Balou pics

Every Leonberger needs a slanket...

Three way wrestling fun!

Post neutering recovery snooze position!

Balou thinks it's about time he got a new bed.

Tough teenage times

Well it's been a roller coaster few months. Balou turned one in September and besides his birthday celebrations there was another thing on my mind; neutering. I had always planned to have Balou neutered as I don't believe in keeping male dogs intact unless they are stud dogs (for a variety of reasons). As Balou had a retained testicle neutering was the only option, however the question was when to do it. In the world of big dogs the folklore says to leave neutering until about 18months by which stage the dog will have fully developed and have done most of his growing. I discussed this with my vet who is very familiar with large breeds and she said that in fact there is nothing really to support waiting this long, once a dog reaches sexual maturity it is at a suitable age to be neutered and neutering is unlikely to play havoc with its growth. Even so I was keen to hold off for a while and had the goal of waiting to Christmas...big mistake.

Unfortunately Balou, while usually a lovely friendly chap, started having some major 'spats' with another of my dogs who had recently been neutered. Let me stress, this wasn't just Balou but was as much my other dog. Both dogs decided one day that they were sworn enemies who wanted to kill one another! This wasn't fun, mainly because the other dog is a Shih Tzu so they were very unevenly matched and there was the real possibility of Balou harming the other dog. The dogs had previously got on fine, but for a variety of reasons that I won't go into they stopped doing so. They have now spent two months apart (the smaller dog was sent to live with family) as I was very concerned both for the welfare of the smaller dog and that Balou didn't develop an aggressive streak. This all kicked off over one weekend - probably the result of a testosterone spike and Balou feeling he now outranked the older, recently neutered dog. Needless to say this meant that Balou was neutered fairly swiftly afterwards.

Because of the retained testicle the neutering was quite a complicated (and costly) procedure. It was also followed by 10 days of house rest - which wasn't fun! His testosterone levels should be stabilising although it does take up to three months for the testosterone to flatline so to speak. I haven't noticed any real change in his behaviour as he has been nothing other than sweet with most dogs - except his nemesis, my Shih Tzu.

I know of quite a few owners of giant dogs and smaller breeds and anecdotally everything is always peachy. One of the reasons behind buying a Leonberger - beside my love of giant breeds and Leonbergers in particular, was to have a 'bodyguard' as it were to walk with my smaller dogs. I wanted a dog who would be calm and friendly with other dogs but imposing enough to make other dogs think twice about approaching our pack. 

Living in London most of the small dogs I know have at some stage had a run in with fighting type dogs whose owners encourage them to pick on smaller dogs who are good bait training. On the one hand Balou has played his part well - we never get harassed by larger dogs and my little dogs no longer worry when a couple of Rottweilers or similar come dashing over. 

The flip side is that Balou has turned into a very big, bouncy and boisterous teenager, and yes he can be obnoxious and has been extremely trying over the last couple of months. He currently weighs about 55kgs - which is about 50kgs more than my other dogs. This has obvious implications when things go wrong. Now if you asked me a year ago I would have said things would go smoothly - I'm experienced with raising dogs, have studied advanced canine behaviour - yada, yada, yada - I fully expected everything to be trouble free small dog/big dog existence without anything but the usual adolescent hiccups.

More fool me - of course things go wrong and problems arise! The first has been that Balou has become quite aggressive when around food he classes as 'valuable' - this is definitely exacerbated by being in a multidog household, especially one where all the other dogs are smaller and weaker physically than him. He knows he can be a bully if he throws his weight around. If there is something he really rates, like chicken, dropped on the floor he will fight to get it. This is also something that has arisen since he entered his adolescence so I am hopeful that with training and management we can reduce this tendency - but still, it is not something that could have been predicted. Had Balou been in a household with other older dogs his size I don't imagine he would behave in this way, he is deferential to dogs his size, particularly older ones, but with smaller older dogs he knows he can push them around, and will do so.

With the Shih Tzu the situation is again made worse because of the size discrepancy. The bickering initially started over resources - food/toys - which Balou decided he should get. (Typical teenager!) If he was living with an older dog his size and they had a scuffle I would probably let the older dog put Balou in his place - which would probably have happened as Balou is being a predictable pushy teenager. But again as Balou is so much larger this is not an option. Balou tries to steal something belonging to the older dog (the Shih Tzu) - the older dog retaliates and then Balou ups the ante - again if the older dog were bigger I'm sure Balou would back off, but as mentioned he knows he can push the little dogs around so he tries to do so. 

Another example of how the big dog, little dog dynamic can go wrong is just bad luck. About one month ago Balou crashed into another of my dogs, Scrappy the Papillon. It wasn't a major crash, Balou was rushing around and just didn't brake in time, but the result was that Scrappy badly injured his right hock and is now out of action with ligament damage for a few months, stuck at home recuperating. Poor Scrappy.

