We have decided to keep Ida as a future breeding prospect. We have had the honor and joy of having Ida here with us for longer than we've ever had any puppy. While we had her available for sale, we housebroke her, leashed trained her, socialized her, have taken her for car rides while we run errands, and started her on basic obedience training.  Little Ida has blended into our group of dogs with ease and the pack loves her. 

There was a particular incident that occurred this past week that showed us who Ida truly is and convinced us that we need to keep her as a strong prospect for breeding. My daughters and I took advantage of the beautiful country air one evening and took Ida for a walk down our country roads.  As we were walking, a couple of large dogs from one of the farms came barreling full boar toward Ida. One was heading straight for her hindquarters while the other one was lunging toward her neck.  Ida's response was as fine-tuned as the responses of our adult dogs would have been.  Instinctively, she spun her hindquarters in a perfect 180 degree turn to get her back end away from the dog coming in behind her, while also ducking from the one coming in toward her neck.  At the same time, my eldest teenage daughter (who was walking Ida) kicked the one that was trying to grab Ida's neck right in his throat! I am so proud of my daughter, as her kick was accurate and powerful. She kicked him so hard he stumbled backward. Her daddy has taught her well (everyone needs a Marine in their life). I was able to run off the other dog.  As the dogs turned around and returned to their home, Ida straightened herself and acted as if nothing had happened. She wasn't cowering, didn't try to hide, and didn't squall or cry out at all.  She was magnificent. Every one of my daughters was calm, didn't scream or panic, and stood their ground. That was so important for Ida's sake.

These moments are defining for any dog, let alone a puppy. We didn't acknowledge that negative experience by comforting her or cooing at her. When faced with a negative experience, dogs will learn a great deal about how to handle and process that experience based on the reaction of their people. It may seem heartless to offer no hugs or baby talk, but these are not people we are dealing with; these are dogs who instinctively respond to their environment and establish their mindset going forward based on the emotion of their people. It is our responsibility to provide stability without emotion. Emotion is perceived as weakness to a dog. If we include emotion, then as far as the dog is concerned our leadership can't be trusted. If you ever watch wolf packs, the alphas are always the least emotional ones. They are responsible for the stability of the pack.

Some dogs will by nature be more affected by their experiences than other dogs will. This is not a disqualifier. This just means that particular dog needs a lot of confidence boosting experiences and calm, stable leadership. However, here at Liberty's West German Shepherds we strive with honesty and objectivity to keep the very cream of the crop for breeding. Ida is the cream. These kinds of females always seem to produce the best puppies due to their confidence, stability, and excellent mothering skills that continue far beyond weaning. We really believe that Ida has those same qualities.

We worked it out with the owners of the other dogs to communicate with them when we are walking our dogs so that they can put their dogs away as continued run-ins would be counterproductive no matter how stable a dog is. We appreciate their willingness to help us out with that. Ida has continued to walk past their property without even blinking an eye. That is amazing out of a nearly six-month-old puppy. She internalized nothing of her experience with those dogs. Keep an eye out for Ida in the future. We hope for some wonderful things from this precious and truly lovely girl.