I found this cute picture of Sweetie as a baby when I was looking for when they were born :)
Sweetie is one of our set of 'twin' Catahoula leopard
dogs, from the line we bred for four generations. Sweetie and Spud
were born in the early Spring of 2013, so they are now coming on four
years old.
Catahoulas are pack animals, herding
dogs meant for controlling cattle and pigs in the swampy woods of
Louisiana. You might find them listed in some places as 'Louisiana
Leopard Dog', or 'Catahoula Cur.' And they are a registered working
class breed with the American Kennel Club.
Having
just one Catahoula you would miss out. They build on each other and
cooperate in a way I have seen from no other dog breed. They are
protective especially of other animals and children, and ours are only
aggressive when they believe there is really a threat. It saddens me to
see their aggression listed on the higher end of breeds... perhaps due
more to their crowding of people and pushing them.
Perhaps,
being 'pushy' scares some people? Ours are very 'pushy.' Our newly
moved-in neighbor once complained because four of our dogs surrounded
their out-of-state relative and 'herded' them all the way back to their
property line, then took off for home!
In our
experience each new member of the pack is trained by the elders and
finds their 'niche' to living with their people. If not given one, they
will find their own "job"and take their self-assigned tasks seriously.
It would be hard to keep one in an apartment, especially alone. They
are exuberant, and need lots of space, exercise and time with their
people.
This
was Sweetie, as a baby. She has one blue eye, and one brown. Besides
looking the most like her brother, she was also the smallest in the
litter of ten puppies. She had a very sweet and 'dainty' nature, right
from the start. She was 'the sweet one'. I couldn't think of any
better name for her. It just stuck.
.Puppies
and the goat. We used to let the goat run free with all the dogs, but
we had to put her on a long kennel run. There was an incident where Daphne
and Loula had to bring her back from the swamp, where she had been
mired for hours with mud up to her armpits. I was so proud of my girls
that day, as we had no idea where she was and were growing worried as
darkness fell. They were gone so long with her - we knew they were
staying by her side. To this day, the goat has a cord she can travel
along the entire length of our driveway as well as a small pen she
spends the rest of her time in. And, she still thinks she is a dog,
laying on the porch with the other dogs and running back and forth with
them. The dogs know, but they don't tell her the truth.
Sweetie
and Spud as babies, at about six weeks of age. (see above and below)
Sweetie was a bit more cautious. But together, they were brave enough
to meet the goat. Being herding dogs, it is important they grow up with
livestock from a young age. Spud (the brother) actually got close
enough to lick the goat's nose.
Sweetie and her brother, Spud, sharing secrets.
All
grown up, she is still the dainty one. One of the very 'Sweetie'
things is to see her sitting somewhere, front paws crossed at the
ankles, and surveying the other dogs with an air of dignified
amusement. She believes she is 'in charge' and keeps our other dogs in
line. She is the first to groom an ear, chide a barking puppy (her
young nieces who are one year old, our last generation, which included
the dog our daughter is training), or raise the alarm that someone or
something NEW has arrived and must be barked at.
She
had decided, early on, that she was MY dog - or I was her human...
either way. She greets me on my way in from work. She expects (with
head on my knee and eyes closed) to be fed a morsel from my plate at the
end of family meals. She gets jealous of the other dogs if they think
they can get in line before her for a pet or a treat. She sleeps
closest my bed curled up on my bedside rug or a small cushion in the
corner of the bedroom.
She thinks she knows what
is best for me, and tries to keep me to a schedule. Often, she pokes
her cold nose under my elbow if I am sleeping in late. Late at night
when I haven't come to bed yet, and am up typing at the computer, she
comes and bunts her long pointed nose under my knees to see how I am.
If I don't pay attention sometimes, she tries to get herself under my
knees and roll my chair to make sure I know she means business.
Sweetie
on 'alert'. On an excursion out to our west field, she was keeping her
eye on her younger sister and our daughter at the same time.
Sweetie
really doesn't like the leash. She will walk on one, but only with her
head hung low. Her brother is the 'town' dog who likes other people
and being on display. Of the nieces, we have the same thing going on -
one loves to follow people and do what they do, and the other would
rather stay back and rule the pack and wait for the people to settle
down to the homefires. Sweetie is okay with other people, especially
children, but she is going to sit right by her people and keep an eye on
everything for a while, just to make sure. She takes after her
great-grandmother in that.
Both sides of the
Catahoula nature are interesting to see repeated through the
generations. At times, we say the pairs we have kept are two halves of
each other's brain - one outgoing and people-focused, and the other
seemingly introverted, but actually the brains behind the entire
operation.
Although all of our dogs are now
altered and there will be no more puppies we cherish each of the ones we
have gotten to meet like they are family. And our daughter has a
Catahoula to raise now that is well-matched to her. That was important
to us.
I'll try to introduce you to Spud, Minerva,
Daphne (and her sister Loula, who was killed by a car), Lucy and
Freckles as the time goes on. Their great-grandmother was Misha, who we
recently lost at the ripe age of seventeen. They represent the last
twelve years of our lives here in Tennessee, in a way. They all have
their own distinct personalities and stories.
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