Happy Birthday Viktor!

How is he a year old already!

We’ve been getting the same question ever since he was a puppy…. “What kind of dog is he?!”  back in February we were asked this question while at a health clinic event hosted by the area golden retriever club- and someone who shows goldens asked the question!  And just two weeks ago we were asked “Is he a mix? No? What breed?” by someone walking a golden at an agility trial!

He can look like a golden – but his big white patch and very small size can be misleading. His current weight is just under 39 lbs – making him an incredibly tiny boy!  According to the Golden Retriever Club of America’s breed standard the ideal male should be 65-75 lbs.

I had found his litter listing online on a site for field/hunting dogs after trying to find the ‘right’ puppy for about 7 months. Before I had a chance to call the listing was removed but then it got re-posted a few weeks later and I called right away. We went down to Arkansas to pick him up on January 1st. His pedigree is awesome and I had hoped it would help us override him not getting the many socialization and exposure activities that many sport breeders do for their young puppies.

We’ve had some bad luck and his front legs have been growing abnormally. Now the bones are almost/mostly normal and we’re struggling to strengthen the ligaments in his wrists – he stands with his toes pointing out. This results in potential problems in the rest of his body as well as a general structure that makes running and walking not the safest form of exercise. We consulted with many specialists here and out of state and are doing the best we can… but now it’s mostly waiting.

I also had an interesting and unexpected surprise when he started showing some fairly serious resource guarding with the other dogs as a young puppy. In some ways, resource guarding is a normal behavior (you shouldn’t take someone else’s things) – but he would get much more worked up than necessary and would continue to snarl and bark even after the other dog had turned away. We started to do some training with that and have had various ups and downs throughout the year. This has resulted in some close management and supervision as Blaze doesn’t have the best manners with other dogs and doesn’t  always back down in a confrontation. It’s not fun having to do so much management, but like I tell training clients, it’s very important that we don’t let the dogs practice unwanted behavior and that we do everything possible to preserve and grow the relationship between dogs in a family. He’s doing much better now – but there are still some safety concerns and our set up is somewhat restricted. He can play with Griffin and he loves Tonks. Last week I gave Viktor his first time outdoors, off leash with Griffin since June and he was far less intense. One next step I want to do is train him to wear a muzzle for an extended period of time so that I can try having him sleep loose rather than in a crate. The dogs won’t like having chew items removed at night but it may help him be more comfortable overall.

Like what some of my training mentors have talked about, it is hard for people to bond with pets who have behavior challenges – I know enough to not take it personally, but I would rather spend time on other fun training stuff or even manners than teaching him to not panic if another dog comes near his chews or bowl or crate.  I want nothing more than to play tug and fetch games and hiking and to do agility with this fast little tiny dog. But those aren’t realistic options for us at this time. A few minutes here and there to preserve his mental health at the consequence of his physical health. I always wonder if his resource guarding would be easier to address if I could get him sufficient exercise at least a few times a week.  His health problems combined with not being able to give him sufficient plan and exercise – I end up feeling very sad for him and that I can’t meet all of his needs all the time.  That said, in some ways it’s very hard to think about rehoming him even though I should. One night a week I’ve had someone else do training with him so that he learns to like being with other people – he’s friendly with everyone he meets – but he was initially constantly scanning for me or sometimes not eating. Now he will stay on task – at least with canned food – and it’s been very good for him.

Pretty face!

His other trait that makes him feel very much like ‘my’ dog is that, like Blaze, his comfortable walking pace matches my comfortable walking pace. Griffin and Tonks prefer to go much faster!  And this isn’t about Blaze being old or  Viktor’s limitations – once Blaze learned loose leash walking he became a perfect match.

Viktor wrapped up in his theraband

So what’s next? We need to go back to his rehab vet in December – unless I’m too scared to drive to Minnesota in the snow!  I will be hoping that as he grows his body changes in ways that are more favorable for his legs. I’ll hope we might find an appropriate only-pet home for him. And we’ll be working on obedience, rally, and tracking – we need some structured training goals.