I am an experienced owner of dogs large and small, I also work with dogs as a trainer and behaviourist so you would think that if anyone knew what they were playing at it would be me. And I do, but you can't predict how animals are going to behave and despite your best efforts things do not go right all the time. What I want to underline is that by having such a discrepancy of size between your dogs when things go wrong they go badly wrong. I am sure there are plenty of people with Newfs and Chihuahuas, Leonbergers and Poms out there happily co-existing and for the most part mine do too but it is worth pointing out the problems that can happen and that can't necessarily be predicted.

For the time being Scrappy is healing and Balou and the Shih Tzu are going to be reintroduced to each other over Christmas. Fingers crossed everyone gets along!

Balou and Percy the bulldog

Teenage times

ZZZzzz - this is the right size bed for me

Isn't it amazing how time flies. Here we are in September with Balou's first birthday just a few days off - he'll be one this Sunday, September 9th. Balou's teenage behaviour continues to keep us on our toes. He might be rather slower than his little friends but he likes to test the boundaries just like they did. Current favourites are counter surfing - he is very keen on eating cat food! Sneaking (yes a Leonberger can sneak) into my bedroom and onto the bed. This is what I call his Goldilocks move - finding a bed which is just right. He has also become obsessed with intact boys. Luckily we've only met a couple of girls in season but there are plenty of boys who are still boasting their manhood. When Balou sniffs out one of these he does a dirty dart to go and investigate. Cue attempts to mount, smack with his big paws, yowl with excitement and generally pester the other boys. Needless to say this behaviour isn't popular with the other dogs or their owners! 

Puppy paddling pool - yay!

His adolescence is showing itself in other ways too - he's becoming more assertive and standing up for himself, sometimes even throwing his weight around which is something we are watching carefully. Balou himself is eventually destined for the snip, not least because he has an undescended testicle. At the moment I am trying to hold off a little longer but it seems likely that we will have to have him neutered slightly earlier than the 18 month mark I was hoping to hold out for. The benefits of delaying neutering by a couple of months have to be weighed against the disadvantages and impact on his behaviour of allowing him to form bad habits. It's a tricky one!

Enjoying a friend's pond on a warm day

Hmmm - who is going to win this tug of war?

Best of friends, Balou and Bouche.

Balou's latest exploits

Relaxing in the mud

Attempt one at finding a Leo sized chew

Attempt 2!

Balou cuddling up with Lucha the cat

Making friends with small humans on a walk...

Balou does fetch 

Teenage trials

Balou is rapidly approaching a year - only a month and a bit to go! He is still growing and resembles a lanky teenager, still not as big as the fully grown male Leonbergers we've met, but getting there. He is also very much the adolescent in his behaviour, he is becoming more assertive, especially around other dogs - he even told another dog off for the first time recently when its attempts to get him to play just became too much. He still remains a lovely, cuddly boy but we are at a critical time where we need to make sure he doesn't start to get the upper hand - at least as far as his interactions with humans are concerned!

Another interesting thing about adolescent dogs is that older intact males will ALWAYS make sure they are put in their place. Balou recently met two older boys, an 18 month old who was very friendly but a little too rough for Balou, much like an older child shoving another around he was very keen to show Balou that he had a little extra muscle and experience. We also met a four year old boy who bossed Balou around as soon as he saw him - even going so far as to knock him over and sit on him! I found this all very funny, Balou a little less so. It was interesting because there was no snarling or growling from the older dog, he just knocked Balou over and sat on him, just to make his point that he was the older more macho dog perfectly clear.

Playing with friends - big and small

Balou is a very sociable pup and has lots of friends. Most of them are smaller than him, some much smaller as he spends a lot of time with toy dogs. But sometimes we find some big friends to play with too.

Balou tries to get a Great Dane to play.

Balou finds a friendly Malamute, Sid, to wrestle, and his pals join in the fun.

More pics 6-8 months

Balou and his best friend Dexter

Hmm I don't remember saying I was a cushion.

What do you mean I can't ride shotgun?

Bouche and Balou in a toy Mexican standoff

In the paddock

Looking more and more grown up

Wrestling a dachshund

The new Leonberger accessory - the cat pillow

Snooze hound

Strolling on the Heath

Add caption

Balou pics months 6-8

Still baby faced

Balou in a basket

Hmmm, this bed seems to have shrunk.

What a pretty flower, can I eat it?

Testing, testing - one, two, three

I've had some problems with Blogger recently - it seems to have taken umbrage towards me posting more videos of Balou frolicking in the water, hence that lack of updates. But I'm not one to give up, so hopefully here are some more pics and vids.

