Between May and September of this year the dog we now call ‘Django’ was cared for by ASH Animal Rescue. He’s been with us for two weeks as of today and we are all still getting to know each other. His recent past would have involved a very different life experience, and sadly a great deal of time spent alone. Despite all the efforts of the staff, volunteers and friends of ASH, for those long months he was no-ones pet, no-ones best friend. Now he finds himself in a home which he has to learn to share, not just with us but with two female Dalmatians who have their routine and their relationship pretty much sorted out after two years together. His initial uncertainty about eating indoors sorted itself almost immediately, but as was mentioned before, was not without incident. Since his initial behaviour towards Leica, she remains wary of him around food and tends to give him a wide berth although she will happily share a sofa or a bed with him. We hope to overcome the anxiety this caused her and us, and we are prepared to give it as much time as necessary rather than risk a further confrontation. Our dogs have always eaten together peacefully, but the two we have now and the one we had before were female and well used to the company of other dogs. Django is our first male and the only dog in his previous home where he may have felt able to leave his food and return to it when he wanted whereas here the bowls, with the exception of the water dish are set and lifted in a fixed place and as part of a daily routine.
Two weeks on we are getting to understand each other better, and getting to know Django is a whole new learning experience. Our first two Dalmatians came to us at eight weeks of age, KiKi like Django was almost two and a half years old. Frankly, he seems like a strange hybrid of the two things. Wilful, silly, clumsy and boisterous like a new pup he still will chew inappropriately if he isn’t closely watched and occasionally still pee indoors. Quick and endlessly energetic as KiKi was at the same age but bigger, more powerful, so he takes careful management. When he makes off with a sock a cushion or a boot, retrieving it is by no means easy. While he makes no aggressive response, his strength, size and stubborness can be a challenge. This behaviour in a four month old pup might seem amusing, but at around 30 kilos, standing two feet tall and with jaws that possess tremendous biting pressure it’s a very different matter.  This is not a dog you can easily pick up and put outside on the ‘naughty step’ as a timeout for misbehaviour. For all that, even given his one misdemeanour to date, he seems tremendously good natured. Unlike KiKi who came to us afraid and unsettled by the proximity of strange dogs, Django offers a new set of challenges in his determination to play with every dog he meets. His keen sense of sight and scent can send him tearing off to ‘introduce’ himself long before we have any sense of a dog approaching or chance to get him on a leash. Having at times found ourselves more than a little annoyed that people would thoughtlessly allow their dogs to rush up on us and provoke a response from KiKi, only to admonish us for her behaviour, we now find ourselves on the other end of these situations as we deal with Django’s absolute conviction that every dog really, really should come and play.