Azza had a pretty good day.
This seems like a weird way to begin a post about a dog but you have to remember that she is a feral dog, only tamed, not domesticated.
All three dogs had to go to the vet clinic today for their DHLP vaccinations, required annually and required at least 30 days before they make the big trip back to the U.S. They had their rabies shots before I visited the U.S. in January--I always stagger the dogs' shots by at least two weeks.
Azza got on the scale and sat quietly so we could get her weight (16 kg), let the vet look in her ears with a scary looking device, poke around between her toes, examine her belly, even lift her tail and look at her butt. Wisely, he didn't bother to examine her teeth.
She wasn't happy but she wasn't even close to freaking out. She wouldn't take a treat from him but she did take it from me out in the waiting room when I was paying the bill.
Then when we were out for our regular walk after I got home from work (the weather is gorgeous), she offered a nose touch on a tire swing that had two weeks earlier gotten her quite wound up, and offered a paw touch on a big piece of cardboard tossed onto the sidewalk.
To cap this lovely, long walk off, she calmly, without hackling or growling, walked past a baby stroller and a kid on a bike. Of course I was asking her to look at me and shoving treats in her mouth every step, but that is just a detail.
There is a large difference between domesticated, meaning selected and bred for many generations by humans, and tamed. Azza and her ancestors have not been directly shaped by the whims and demands of humans. Sure, there has been some indirect shaping because the feral dogs always live near humans and thus there must be some co-dependent adaption. Still, I marvel at the distance between Mimi, a dog whose lines have been selected for a couple of centuries to be pleasing and responsive to us, and Azza, a feral dog whose lines have been mostly shaped by those individuals who survived long enough to breed.
Nonetheless, I persist. I was lucky to get Azza when she was so young. I was lucky that I already knew a good bit about training dogs and had ready, reliable methods to use with her. I am lucky that my terriers are so accepting of other animals in the household. And I'm lucky that Azza is a healthy, happy, playful young animal who has learned to love treats, praise, and toys.
1 comment:
Not many humans would have your expertise and patience - she is a lucky girl. As my aunt would say, "She fell into a big pot of honey and she knows it."
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