Balou finally convinces Kit to play with him

Another of the highlights of the last few days has been that Kit the Bearded Collie has finally deigned to play with Balou. Kit is a lovely, friendly dog and Balou has always been drawn to her. He has spent the last couple of months following her around and trying his best to get her to play with him. Most of the time she has ignored him, until now. Finally she has decided that Balou is worth playing with - happy days!

Balou turns 5 - months!

This week saw Balou's five month birthday. He is so different both it terms of confidence, size and looks from the 11 week old baby who came to join us at the end of November. Size wise he nowrivals our golden retriever friend George and is starting to seek out and play with bigger pups. He continues to enjoy playing with his little gang of pals but is growing in confidence with other dogs and is happy saying hello to dogs we meet of all shapes and

sizes. We met a lovely young Bouvier - another giant breed - who would have been great fun to play with but was on the lead as he was too naughty to be let off. (Big dog trainer sigh) His face is also looking much less puppyish and goofy, there are moments when I look at him and

see

the handsome adult he is going to become. He still has his puppy fur but along the back a line of courser, longer adult fur is starting to grow in, and almost all of his grown up teeth have come through. He is still very good in terms of behaviour and recall though the first signs of adolescence are starting to show - every so often he finds something more interesting than me!

This week has seen a flurry of snow which Balou has loved. Unlike the smaller dogs who need to be wrapped up warm I get the impression that Balou would happily live in a snow hole. He is the only one of my dogs who thinks nothing of lying down in the snow for a rest.

January fun...

The iPhone being the great invention that it is I've been able to get some pretty good vids of Balou going about the arduous task of being a puppy.

Here he is playing with his little friend Dexter, and a branch...


And here he is trying to play with a swing we met in the woods. At first he was slightly scared of the swing and then he realised if he nudged it it swang back, cue much woofing and hijinks. I literally had to drag him away.



In this one he is enjoying playing in the long grass on Hampstead heath with his furry family and friends...

Wow - it's February already. Time is really flying by. Balou is now losing his puppy teeth and teething with a vengence. In an attempt to keep him from nibbling on the furniture, car and everything going we've been getting through large numbers of doggy chews. Pig ears, pizzle sticks, sweet potato chews, bones. You name it, if it keeps Balou occupied then we've tried it. The only difficulty is a lot of the chews cause an upset tummy if chewed in any quantity so he's been having lots of rice and charcoal biscuits in an attempt to keep things *ahem* regular.

The weather over the last couple of weeks has moved from rainy and horrid to cold and, when we're lucky, sunny. This is great weather for a heffalump. Unlike some of the others Balou couldn't care less about the cold weather, he is after all a furry lion/bear creature.

The Adventures of Balou - a week of wolves and water

This week has been a busy and fun filled week. On monday Balou turned four months - not much longer and the hormones will start kicking in. Eek! We have also been enjoying some lovely sunny days, especially nice after the torrential rain we had last week. With such sunny weather it's easy to spend hours dawdling on our walks sniffing, playing in the leaves, chasing the squirrels and meeting friends old and new.

Balou is rapidly becoming famous in our neck of the woods, he has more friends than I remember meeting and we are regularly stopped by people who say they have been keeping their eyes open to spot him. It's a case of if you go down to the woods today you might see a heffalump.

With the last week of school holidays there have been lots of children off school and out in the woods and on the heath. Balou loves children and they seem to love him, his fuzzy fur and lazy walk seem to be a magnet. As a pup Balou is of the opinion that children are human puppies and who is to say he's wrong, what with all the squeaking, running, stick waving and general madness surrounding them. As much as Balou likes being around children I am always a bit wary for two reasons, firstly he is at the age where a dangling scarf or waggling stick is just asking to be grabbed, secondly he is already big enough to knock them over if he jumps up, which on occasion he has attempted to do. Mainly he is managing well but there are moments when I'm glad that he has a strong 'leave' and thankful of how interested in food he is!

We continued our walks with Karin and her group of  dogs which sometimes include her own Northern Inuit Lily. Because Balou spends so much time with small dogs I'm keen to make sure he still gets a lot of exposure to larger breeds, it's important for him to know that there are people bigger than him and to socialise and be happy with dogs of all sizes. Despite now being the size of a small labrador Balou really thinks of himself as the baby he is, when meeting new dogs, especially larger ones he is very courteous, and a little wary. He tends to warm up once he's met dogs a few times and so is very friendly with my daycare dogs and the other dogs, like Karin's, that he sees regularly. We've met a few other puppies and Balou has had the odd play with them but generally finds them a little too fast. Usually he prefers to play with his little big brother Scrap the pap. Scrappy is the eldest of my dogs and is four years old. He is very friendly and calm and welcomes other dogs into our group. He also has some of the best, clearest doggy body language going - those big ears are really expressive! Scrappy is definitely Balou's 'mentor', he follows him around and is over the moon that Scrap now plays with him. Given the disparity in size, and speed, playing usually involves Balou standing over Scrap and a strange sort of wrestling taking place.

