When I got my first Lhasa Apso dog the intention was to get a pet for myself but then he turned out to have an excellent lineage being a purebred with champions in his family tree. That got me interested in dog shows and I even entered Simba in his first ever show when he was almost 1-year-old. He won a reserved CC which showed promise for the future. I wasn't really very serious about showing at the time as it meant lots of travelling with your dog to dog shows around the country.
Meanwhile Simba grew up with a few terrible incidents which scarred him psychologically. There weren't any pups of his age for him to be socialized with and a friend's older dog wasn't interested in the 3-month-old pup getting frisky. So his initial interactions with other dogs were confusing, to say the least. When he was about 8-months-old he was attacked by two vicious street dogs outside his Vet's clinic when I feared for his life. We were completely taken by surprise with one dog behind him and the other right in front of him, having appeared from out of nowhere and trapped us between parked vehicles.
The first attack came from behind when the dog grabbed a mouthful of Simba's hair while the second dog prepared to go for the neck. Simba could only save himself by snapping off his lead and instinctively streaking across the road into the medical shop. Thankfully there were pedestrians who reacted sharply to stop the traffic and Simba was able to get away safely. Though not bitten, this incident taught him to be wary of unleashed dogs. In fact, he withdrew from most dogs after this incident and till date doesn't like being surprised with a touch on his rump.
By the time Simba was almost 2-years-old I realized that he needed a doggy friend because he was becoming too 'humanized' and unfortunately took to hating street dogs so much so that taking him for walks down the street was becoming difficult. The only other dog he had befriended was his trainer/groomer's Lhasa female and when I heard that a pup was available from her parents I decided to make an addition to our family. Enter Lasya, a 8-weeks-old lively Lhasa Apso female pup.
Little Lasya was everything that Simba needed - a playful bundle of mischief :) But he wasn't prepared to accept that. The poor guy sobbed in my lap for the first two days because I'd brought a dreaded 'four-legged creature' into his home. But this little lady had him dancing to her tunes within fifteen days - for the first week he stayed out of sight, then he began playing peekaboo from around the door. In the second week Simba took cautious steps toward Lasya, backing away if she leapt at him. All this while she kept crying for him non-stop. Two weeks up, Simba came and bowed his head in front of Lasya, as if surrendering to her. Of course, Lasya was looking for her mother here which means she was heading for the non-existing milkbar!
I was warned by the Vet to watch out for food fights but these two insist on sharing food with each other. They switch bowls in tandem and if one of them has to be put on a different diet then I've had it... they show me exactly how discrimination is not acceptable.
Simba got a playmate in Lasya who gave him back his puppyhood and the two are now simply inseparable.
Meanwhile Simba grew up with a few terrible incidents which scarred him psychologically. There weren't any pups of his age for him to be socialized with and a friend's older dog wasn't interested in the 3-month-old pup getting frisky. So his initial interactions with other dogs were confusing, to say the least. When he was about 8-months-old he was attacked by two vicious street dogs outside his Vet's clinic when I feared for his life. We were completely taken by surprise with one dog behind him and the other right in front of him, having appeared from out of nowhere and trapped us between parked vehicles.
The first attack came from behind when the dog grabbed a mouthful of Simba's hair while the second dog prepared to go for the neck. Simba could only save himself by snapping off his lead and instinctively streaking across the road into the medical shop. Thankfully there were pedestrians who reacted sharply to stop the traffic and Simba was able to get away safely. Though not bitten, this incident taught him to be wary of unleashed dogs. In fact, he withdrew from most dogs after this incident and till date doesn't like being surprised with a touch on his rump.
By the time Simba was almost 2-years-old I realized that he needed a doggy friend because he was becoming too 'humanized' and unfortunately took to hating street dogs so much so that taking him for walks down the street was becoming difficult. The only other dog he had befriended was his trainer/groomer's Lhasa female and when I heard that a pup was available from her parents I decided to make an addition to our family. Enter Lasya, a 8-weeks-old lively Lhasa Apso female pup.
Little Lasya was everything that Simba needed - a playful bundle of mischief :) But he wasn't prepared to accept that. The poor guy sobbed in my lap for the first two days because I'd brought a dreaded 'four-legged creature' into his home. But this little lady had him dancing to her tunes within fifteen days - for the first week he stayed out of sight, then he began playing peekaboo from around the door. In the second week Simba took cautious steps toward Lasya, backing away if she leapt at him. All this while she kept crying for him non-stop. Two weeks up, Simba came and bowed his head in front of Lasya, as if surrendering to her. Of course, Lasya was looking for her mother here which means she was heading for the non-existing milkbar!
I was warned by the Vet to watch out for food fights but these two insist on sharing food with each other. They switch bowls in tandem and if one of them has to be put on a different diet then I've had it... they show me exactly how discrimination is not acceptable.
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