ZsaZsa is from our 2013 litter and was sold to a semi-retired couple in Florida. They passed all my screening as previous kuvasz owners and the husband came for a personal interview.What I had no way of screen for was the health of their relationship or the lengths they would go to in using their puppy's well being against each other.
In January 2015 the wife contacted us to get rid of the dog while her husband was out of town. The dog was agressive, uncontrolable, and making her life miserable. We informed her that her husband was co-owner of the dog and we would need his consent and signature to take the dog back.
The
husband was working out of town 5 days a week and when he returned our emails he didn't know what his wife was talking about, the dog was perfectly fine.
This
back and forth went on for several weeks until the underlying cause began to emerge. The wife agreed to get a puppy only if the husband retired and stayed home. He continued to work full time and she took a hard line, "your dog, you train it", and that's where ZsaZsa was at nearly two years of age... unsocialized, untrained, emotionally ignored by the wife,
beloved, but still not socialized or trained by the husband.
It was April before we
got them to agree to relinquish the dog. Their condition was that she be placed with expert trainers at our expense without being flown back to us. ZsaZsa was delivered to von Asgard K9 Center in Florida and they signed her over to us.
By the summer she had made a great amount a progress and several potential owners visited. Those
people declined or did not pass our final approval. By the end of the summer we felt ZsaZsa needed to come home if she was going to get the final polishing to bring her socialization up to her age appropriate level. Our handler Theresa Weber was on the road with Pandur to shows in Elk City, OK and then to Biloxi,
MS. We asked her to go get ZsaZsa and bring her home.
As we continued to look for the best home for her, the owner of a girl from our 2004 litter who now lives in TX said she'd like to give ZsaZsa a home.
This is ZsaZsa's trip from the kennel to the dog shows and then to her new home as told through the reports and photos and videos sent by Theresa.. Journey home DAY 1
Journey home DAY 2
ZsaZsa wanted to play a bit tonight and all the dogs were loose in the motel room for a short time. She bowed and jumped and threw her behind at my legs. Today she handled walking into the Convention Center well. She trusts me and I managed to get her on the grooming table holding her all the time. Was able to rake out some mats. Tommorrow will try nails.
Journey home DAY 3
Theresa reports that during the day ZsaZsa was up on the grooming table and the rest of the mats were either raked or cut out. Also all her nails were ground down with the Dremel.
This evening back in the motel room all 5 dogs (Pandur, Rory, Amber, ZsaZsa, and Dex the Pub)
were together and it was very peaceful. There were no incidents, not even the hint of a lip curl.
Dogs are all tired.
Journey home DAY 4
Journey home DAY 5
Last night in Biloxi, Dex is my new best friend.
Journey home DAY 6
So THIS is what I missed out on in my old home!
ZsaZsa is home 09082015 Kimberly's first report:
Intros were good. Further exposure has not improved Noelani's attitude toward her. She has growled and barked a bit but ZsaZsa was also running around like a maniac.
ZsaZsa finally found a spot to rest away from Noelani. We'll see what tonight brings.
ZsaZsa is nervous and I'm nervous.... mostly because I am so used to Noelani's excellent behavior. Part of me thinks I bit off more than I can chew with this project.
Tomorrow is another day.
ZsaZsa is home 09092015 Kimberly's report Day 2
ZsaZsa is sort of bipolar in her behavior. One minute she is sweet and calm and the next she is running around barking for attention. I'm trying to encourage the calm and ignore the barking. Unfortunately I think she has been ignored while barking and it only encourages her to try harder. She tries to get Noelani (nearly 11 years old) to pay attention to her with a play bow and when that has no effect, ZsaZsa jumps on her. Noelani looks at me with those kuvasz eyes as if to say, "Mom, what have you done?"
ZsaZsa is home 09102015 Kimberly's report Day 3
Ran out of ideas to get Noelani to tolerate the rambunctious ZsaZsa and asked for suggestions from members of the KFA Facebook Group. Great things to try. Here is a rare moment of calm even if Noelani refuses to look at her!
ZsaZsa is home 09112015 Kimberly's report Day 4
Today was a little better. The manic episodes are not as often and she is finding that laying down and relaxing can be a good "activity". First photo is from coming in from a walk where we met a dachshund puppy to play with a bit. The walk itself still needs work.
ZsaZsa is home 09122015 Kimberly's report Day 5
Some progress....With enough treats at the ready, two dogs can share the same space. Under other circumstances they stay on opposite ends of the room.
Kimberly's report 09152015 Noelani has spoken ...Day 8
After spending the weekend really looking at what the issues still are, it is clear that Noelani merely tolerates ZsaZsa when she is not in her space. Noelani will not engage ZsaZsa and both get jealous when either get attention from me. When Noelani has my attention she will growl at ZsaZsa. ZsaZsa will go to the door and bark as if she wants to go out.
There has been improvement in her general behavior, there are fewer and fewer running around crazy episodes. However ZsaZsa still doesn't have a sense of her adult body and when playing she will do puppy things like throw her entire body on your lap.
ZsaZsa wants to please so much and learns quickly, she needs a home without other females so that she can blossom. .
"Always A Classic" The
goal of Casablanca Kuvasz is to pay tribute
to this magnificent breed
and honor the breeders
who struggled to keep this breed alive
by offering
you healthy and authentic type Kuvasz.
