Spring is coming...

Lysichiton americanum (also goes by the name Swamp Lantern or Skunk Cabbage)

Nuka and her friend Joey

Lynn Valley - 30 ft Pool

Lynn Valley - Twin Falls

Nuka trying to get to a stick sunk to the ground

Swimming

Minnie - I took care of her for ten days while her owners were on vacation

Nuka's glass eye (People ask me if it is a glass eye)

Rapids in Lynn Valley

Minnie - showing off her character

Nuka's Story

I thought I tell you Nuka's story because it is a very big part of my life right now and cause for joy but also a lot of stress. 

We got Nuka when she was only six weeks old and she was part of a litter from a dog rescued from the Northwest Territories, Canada. Her mum herself was a half wild creature when she was caught and had her litter shortly after she arrived in Canmore, Alberta. 

Nuka is the darkest one (Picture taken by foster family)

I did have some concerns even before I adopted her, because in Germany for example by law it is not allowed to separate a pup from its mum or its siblings before the age of eight weeks. It is essential for the correct socialization of a puppy. Nuka's mother was removed from the scene and adopted out to another person when her puppies were only five weeks old. The reason for that was she was out of milk and had shown aggression against the dad of the foster family. Then, Nuka was given to me when she was six weeks old. I picked her up coming through Calgary on my way home from work and the foster family met me at the airport to had her over. Okay, I have to say it once: She was the cutest thing ever!  

Minnie and her pups, Nuka is still the black one (Picture taken by foster family)

The foster family did a great job and put a lot of effort, time, and love into the puppies. It was their first time fostering a litter and I don't think it is an easy job. 

I was worried from the very beginning. It is such a small life and it felt like a huge responsibility and I think I had what people call 'The puppy blues'. I was overwhelmed to the point where I was wondering why I even wanted to have a dog (even though I had planned for this at least 10 to 15 years). Growing up with dogs I was very confident that I would manage to train a dog without a problem. Well honestly, I had this very quiet voice in my head which said that I might run into some problems down the road but I told her to shut up and watch me 'produce' the perfect dog.     

The puppies at the foster home (Picture taken by foster family)

My first concerns were her biting. She loved to bite. It is not uncommon for puppies but I read that they learn not to bite too hard by playing with the siblings and being told by the mum. However, puppies really start to interact with each other when they are about four weeks old. This means Nuka only had one week with her mum and two weeks with her siblings. Puhhh, not good!

Nuka about seven weeks old

At the beach (downtown Vancouver)

So I was very eager to get her socialized the best I could. She loved all people and dogs we met but we had to be cautious because her vaccinations weren't complete at that point. I put her through puppy classes when she was nine and a half weeks old and she did good. At that age I felt she was so grown up compared when we first got her. We finished those classes when she was about 16 weeks old and that was also the first time she started to show that she was not all baby anymore. She growled the first time at the vet! Also, at the doggy park she was so wound up with all the dogs running around that she didn't want to give up her ball and growled at me and Matt when we took it away. Not good either! Well, since then I started to work on the that problem. Other than that her training went well and her recall was almost at 100% even with other dogs in front of us. So, I was happy with that. Over Christmas we drive down to Denver which is a two day drive each direction and she did great. Down there she lived in the same house with 'Hexe' who is about one month older than Nuka and after some time where they had to get their boundaries figured out they became good friends.

Nuka at about nine weeks

On the way to Denver, CO

Near Denver, Nuka is four months old

Nuka and Hexe

At about five and a half months Nuka's prey drive started to kick in big time and she became selectively deaf. I started to work with a 10m training leash to get her back on track. At the same time I thought about what else I could do with her and thought about dummy training. She loves to chase after things and we are working on actually bringing them to me and also drop them for me. So she is not quite there which is one of the reasons I wasn't too keen on starting the dummy training. I'd rather train that more casually. However, I felt she was demanding something else then just nice walk and retrieving sticks. She needed a job, one that challenges her. I signed us up for tracking and she really shows promise. She is still a puppy at times and does everything too fast and to hectically. The older dogs in the class work way more methodically and the trainer calls her a 'speed devil'. We will pursue this line of training to hopefully end up with a trained search and rescue dog. It always depends on the dog after all and if it is fun for her. But I think she will enjoy it big time. 

Nuka at seven months

Nuka is a challenging dog. She is possessive of some things and protects them mostly towards other dogs but at times also against people including Matt and me and I am working on it. She is very independent and without training you would have a dog which probably would be hard to live with. I had the luxury of having time to train her every day for almost half a year already and there are lots of things she is already really good at. However, to me, and that is my problem, it often feels like a complete failure when something goes wrong. So, I have to learn to focus on the things actually going well and hold my nerves together and keep on doing what I'm doing. She is what we were hoping for and more and we do love her to death...little brat!