Personality?

Had you asked me 50 years ago to describe Risha's personality I would have wondered what you were talking about. Dogs have personality?  On the small farm of my childhood the dog lived either on the back porch or in the barn and was never, ever invited into the farmhouse.  We kids did of course spend a lot of time with the dog while fishing or catching crawdads in the creek, and the dog always went with us on our exploratory treks in the forest.  But it was a casual sort of relationship between dog and child, and I didn't notice that dogs do indeed possess individual characteristics that I would now call personality.  It wasn't until as a middle-aged adult I invited a dog to share my living space that I observed up close the qualities that differentiate one dog from another.  Now I am astounded that I used to lump them all together.  

 Risha  arrived in January after a long ground transport from Southern California.  She arrived in the dark, in the dead of winter.  She was with me for a scant two weeks before her adoption, and during that time not all of her personality was displayed.  I could tell immediately that she was a snuggler and a cuddler who loved human touch and would have been thrilled to spend most of her time on my lap.  I thought she was a needy little girl who might prefer to have her person in sight most of the time.

Now that she has been here this second stint for a couple of months, I see other qualities that I missed in January.  While she loves to lounge on or near her human, she is also an avid hunter.  Risha is the first one out the back door to subdue whatever small mammal or bird is threatening our domain.  She is also the most persistent hunter in my pack, stalking her prey for suprisingly long lengths of time.  She has not yet captured a rodent but I definitely see that possibility in her future.  Risha is the first to alert me to neighborhood sounds and walkers-by. Risha loves car rides and prefers the back seat window open a bit so she can monitor the scents on the breeze.  She is the only dog in my pack who will run into the water of the Puget Sound after a bird.

So, not the 24-hour couch potato I took her for in January.

Here she is, hunting in the garden with her faithful short-legged sidekick, Elsie: