Heeler-mystery-dog cross. Mother was a working queensland heeler, father a mystery dog in the night. I am guessing, based on her build and hunting instincts (she has a heck of a good nose), that the dad was probably something along the line of a german pointer or catahoula.
Smartest dog I've ever known -- she's spooky scary smart. (And I come from a background of owning and working with heelers and aussies and the like.) Also extremely high energy. Very sensitive, soft, wants to please. Extremely athletic -- not only is she the smartest dog I've ever worked with, she's also easily the most athletic. When she runs, she looks like she's flying. She hurtles over fallen trees like she has wings. She stops so quick she slides like a cutting horse. She runs literal circles around my quad when I'm doing 15-20mph. I've clocked her at 30mph -- she was running out in front of a quad and I had the quad going flat out trying to keep up with her. She can run for miles and miles without getting winded.
(Notably, she listens really well even when running hard, and she loves to run -- nice trait for a dog I'd like to use for squirrel hunting and tracking. She has great recall even when she's going flat out after a bunny or squirrel or raccoon.)
And she was six months old two days ago. She's not a big dog, either. Maybe forty pounds, with long legs.
I LOVE this dog. She's basically obedience trained already, allowing for typical puppy impulsiveness and a normal lack of attention span. She has a really good nose and tracking instincts. She's SO smart. I'm thinking I'll start her on hunting squirrels as soon as the grey squirrel season starts here (on the 31st). Also want to teach her to hunt for elk antlers as they sell for $$$ and we are in the middle of elk central here. Might try to get involved with the local search and rescue groups, too. She really does have the nose for it.
Here's my problem: She's a wuss! I know some of that is "puppy" and some of that is me being used to heelers (she does NOT act like a heeler at all). However, sometimes she's just over the top wimpy.
She was running downhill a few days ago, stepped wrong, and landed chin first. I thought she'd broken her neck because she didn't even try to get up -- she just lay motionless, yelping like she'd been skinned alive. Scared the daylights out of me because she wouldn't move for a couple of minutes. She was totally fine other than a nickle sized scrape on her chin.
Another example: she stepped on a prickly pear today, and had a cactus spine in her foot. Okay, yeah, it hurts, but you'd have thought she'd broken her leg by the way she cried. She wouldn't even try to walk. Most other dogs, by her age, in this country, learn to pull cactus spines out of their feet with their teeth pretty darn quickly, because cactus is everywhere.
Every cat on the place has her completely intimidated. I've seen her cower on the ground screaming because a cat reached through a fence and whacked her on the nose. I couldn't even find a scratch.
So ... anything I can do to toughen her up a bit? Just basic confidence building exercises or something else -- anyone have any tips? I don't expect her to be crazy tough, and I know she's still very much a puppy, but good grief. :facepalm: It's embarrassing when your dog flings herself to the ground and screams like she was dying over a cactus spine. Seriously?
Smartest dog I've ever known -- she's spooky scary smart. (And I come from a background of owning and working with heelers and aussies and the like.) Also extremely high energy. Very sensitive, soft, wants to please. Extremely athletic -- not only is she the smartest dog I've ever worked with, she's also easily the most athletic. When she runs, she looks like she's flying. She hurtles over fallen trees like she has wings. She stops so quick she slides like a cutting horse. She runs literal circles around my quad when I'm doing 15-20mph. I've clocked her at 30mph -- she was running out in front of a quad and I had the quad going flat out trying to keep up with her. She can run for miles and miles without getting winded.
(Notably, she listens really well even when running hard, and she loves to run -- nice trait for a dog I'd like to use for squirrel hunting and tracking. She has great recall even when she's going flat out after a bunny or squirrel or raccoon.)
And she was six months old two days ago. She's not a big dog, either. Maybe forty pounds, with long legs.
I LOVE this dog. She's basically obedience trained already, allowing for typical puppy impulsiveness and a normal lack of attention span. She has a really good nose and tracking instincts. She's SO smart. I'm thinking I'll start her on hunting squirrels as soon as the grey squirrel season starts here (on the 31st). Also want to teach her to hunt for elk antlers as they sell for $$$ and we are in the middle of elk central here. Might try to get involved with the local search and rescue groups, too. She really does have the nose for it.
Here's my problem: She's a wuss! I know some of that is "puppy" and some of that is me being used to heelers (she does NOT act like a heeler at all). However, sometimes she's just over the top wimpy.
She was running downhill a few days ago, stepped wrong, and landed chin first. I thought she'd broken her neck because she didn't even try to get up -- she just lay motionless, yelping like she'd been skinned alive. Scared the daylights out of me because she wouldn't move for a couple of minutes. She was totally fine other than a nickle sized scrape on her chin.
Another example: she stepped on a prickly pear today, and had a cactus spine in her foot. Okay, yeah, it hurts, but you'd have thought she'd broken her leg by the way she cried. She wouldn't even try to walk. Most other dogs, by her age, in this country, learn to pull cactus spines out of their feet with their teeth pretty darn quickly, because cactus is everywhere.
Every cat on the place has her completely intimidated. I've seen her cower on the ground screaming because a cat reached through a fence and whacked her on the nose. I couldn't even find a scratch.
So ... anything I can do to toughen her up a bit? Just basic confidence building exercises or something else -- anyone have any tips? I don't expect her to be crazy tough, and I know she's still very much a puppy, but good grief. :facepalm: It's embarrassing when your dog flings herself to the ground and screams like she was dying over a cactus spine. Seriously?
