Leather
Leather's story...the
“perfect” Weim…almost…
"For
Sale: 3 yr. old, neutered, obedience trained Weimaraner--$200."
Having lost our Weim 3 months previous I couldn't resist answering this ad.
This would be our 5th Weim and at age 59 I didn't want to deal with puppyhood
or adolescence. The reason he was for sale, said the wife, was
because with a busy lifestyle and young children they just didn't have time to
exercise him. So off we went, just to look, mind you. Leather was in
this huge pen in the back yard, pacing and pacing…you could almost feel his
pent-up energy. It never entered my mind to question “why” he was in
the pen instead of the house, “why” we spent a solid hour in the house
talking about Leather before we were taken to meet him, “why” the man held
him on such a short leash for me to greet him.
The man knelt down beside Leather so I did likewise, holding my hand out
to be sniffed. Leather half-lunged
& nipped at me but I had treats in my hand and instantly the tail was
wagging and he wanted to be friends. It
happened so quickly I wasn’t really sure what had happened.
The owner put him through his paces and when I took the leash he obeyed
all my commands perfectly…but my gut instinct was that he had problems of
some sort and the owner wasn't telling the whole truth so we spent
another hour questioning him. He
said that Leather had a habit of “rushing” up to people who were walking on
the street and since a lot of their neighbors were elderly they were afraid he
would knock them over. They only
took Leather in the house when it suited them for short periods of times and if
they came home late at night they’d just wait and feed him the next morning
(normally fed once a day, in the evening) which meant he sometimes went over 24
hours with no food. He also said
that Leather had never been given any people food and that he only slept indoors
on the coldest of nights and was always crated because they were afraid the kids
would stumble over him in the dark. He
had never been left alone in the house. To
bathe him they tied him to the fence & used a hose to wash him off.
I figured all he needed was lots and lots of exercise and tender loving
care. No way was I going to leave him in that pen for the rest of his
life so home he came with us. The owner gave us Leather’s “toy”
which proved to be an old G.I. Joe doll, filthy and bedraggled, which he ignored
once he learned that his new toys squeaked and were more fun to play with. I think they loved him but did not know what to do when he
became an adolescent and obedience training, by itself, did not solve all the
problems.
We quickly realized he hadn't
been properly socialized or exposed to much in his three years with this
family…he threw himself in a frenzy at the sliding glass doors when he saw his
reflection, “attacked” the vacuum cleaner, would run headlong at the front
of a moving lawnmower or vehicle with no idea they would hurt him, took weeks
before he’d go down the stairs. He
would “groom” himself for hours, just like a cat, and made a game of
snapping flies and bugs out of the air (probably did that to amuse himself in
his pen). We had asked the owner if
Leather was a digger. He said not
really, but that he would dig a hole underneath the big tree in his pen in the
summer months to keep cool. We got
him in December and sure enough, when the weather started to turn hot, Leather
dug a deep hole in the back yard, up against the foundation of the house, in
preparation to stay cool. He
quickly learned that cool air came up through AC vents in the floor of our house
and I don’t think he ever once used the hole.
I finally filled it in and he never dug another one.
Leather
seemed to be adjusting quite well the first three weeks he was with us.
He stepped in the bathtub with very little hesitation for his first bath
and after a week we left him alone in the house with nothing disturbed upon our
return. Wonderful!
On two different occasions friends brought their dogs by to get
acquainted and to my dismay Leather went into a frenzy, trying to attack them,
but I put him in a “sit-stay” a short distance from the dog and after awhile
he calmed and now they get along great. Then
a neighbor man came to the house, extended his hand which Leather sniffed, tail
wiggling a mile a minute…the man moved his hand slightly, Leather nipped him,
hard, then wanted to be friends. We
had him out in the front yard with us shortly after this incident, some people
were walking on the road and he took off on a dead run directly at them,
ignoring all my commands, grabbed a lady by her slacks and ripped them.
Then he stopped and wanted to be petted.
After a couple more incidents of this sort we sadly realized he could
never be allowed freedom in the yard…NEVER.
Once he started at a dead run toward a neighbor and her dog.
The neighbor threw up her hand and in a loud voice said “Leather, stop,
go back!” and amazingly he did just that.
I tried all the standard “corrections” when these incidences happened
to no avail. He acted like he
didn’t realize he’d done anything wrong.
Leather rode well in the car but if we passed a bicycle or someone
walking on the road he’d throw a fit and began tearing chunks out of the doors
so we added a crate. At first he
would grab the mat in the bottom of the crate & tear violently at it until
we had passed whatever had upset him. Then
he would look up and all around as if to say “Is it gone yet?”
Now he rarely exhibits this behavior but seems to have accepted
everything he sees as o.k. while we’re riding.
To say I was so upset about all
this was an understatement. What in the world had I gotten myself into? I spent the next
couple of months worrying, crying and wringing my hands trying to decide what I
could do. There seemed to be no pattern to Leather’s behavior.
