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Ron & Jessica Turcotte |
Arkas Kennels Reg'd Bouvier des Flandres |
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Lacey - Tearanook Shantileylace HIC Lacey is our rescue girl. She came to us in January 2004. Her owners had made the decision that they could not take care of a full grown Bouv. She was too much of a handful for them and their two smaller companion dogs. I do applaud them for making this decision. I know it couldn't have been easy to give up a nine month old puppy. On the other hand, I think it was better for Lacey to move on to a home where her natural Bouv exuberance wouldn't be a problem. When Lacey arrived, it was a very cold day. She was left loose in our dog pen while the owners gave us all of her information and signed over her ownership. Once they left, the hard work began. From all the information we had been given, Lacey was a strongly Alpha female. It sounded like she thought she was in control of the house. However, our initial interactions with her revealed otherwise. Our first attempts to get near her resulted in a keep-away game. Lacey was very good at dodging and no amount of persuasion was going to tempt her close enough to be captured. Ron went out with a handful of treats and instead of trying to entice Lacey to come to him, he asked for Lacey to do sits/downs for her treats from across the pen. When she complied, he'd toss the treat to her. In a short while, he was able to attach her leash and take her for a walk up the driveway. Unfortunately, when she was returned to the pen she still wouldn't come to us nor come into the house. For the next hour, we sat with the patio door open and tossed treats to her; getting her closer and closer to the door. Eventually, we were able to get her to come inside for her treats and then finally to stay inside. After walking around the house for 15 minutes, she finally heaved a big sigh and laid down. I think it was at that point that she finally gave in and realized this was her new home. We had been told she was a terrible mooch and that the ruffle of chip bags always brought her running. Ron pulled out a bag of chips and sure enough, there was Lacey, at his feet, and waiting for a chip. It didn't take long for Lacey and Ron to bond. Lacey is definitely his girl. Over time, Lacey's personality emerged. She has a quirky sense of humour. She's extremely toy crazy and LOVES to run! Throw a ball for Lacey and she's your eternal friend. She'll play fetch for hours. She loves to rough house with Quin. The two of them wrestled for hours. She's never far from our feet; often curling up against them. She's a very happy girl and has settled in extremely well to her new home. In July of 2005, we visited Sue Jewell of Have Ewe Herd? to complete a Herding Instinct Certificate. Lacey was amazing. It gave us chills to watch her with the sheep. She knew what to do from the moment she entered the ring. She was very balanced and moved the sheep in both directions. She responded to all the aids that Sue used and even demonstrated some self control. Sue was quite taken with Lacey and thought that with only a very little training, Lacey could attain her first CKC Herding title. It's too bad that there are no local herding facilities. This is something we'd love to incorporate into our training but it's not something we feel comfortable attempting on our own. Lacey has also demonstrated that she's a natural when it comes to agility. She loves running through obstacles and hearing us cheer her on. Hopefully, this is something we can work on during 2006. |
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