"Security Service!"
As Mary once said to me: "You can feel perfectly safe having a bunch of Catahoulas around you!" Well, it has not even to be a "bunch of Catahoulas" one alone is entirely enough! At least in Lennox case ;). Although he is only about one year of age now, he is watching his surroundings like a hawk. "Home, Garden, the pack he belongs to - our Leopard is always on guard. One reason we realise that he "again" has become a little more mature. And although he is still "a baby" - Catahoulas are late developers and mature at 3-5 years - the appearance and behavior of this giant baby is now totally enough to feel perfectly safe;)
"Lost in Thought ;o)"
Lennox is such a dreamer - sometimes he runs so lost in thought through the day, he does not even pay attention to the way he is walking along! Yesterday it was the day. On the way home, at a traffic light in the middle of Munich;) We were standing there and waiting for the famous green light to show up, then - jackpot for Lennox - an older lady speaks to him, fondling him behind the ears and neck, just pampering him all the way, until the traffic light turned finally green ;). We have to continue our way, but Lennox does not want to."The old lady was so nice, and where where the heck will you ever get a spa treatment for free, just like that, at a Munich traffic light?" I did not care, Lennox had to come with ;)! But looking after that lady - while tapping along next to me on the loose leash, that must surely be allowed. It was indeed ;)! But Lennox forgot about one of the newspaper boxes (mind you, he passes that one every day) and went right into it! A look at Lennox was enough to understand dogs can feel shame! Our leopard was so extremely embarrassed, the human was very amused :o)! Maybe he will pay more attention from now on!
"Power-Weekend!"
"Tell me a dog`s life would be easy! Never every my friend! Friday was still ok though, going for a long walk in the morning, chilling in the office afterwards, getting a very jummy beef treat in the evening - that`s what I call life. (However, if I would have known what my humans plans for the weekend have been - I would have never opened my eyes saturday morning, I am telling you!) Saturday morning, 6am we went for a long walk at the Isar again (that was cool man), in the afternoon we met Sabine from "Blende68" for a professional photoshoot at the Ammerlake (there will be more to read in "my adventures" soon), when we came back home it was already evening. Sunday morning, 6am I had to jump into the car and we drove towards the Bavarian Forest, a show (arent my humans looney - on a sunday - beg my pardon?!), won my class (oh they were happy) - and after the show we met some other Catahoulas we are friends with and bayed some hogs (my favourite thing to do that weekend!) It was night when we arrived back home in Munich. I got another beef-treat and after that I dont know anything anymore. Thank god today is Monday - at least I get to sleep in the office, as I am sure, the next weekend is just around the corner ;o)!!"
"Tired li`ll Warrior :)"
Sleeping must be so beautiful! And Lennox life so incredibly stressful! The hours in the office always go by in a flash for our young man. Because he is sleeping all of the time ;)! It really is no wonder, because our usual morning walk is about 2.5 hours, and Lennox will play like mad all of the time, when we arrive in the office and he got something between his teeth, the only thing Lennox wants - is sleep! He leaves his basket only to move two more feet and to plop on the floor like a wet sack, no trace of elegance of motion. Buffalo through and through, it's a wonder that the earth does not shake when this 32kg dog just falls on the ground ;). All in all, a perfect solution, Lennox is recovering, the human can work in peace, and when we leave the office together - all can start over again!
"Show-off"
Oh oh oh .... what a show! The older Lennox gets, the more the more he acts like a macho ;o). He is strutting through the day like a peacock! When we meet other females, he let them admire himself ;). If males crosses our path, Lennox turns into a cock o). There is no day that would be boring with Lennox around ... on the contrary, it is fun to watch him! Now he is only 13 months old - hard to imagine how he will behave with 3 years :o). Time will show and it's still exciting!
"The joy of Testosterone"
How often have I heard the stories about Catahoulas being same-sex aggressive or not compatible with other dogs - Nope, that can be, but surely must not be true! This is all a question of environment and socialization. This morning, 7 0`clock, Isar ... 1 female, 4 males, all neutered and unknown to each other. Except for female no dog did weigh under 65lbs, big guys all together. And watch out - there were no disaster. Every male tried to stack out his area and after a about 20 minutes, a few growls here and there, they took off ... for a wild game in a pack of 5! This moments are what makes life as a dog owner so much fun, especially when you see how much even these "testosterone bolts" enjoy these moments. There is simply nothing better than the interaction in a pack!
"Old friends"
Yes, yes, Lennox and Hugo are old friends! But not only these two. As luck would have it, we have discovered another old friend of Lennox this week! Oscar, a 15-month-old, intact Labrador male! The first "Hello" was of course not as puppy-like as it has been month ago, indeed it has been rather gruff anyway - but after 25 minutes the "old acquaintance" got the upper hand, the posturing behaviour was dropped, and they started to play! From now on we will meet more often, and today the men`s club (Oscar, Hugo, Lennox) even let a lady into their middle - Holly. This little Terrier lady has gun-powder in her bum, and they boys have nothing to laugh about. But watching all 4 of them has been great fun! This way, we enjoy our morning walks twice as much!
"Schoolyard-fight!"
"Fight, a real fight" - O-tone the nice greek guy in "Bridget Jones Diary! We felt like that today! 10 am, a beautiful morning at the Munich Isar, some two-and four-legged, all on the road to enjoy the sun! This time our dog pack consisted entirely of males, and four of them were still intact males. Everything was fine! Until a pedestrian decided to cuddle Freddy the terrier, the other guys came to have a look, Freddy growled (probably meant fuck off-that's my passerby) .. the others also growled (even the retired 11 year old grandpa - still is a realy guy though!) The pedestrian wanted to save the terrier, and kicked the other dogs on the side! ... and that was the moment the situation got out of control - we had some kind of a schoolyard fight-which involved all the dogs! It did not took long until we had restored the peace - one dog stapled - no dead ones - a normal dogs life. And the passers-by will certainly have to tell some story tonight!
"Nearly 1 year ago"
Hard to believe how fast time flies! Almost one year ago, Franzi, Hugo and Lennox met for the first time during the puppy play. What a mixture! Two hunting dogs and small Franzi, the delicate italian greyhound. The first meeting of the humans has been quite skeptical, especially Uschi was probably worried that Franzi, who had hardly seen the light of day, would have to leave earth again way to soon because of our two buffalos ;o). But far from it, the dogs loved their "mini-pack" from the beginning. Their friendship lasts up to today! Only the proportions have changed quite a bit. Lennox leads in the weight class with just under 68 pounds, Hugo follows with 50 pounds and their round is completed by Franzi, who weighs in just around 6 pounds ;o)! We are really glad we have met all of you and look forward to the next year of our friendship!
"My prey!"
This time, genetics have done a good job - Lennox mother, in the top 3 of the European Coursing Class - has had a full impact on our boy. Whether during the hunting ability test at 7 months last year, or now, a half year later. Lennox nose is comparable to a high functional precision tool! He finds everything everywhere, and the hunting call training is in full swing too. Once this is complete, we are ready to hit the first coursing competitions to see how Lennox "fun barometer" will like it. Our leopard doesnt mind all of it really - to him only the daily rounds over the fields around Munich are important. Just a normal dog! o)