One day I stumbled on the WeimList
and these wonderful folks have kept me sane with their patience and advice.
Over the next year I put him through two more obedience classes to
reinforce that I was alpha, one of which was a special class with another dog
exhibiting similar problems. I learned that Leather needs “space” between himself and
anything new, different or strange for a period of time so he can judge for
himself whether it is something that will harm him.
I learned that using the Gentle Leader Halter gave me a lot more control
when he tries to lunge toward something. I
learned that a sturdy wire muzzle is quite handy to have if you are unsure of
his reaction in a given situation. I
never before understood the term “fear aggression” but I feel it applies to
Leather in every sense of the word. It
took me about two years to figure out that anything…and I do mean anything,
new, strange or different causes him to react aggressively.
Once he has been gradually exposed to that person or animal numerous
times then he’s fine. Could it be that he had terrible experiences while tied or in
the pen at his old home?
At
the field/creek where we go daily for free run/swim he exhibited the same sort
of behaviors and I kept him on a leash for over a year because there are lots of
fishermen, kids and dogs wandering in and out.
Gradually Leather seemed to relax and accept the fact that this was a
normal thing out there and now greets all in an acceptable manner.
Likewise, I can take him to some else’s home and he usually is o.k.
though I watch him more closely.
He is still over-protective on
his home turf where he will nip strangers, particularly men, so we have to
be very careful. It is quite a
production to introduce him to a visitor. In fact, I don’t try if it is simply a workman or someone
we may never see again. If I want
him to become acquainted with someone…and they’re willing…I keep him a
short distance from them for awhile and then tell them to stand or sit
completely still when he approaches them and especially not to move their
hands. He will sniff them quite
thoroughly for a long period of time. I
can tell when he’s satisfied and will hand them a treat to give him and he’s
their buddy for life. I have
recently begun using a prong collar on his nightly walks as an experiment versus
the Gentle Leader because if we meet a strange dog he will still try to lunge at
it.
Well,
now I’m nearly 63 and I’ve worked harder with Leather than any other Weim
we’ve owned. Not quite the rosy
picture I had in mind four years ago when I wanted to avoid all the hassle of
puppyhood! He is a wonderful dog
except for this one flaw. We will
never know what has made him this way and we may never get it completely
corrected. It is a shame...he's quiet and mannerly in the house,
rarely bothers anything and can be left alone for hours at a time with no
problems, is smart and eager to please...all the good traits you want in a Weim.
I can truly say I have learned more from Leather than from any other dog we've
owned and frustrating as it has been, I wouldn't trade him for the world. He is the “perfect” Weim….almost…
Janet
Cummings
"For
Sale: 3 yr. old, neutered, obedience trained Weimaraner--$200."
Having lost our Weim 3 months previous I couldn't resist answering this ad.
This would be our 5th Weim and at age 59 I didn't want to deal with puppyhood
or adolescence. The reason he was for sale, said the wife, was
because with a busy lifestyle and young children they just didn't have time to
exercise him. So off we went, just to look, mind you. Leather was in
this huge pen in the back yard, pacing and pacing…you could almost feel his
pent-up energy. It never entered my mind to question “why” he was in
the pen instead of the house, “why” we spent a solid hour in the house
talking about Leather before we were taken to meet him, “why” the man held
him on such a short leash for me to greet him.
The man knelt down beside Leather so I did likewise, holding my hand out
to be sniffed. Leather half-lunged
& nipped at me but I had treats in my hand and instantly the tail was
wagging and he wanted to be friends. It
happened so quickly I wasn’t really sure what had happened.
The owner put him through his paces and when I took the leash he obeyed
all my commands perfectly…but my gut instinct was that he had problems of
some sort and the owner wasn't telling the whole truth so we spent
another hour questioning him. He
said that Leather had a habit of “rushing” up to people who were walking on
the street and since a lot of their neighbors were elderly they were afraid he
would knock them over. They only
took Leather in the house when it suited them for short periods of times and if
they came home late at night they’d just wait and feed him the next morning
(normally fed once a day, in the evening) which meant he sometimes went over 24
hours with no food. He also said
that Leather had never been given any people food and that he only slept indoors
on the coldest of nights and was always crated because they were afraid the kids
would stumble over him in the dark. He
had never been left alone in the house. To
bathe him they tied him to the fence & used a hose to wash him off.
I figured all he needed was lots and lots of exercise and tender loving
care. No way was I going to leave him in that pen for the rest of his
life so home he came with us. The owner gave us Leather’s “toy”
which proved to be an old G.I. Joe doll, filthy and bedraggled, which he ignored
once he learned that his new toys squeaked and were more fun to play with. I think they loved him but did not know what to do when he
became an adolescent and obedience training, by itself, did not solve all the
problems.