Look at this big stick I have. See how big it is titch.

This week also saw the arrival of our newest daycare client. Dexter, a three month old mini schnauzer. Dexter is about the size of a small cat but is very feisty in true schnauzer fashion. He and Balou have become bosom buddies and would happily spend the day wrestling. When at home this involves Balou lying down with Dexter dancing and prancing around him, nipping his ears and making lots of impressive growling noises. The two also try and play out on walks and would happily roll in the mud for hours. Despite looking rather an odd combo. Balou is fairly gentle with Dexter. Dexter is in fact the more assertive of the two and Balou is the one who often calls time on their rough-housing. Because they enjoy playing so much I often have to physically separate the pair in order to get any walking done. The great thing is that mini schnauzers tend to grow into fairly sturdy little chaps so the pair should be able to continue playing as they get older. It's also nice for both of them to have a similar age pup on hand to keep playing with as puppies can be a little tiresome for older dogs.

Hello Mr Wolf

Another high point this week, for me at least, was meeting a beautiful Utonagan. A breed I know a little about but which is truly spectacular. Very wolfy but with longer fur than the Northern Inuits. We had the pleasure of meeting a lovely young boy called Sos who was very gentle and friendly and was with his pal Dasha the husky.

Although Balou is now four months old and so the critical socialisation window is technically finishing it is still important that he keeps doing new things and having lots of positive experiences. The majority of dogs we've met have been nice with only a couple of shouty staffy types scaring Balou a little from across the street.

This week has also seen Balou visit our local very dog friendly pub where he happily sprawled out and nonchalantly dealt with the attention of all the staff and patrons. He was totally unfazed, probably helped a little by the lovely smells and the gravy bones.

Such a busy week. Time for a snooze.

Also this week there was the arrival of Balou's headcollar and harness. He is learning to wear a dogmatic headcollar when walking on the lead, we're taking things slowly and he's doing okay with the pesky nose strap. Balou is very good at walking to heel and actually needs encouragement when walking on his own but given that he is going to be a very big boy I decided something with a little more control than an ordinary collar would be a good safety measure. The harness is a Kurgo car harness that he wears in the car. It attaches to an 'auto zip line' which fastens from one hanger/handle to the other across the back seats of the car and then forms a tether keeping him safe should there ever be an emergency. The harness is also useful for helping support him as he gets in and out of the car, he's a bit big to lift in and out by himself but rather disinclined to doing anything himself.

Wow, look at these, they look like me.

On Friday we met up with two Leonberger friends, Nelly and Indie. Now that Balou is a bit bigger they actually acknowledged his presence. When they last saw him he was only a little bigger than his little friends and not worth bothering about. Balou was mildly interested in them but I think he knew they were the same breed as him as he was less shy than he can sometimes be around large dogs he doesn't know. Or maybe he just followed my lead as the girls are the ones who introduced me to the delights of Leonbergers in the first place. Indie is young, about two, and very playful, while Nelly is seven, ginormous and very slow and lumbering, only interested in being round the nearest food source.

Naturally the three of them were a real sight and got lots of attention. As tends to be the case with the giants and the tinies people can't help but want to know more about them. In fact one of the pieces of advice for potential Leonberger owners is don't get one if you don't want to be constantly asked about your dog. Luckily having had Deerhounds, Pomeranians, Papillons and Shih Tzus I'm well used to curiosity. In fact I think I'd be mildly offended if nobody asked about my dog!

Below is a video of Balou enjoying a little run around with his larger friend Indie.

Finally, a proper sized water bowl.

We rounded the week off with Balou having his first proper water experience at one of the dog friendly ponds on the heath. The pond at the Vale of Health is sloping and shallow and great for a paddle. Given that Leonbergers have webbed feet and seeing how much Balou enjoys playing with his water bowl I guessed he would enjoy playing in the water but thought it might take him some time to explore. Boy was I wrong!

Balou loved it and immediately waded into the water paddling, jumping and generally enjoying himself. The rest of us, bundled up in warm clothes, looked on laughing as he careered around, probably the fastest I've ever seen him move. After a few minutes of lolloping around there had built up quite a crowd watching Balou frolicking. I can't wait to see him in the summer when he really can make the most of the water. Perhaps he'll be giving the little ones a lead for a change.



If you'd like to see the heffalump flumping in the water then watch the video below. But turn down the sound otherwise you'll hear my cooing!

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