under the gate and deck (she would pop under the house and come back out at the front) which required some physical work, but it was mainly the mental aspect that made it tough. Not only the worries that she may escape again and get run over by a car but also the bruised ego you experience when a dog doesn't seem to want to be near you.
Towards the end of her first week with us it all started to make sense as Eevee showed signs of her first heat. It explained her obsession for Lego (with frequently rubbing her butt in his face) and the restlessness / obsessiveness to get out and about. What a poor timing!!
Whilst working through her heat she started to warm to us and started responding better to her name (don't get me wrong, she is still one of those sneaky terriers that comes 3/4 of the way towards you and then has a gooooood think whether or not she should come all the way or decide something else after all ;) ).
Now that she was finally attaching to us, she was doing way better when we were around, but less so when we were gone. She would pace the house, eat a book and if there were any "scary" things going on outside the house she would start barking and drive herself (and Lego) a little nuts. Right, challenge number 2.
To make a long story short, we have discovered that Eevee fares well in the bathroom. A quiet area in the back of the house, with no visual triggers and less sounds. We have put her crate in there with a nice thick blanket and she seems very comfortable there. She even sleeps there at night now, after a few instances where she didnt appreciate neighbours coming home in the middle of the night. When she starts her barking / pacing behavior, she finds it very hard to break through that without us there to guide her. So at least for now, bathroom it is.
Why am I sharing all these details? Because I want to show that helping a dog can be hard work. Not in the form of "training" in the traditional sense, but the, sometimes constant, assessing of the situation and thinking of solutions to make things work better. To do the mahi, in our case by for example keeping Eevee on the lead in the yard so she couldn't "escape", and to be present when Lego and Eevee were together so their interactions remained comfortable for both. Not to mention the interrupted nights when she started barking or howling. It can be hard work to get to KNOW YOUR (new) DOG!
Besides all this, she is a lovely little dog. Adores people and dogs and she's very funny to observe - she can take a seat in the middle of the yard and just look around with an air of confidence. And, even though we haven't even made a start yet - I have a feeling she is going to be a great truffle dog!
