Apparently, the school is only going to neuter the males. Still no word on what exactly the trait is that the breeding manager doesn't want passed down, but we may never find out. Not a big deal, as far as I'm concerned, as long as everyone's healthy.
The best thing about this news is that not only could one of Lomax's littermate sisters still be named a breeder, one of his older sisters (same parents, previous litter) is already a breeder and won't have to be spayed. We're also thrilled that one of his other female relatives -- a sweet little peanut of a black Lab named Mika, whose "wiggle hinge" is even more flexible than Lomax's -- is also safe in her breeder status.
I had a chance to talk to the trainer who left me a message, and she seems optimistic that these guys are all still terrific dogs whose ability to guide won't be affected in the slightest. It was very encouraging! We talked a bit about Lomax's tap-dancing -- the poor little man just can't sit still when there's someone he loves nearby, and he tries SO HARD -- and she seems to think that it may be mostly hormonal. It will be good to see how things change when the testosterone has had a chance to work its way out of his system. I'm hoping that it won't change his personality too much...but I definitely could stand for him to mellow out a little.
So, Tuesday's the big day! I'll probably go to graduation at the school on Sunday morning, then drop him off at the kennels.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Personalities don't really change much, in my experience. But there's a very slight mellowing in certain areas, such as socializing with other dogs.
I don't think you'll see too much change in Lomax's personality, just some mellowing of the "there's a cute girl, can I go say hi" side of him. Glad to hear that there are breeders from his line in service and that one of his sisters could make it too.
I guess I misspoke. I'm not too concerned about his actual personality...it's just that his wiggly, tap-dancing self kind of *demonstrates* his happy personality, and if too much of that goes away, I'll miss it. But I'll be THRILLED if he calms down in the social department!
Post a Comment