Kaito

Good morning all. Today is Sunday. As I told you yesterday, I will tell you the story of how Kaito came into our lives.
My daughter E. was working at a security firm on Sundays to earn a little extra money. There she met a fellow who was Kaito's handler. Kaito is a pure bred , all black male German Shepherd descended from German heritage. He does not have that noticeable slink to his back end that a North American German Shepherd has. He is more upright and balanced. Being pure black he is a rare and valuable dog.
Since his handler lived in an apartment , he could not take Kaito home at night so Kaito spent the first 3 years of his life in an 8x8 kennel getting out to work and sometimes exercise in a dog run.
A situation came up where my daughter asked if she could buy Kaito from the security company. They agreed as long as the dog was for me since E. could not have a dog in her condo complex.She asked my wife "no more dogs" if she leave the dog at our house on a temporary basis.And so Kaito came to live with us.
Because he had spent his life in a kennel , having a yard to run in was a special treat for him and he took full advantage of it. Also, having another dog to play with was another new experience, as he was not allowed to do this this at the security company. We soon found out there were lots of things for him to learn. He had never had a dog treat so when we gave him his first one, he had absolutely no idea what to do with it.Now when you say the word treat, he is right there at the door to the pantry waiting for it. He also had no concept of a rawhide bone and had to learn from Coco that this too was a different kind of treat.
The biggest worry for us was whether or not he was house trained. He was since this is part of the security dog training. You may be asking yourself at this point why would the security company sell such a dog. Because he failed his assertiveness training. When they would take him for bite training , he would bark at the "bad guy" and then go lick his hand. Some security dog. we have since realized or suspect that all he needed was something to be assertive for or protective of, for him to be the dog he should be. He is very friendly and affectionate to everybody as long a they aren't aggressive towards our family. He simply adores our new grandson although he is not quite sure what to make of this little bundle that really doesn't do a lot.
Between this two dogs, that we were never going to have, our beautiful yard has been destroyed. When we just had Canuck our back yard was almost like a park, with a pond,trees and nice green grass.Now it is half in landscape rock, a pond, trees and mud where grass used to be. The dogs are quite happy with this arrangement. As long as they have a place to run and play.
Since I am the Alpha male in the house, Kaito has adopted me as his personal project. When I move he is right there to be at my feet, knocking my slippers or shoes off. If he wants a treat, he has learned to herd me to the pantry. If I go down the basement ,I have to let him go first or watch out, he"ll knock me over as he goes shooting by.
He hates to see me sleep past 6:30 in the morning or sleep at any time he is around. ALWAYS! If I go in the car, he loves to go. He has adopted me for his own.
As my wife says" He is your dog". Funny , I don't recall saying he could come live with us, But I am glad he did.
Between the two of them, Coco and Kaito bring much joy and dirt to our lives. Dirt especially. But most importantly,as anyone who has a dog knows, lots of love.
Until next time, this is Alphonse signing off.