The Hachi Chronicle

It's been a fun week for "The Hach", as we like to call him. He plays with his sister every day, and they both seem unbelievably happy about it.

I never dreamed that I'd see Shyla play with such utter abandon. Hachi has filled a wonderful role for Shyla, letting her have the puppyhood that she missed out on. Puppy Shyla at age seven!

He is continuing to seem much more relaxed in everyday life. He still has triggers - like if strangers approach too fast into his bubble. That can provoke him to bark at them if we don't help him retreat fast enough. Those things only happen in town and not in our mountain home area.

The separation of him from the Labraduo inside the house is going smoothly. We have new routines that work well. My only bad moments this week were a couple of times when he did soft muzzle bites to his siblings when we were all outside. When he does this, he takes the other dog's muzzle softly into his mouth and he holds it briefly. It's not a playful move. To my eye, it looks more like a warning. He stopped after that both times. But, as the official pack worrier, I fretted over it.

I had the feeling that he was a little discombobulated at times this week. I came home one day to find him very afraid. I tried taking him out for a short romp to help him dissipate his fear but that didn't help. It passed within a few hours. I wondered if the doggy prozac was kicking in and affecting his emotions in unexpected ways. The other possible cause was that there were loudly yipping bloodhounds searching nearby. Maybe their yips scared him? I don't know.

Overall, we still feel optimistic. No doubt, the meds are changing him. He seems more able to learn, and that means that we can teach him that the world is not as scary as he once thought. That's a good thing. I wish that I knew how it was all going to turn out... but life doesn't work that way.