I did not plan on writing another puppy tale until Juma did something on a recent afternoon walk that truly blew me away. Juma is now over nine years old and, just like his master, is beginning to slow down a bit.
He was from an unplanned litter from two rescued German Shepherds, and when we chose him and brought him home at 12 weeks we knew he was inclined to chuck-up at mealtimes. I had concluded it was because he was one of the smallest in the litter and ate whatever he could as fast as he could and that he would grow out of it. Turned out it was a bit more than that.
He suffered a genetic defect that caused a ligature to form around his esophagus, which produced a small pouch which filled up with his food, making it hard for him to swallow normally.
So, at 14 weeks, he had chest keyhole surgery, which successfully snipped the ligature, but still left him with swallowing and feeding issues. We’ve had good years and bad years, but they have never stopped him being an over-the-top, highly excitable member of the family. And this year has been the best so far—we have had four months clear of any events and only a couple events in the other months.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have the time, every day, to walk him, rain or shine, and he’s probably as well-trained as I hoped, although not as well as he really should be, That’s down to me.
Our routine hasn’t really varied much throughout, with a dry walk in the morning whilst he gets his exercise by chasing and retrieving sticks thrown into the brush along the trails.
Afternoons, a slightly different route, with the occasional detour to the quarry for some more retrieving, this time from the water. The first day we took him to a Lake Erie beach he was not all sure of the wavelets and wouldn’t even go in the water, but this didn’t last long, and he now can’t wait to have a stick thrown so he can swim out and retrieve it. I really think he would do this all day.
Funnily enough I don’t ever recall him just going in the water for a swim. No stick, no fun.
No stick, no fun
He doesn’t really like this hot weather, yet it doesn’t appear to do him harm in any way, and he is just as excited as his walk times come around as he is in the cooler weather.
But the hot weather dictates our afternoon walks. We go to the quarry, where he has about a dozen or so stick chases, which cool him down, so when we walk back home his wet coat acts like an evaporative air conditioner as the water dries and keeps him cool. That’s my theory anyway.
Two days ago, as we approached his first swimming hole, there was another puppy owner with another German Shepherd, so, obviously, we stopped to chat. As we were chatting, I noticed a kong floating in Juma’s usual swimming spot and I asked the man if it was his. It was, and he said he was about to climb down, swim out, and get it, because his puppy had refused to go after it!
Now, Juma has a kong and chases it at home occasionally, but not all that often. Even so, with nothing to lose I asked if I could try something, and the man agreed.
Off Juma and I went to the top of the cliff.
First, I was repeating ‘Kong, kong, kong’ which got Juma excited, then, at the top, I told him to ‘Go—get Kong’. He looked at me and at the stick in my hand as if to say, ‘Are you dumb, or what?’
Next, I did throw his stick and he immediately chased down the incline, into the water and swam to his stick. It was probably about 30 feet from the kong, which was a nice bright splash of red on the surface.
As he turned with his stick in his mouth to come back, I told him ‘Leave’ and he dropped his stick. Then ‘Where’s kong?’ I don’t know if he could actually see it at that point, but he did turn, in more or less the right direction, so I told him, ‘Good Boy!’ Then a couple of ‘Other way, other way’s and ‘Good Boy’s to keep him on track until he could see the kong, which he quickly retrieved and brought back to me. When he gave it to me, I told him to ‘Go get stick’ and off he went to do just that.
When I handed the kong back to its owner all he could say was he couldn’t believe what he’d just seen. All I could do was agree with him completely. I really did not expect it either.
I will never underestimate Juma again!
