"Does your dog have a special story, Joe?" - Immerito
He is a clown. Very playful and active, but he can be a bit headstrong. For example, he's very intelligent and knows a full repertoir of tricks that I've taught him, but sometimes (like when I'm trying to show him off to other people) he'll play dumb like he doesn't know what I'm talking about. Of course, the inducement of a milkbone wrapped in a slice of cheese is usually enough to get his attention and prompt him to pay very close attention to what I'm asking. He's never growled at or snapped at anybody in anger...frankly, I would not recommend him as much of a guard dog. One potential caution or downside is a very strong herding drive. The Great Dane people at the dog park hate him, because they like to show up at the same time, and Ranger wants to keep like objects in a group. He applies the same thought process to neices and nephews. Another potential problem area is that he is very cat aggressive, but I think some of that may be more to his individual background than the breed in specific.
As to his background, he's a Katrina rescue who had been neglected, malnourished, abused and was heartworm +. I was volunteering at a no kill shelter at the time, and when Ranger was brought in, the vets didn't have much hope for him. Because there was such a premium on kennel space at the time, I agreed to foster him, and the shelter would pay the heartworm treatment which the vets doubted he'd survive. Needless to say he did, but once we got him out of the woods on that, I noticed some behavioral peculiarities. If I would pick up my hand or hold something over my head, he would cringe and cower. It was really sad. Another is that he would rarely bark, and when he did, it was more of a yip. I honestly suspected that he might have some coy-dog in him, and at the recommendation of FReeper vetvetdoug, I had him genotyped through the veterinary school at UC Davis, to find out for sure, as apparently coydogs have some real negative reactions to anesthesia and some other domestic canine meds. His results came back as all Terv, and the yipping developed into a mature, healthy bark, although he very rarely does bark. I suspect his wandering about the NO area after Katrina for 2 weeks or so following Katrina contributed to his cat aggression.
At the time I adopted him, I also had my German, Timber, who was invaluable in incorporating Ranger into the pack and who contributed a lot to Ranger's maturation and well-bing. Because of Timber, I may hold Ranger to an unfairly high standard, but he doees ok. The morning Timber died, I don't know what I'd have done had Ranger not been there for me, and if for no other reason, I love him dearly for that alone. Heere's the three of us at Christmas 2006. Timber died the following summer.
