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| Name: |
Topaz
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Age: |
Two years old
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| Gender: |
Female |
Breed: |
American Indian Dog |
| Home: |
Brooklyn, New York, USA |
Topaz
is an American Indian Dog, born at Song Dog Kennels, Selma, Oregon. We
received Topaz as a wedding gift, and were completely surprised and
delighted to have such a firecracker in our lives. American Indian Dogs
are a rare breed, and since they are still primitive and retain many of
their natural instincts, she has taught us a few things. She is
enthusiastic to meet any other animal, and learns quickly if the other
dog isn't so interested in her interest. She herds our cat, and follows
our male shepherd mix around everywhere, she was even using him as a
chew toy at nine weeks old! She's outgoing, friendly and so much fun to be
around. Topaz has a very distinct personality. As was recommended
before we got her from the breeder, tough love is the most important
training aspect. She is fearless, a trait we have on video from the time
we got her at eight weeks old until now (as I was editing the footage I was
really amazed to see her personality so fully formed at such a young age).
One thing about her that is a bit frustrating is that she can be in the
dog park having a great time, and then become possessive or protective
of a number of things, a stick, a ball, her person, and it will seem
like a death match. And then it will be all over, she has never really
bitten another dog, but it sounds like a killer fight, and then just as
quickly, it is over, and she'll go back to playing like it never even
happened. But she is never aggressive on the leash, when encountering
new dogs, or people, she virtually ignores bicycles and traffic.
She's also quite astute when it comes to her acquaintances and if she
encounters a dog that's been a bully to her, she'll just avoid that dog.
She is very smart and the clicker training has her able to sit pretty,
spin around, and is able to hit an object placed on the floor, even if
there's a couple of objects, she can be directed to the one you want her
to tag. You can tell she thinks it's crazy, like OK, I'll go touch the
tape, again, if you really want me too. She can have a rousing game of
fetch at the park, and then just as readily forget she was playing that
and just wander around (she never wanders far), smelling things. She is
an excellent dog on hikes and in the woods, she'll always make sure she
knows where we are, and she doesn't take off after any animals she sees.
Her disposition is very interesting as far as affection goes. She can be
incredibly affectionate, come over and stand on your chair and give you
a kiss on the face, or want to actually sit on your lap in the chair. A
favorite is when driving with my husband in the van, she loves to sit on
his lap and look out the window. But again, almost cat-like, affection
is on her terms. If she lays down, and then you touch her hind quarters
or her paws, she lets out a grumble and low growl, and within two seconds
she off the couch or bed. Then she waits for everyone to get settled,
and she tries again. She wants to be close, but she has to determine how
close, and sometimes she doesn't care and just lies on you, but if you
move your hand and bump her tush, again, grumble, jump, circle, start
all over again. She's quite peculiar when it comes to her pet peeves
(don't touch her paws!).
Her most interesting relationship is with our thirteen-year-old Siamese cat,
Mioux. She herds the Mioux all day long. Mioux has no peace, and soon as
she hits the floor, there's a 40-pound brown shadow following, and nudging.
If they wind up on the couch or bed together, they do kind of groom each
other, until Topaz starts the pokey nose, in which she thrusts her nose
into Mioux's side, and that starts a chain reaction that is no longer so
sweet and gentle. Mioux starts to growl, and then either sucks on
Topaz's whiskers, or she actually bites Topaz's nose, in which case
Topaz's cries and runs away. It is so funny, to watch this dog that will
fight with a full grown pit bull over a stick, but run crying and hiding
when our gentle cat gives her a little love bite on the face.
It's this kind of dichotomy that makes her so interesting. She is also a
fearless swimmer, and even though we live in Brooklyn, as soon as we
went out to the country the first thing she did when we saw a river was
jump into it. The same thing goes for the ocean, where she loves to
fetch and swim.
Her prized possession is our five-year-old Shepherd/Lab mix, Scratch, whom
we adopted from a shelter about a month before Topaz arrived, and he's
so passive with her, up to a point, then if we're outside in the park he
lets her have it, and topples her. But in the house, and on the leash,
Topaz is the ruling factor and drags him around by the scruff of his
neck. Again, this is Scratch permitting her to do this, because we've
seen him just flatten her, so he is obviously more dominant, but he
picks his fights with our little dervish girl. The opposing components
that comprise her personality need little exemplary anecdotes to
illustrate them properly, so you can know just how special she is.
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