Mr Nudnik is here to stay (and grow up)

One of his cute moments, cuddled up with Goshen...

Now we have had Barak in the family for a week and it is safe to say that we also have decided to keep him. He continues getting calmer, but at the same it gets clearer to us where we have to put the most effort in the training. He gets really excited about cats, and since Goshen also has a thing with cats, we notice that there is a risk of a synergistic effect if we don't watch out. Therefore we have started to also have Goshen on a leash a bit more often to correct her when she gets excited over cats.

Barak does occasionally run away, but returns when he has had enough. When I took them to the fields the other day he followed us nicely and I called him in to me on a regular basis and he was very attentive and obedient, but as soon as we headed towards home he took a tour around our houses and the trigger was of course the cats around there. A dog that has grown up with no leadership and therefore started doing this, will be quite a challenge to stop from doing it. He knows the "come" command, but when he is distracted he simply ignores it, since he already got the taste for independence. We can only hope that he will cool down and feel more and more like a part of the pack and therefore stay with it, and during the trips to the fields we simply have to put him back on the leash further away from home and hope that this will be enough.

The other day he showed some aggression towards the neighbours male Pekingese. However, both dogs were on a leash and probably very excited and that is not a good condition for dogs to meet. Yoram realised that mistake and is now more careful. I constantly try to snap Barak out of his unhealthy excitements when we are outdoors, but it is very difficult with his extremely strong mind. I will start taking him out alone more often to remove Goshen as a distraction.

The two dogs get along very well. If he is trying to bully her around, she will tell him off and we also correct him when he is too rude against her. She is still in charge though and she is the one that decides what bone to chew on and when it is time to exchange bones and so on. Many times I see them laying wrapped up together or kissing each other and that really makes my heart soften up and for a moment I forget the times when I want to dump him on route 6 for being a complete Nudnik...