A couple of days ago I was explaining to someone new to Lappies how each puppy in the litter plays a role. There is the dominant one, the playful one, the quiet one, the noisy one, etc. These characteristics can be swapped from puppy to puppy as they grow and develop, although some things tend to remain the same. The moniker of "noisy little sod" usually gets passed from one puppy to the next over the weeks and I do my bit to discourage that behaviour in each one in turn. The most dominant puppy tends to show him or herself pretty much right away and remains the dominant puppy throughout their time with me.
I do my very best to match each puppy with its most suitable family based on their individual personalities. But, of course, once they leave the familiarity of their mum and siblings it's all change. For example, the quiet one can find new confidence, the dominant one no longer has anything to prove, the playful one ... well, they are all playful and they stay that way.
Genetics definitely play a role in a puppy's character - time and again I have seen the influence of Neka in her kids and even her grandkids. I have also clearly seen the influence of the sires of the puppies, most of whom I don't even know very well. But elements of their natures are there in their puppies clear as glass.
Having said that, the great majority of a dog's behaviour is the result of how he is raised. For example, it is in our Maija's nature to be noisy. She truly loves the sound of her own voice and takes her role of watch dog very seriously. However, she knows
very clearly that excessive barking is ICA (illegal canine activity) in our house, so at those times that she really can't resist, in spite of being told to cut it out, we get closed-mouth huffs. They are permitted. Neka, on the other hand, who also loves the sound of her own voice, barks with excitement, with joy and when playing. She gets so much pleasure out of it that she simply doesn't care if we scold her. So with her, games always end when she starts to get noisy. Mind you, she is also good at closed-mouth barking. Keskiyo, on the other hand, is expert at the silent bark. He knows he's not allowed to bark to go out, so he sits by the door going through the silent motions. It's quite funny.
Part of the onslaught of information that I subject new owners to includes how to deal with an undesirable Finnish Lapphund general characteristic as well as individual puppy characteristics that they will definitely want to be discouraging. How to discourage barking for attention, how to train recall, how to deal with timidness or hand-shyness, how to avoid getting your Lappy attacked by other dogs. Yes, that happens a lot. Why? Well, there are lots of good, logical reasons why this might happen, not least of which is the Lappy's insistence on getting into the face of every dog he meets, whether the other dog wants to say hello and play or not. A young Lappy simply cannot believe that another dog does not want to say hello (or be chased...) and he will not take no for an answer. He will leap around as if to say "
come on, let's play, you'll like me when you get to know me, really you will, oh go on, give me a chance..." etc. Other dogs are frequently not amused. Incidentally, neither are their owners. It's a mortifying situation that I dare say most Lappy owners have had to cope with at least once, but more likely a dozen times. Or more.
But the Pippuri puppies? Well, I don't want to jinx anything here (famous last words and all that), but the Pippuri puppies are among the quietest, easiest, most chilled and laid back gang who have ever borne the name Infindigo. I'm sure they will also be guilty of pestering other dogs to play, but they are generally very relaxed puppies. So much like their dad in that way. Isn't it great when a plan comes to fruition in much the way you hoped it would?
There is little of the ear-splitting yapping of the over-tired puppy, not much of the heart-stopping panicked screeching of the puppy who gets his jaws stuck in the bars of the pen (yes, that's a truly terrible event), no barking just for amusement, and not even a lot of barking during play. Although, yes, there is some of that and much growling during play. The most noise they make is squawking in indignation when a sibling pins someone down or chews too enthusiastically on a paw or yanks a tail just a little too hard.
The absolute most noise they make is howling. Each week on Instagram there have been howling puppy photos. They all do it, and they all do it such a great deal more than any puppy I've ever had here. I think they get it from their mum who often has a little howl when she yawns. Anyway, I love it, it completely cracks me up. They do the full ar-ar-ar-ar-ar-ooooooo, nose in the air like a wolf. And sometimes they get so into it that they topple over backwards. Too, too funny.
The most persistent and regular howler is Mini (of course) and the funniest is Tito, partly because he has naturally a rather quieter Lappy voice (his new owners will be pleased to hear). One of the sounds on the noise CD that I play for the puppies is a variety of sirens. Awake or asleep, Tito has been simply unable to resist howling along to the siren. I just wish I had captured it on video because suddenly he is growing accustomed to the noise (which is the whole point) and has stopped howling along.
Here's a video of the gang playing after breakfast with the noise CD raining away in the background. Tito is snoozing in the upper lefthand corner while the other 4 are engaged in various wrestling matches. A personal highlight is when Sox, Fiia and Tuulen are all playing together when Mini comes and pounces right on top of the pile.
Anyway, when the siren starts you can see that Tito wakes up and looks towards the noise, but alas no howling. Instead he just settles down again. Oh well. I shall have to content myself with knowing that they are growing used to the scary noises as I wanted them to.
