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| 4 Month Old German Shepherd |
Ashanti (Shanty) is my loving German Shepherd. I bought her at 8 weeks old, and she's just over a year old now. In all honesty I'm not really a dog person, I much prefer cats but I wanted a guard dog and she turned up at just the right time. Shanty turned out to be one of the smartest dogs I've ever seen, many people that know her believe the same. I have never needed a leash for her and somehow she developed her own protective instincts, which worked great for her guard dog qualities.
Looking after an animal made me realise that humans have been living outside of their natural balance for way to long. A German Shepherds descendants come from the wolf family. So you have to maintain a sense of leadership over them. You have to appear more strong and agile even if your not, you have to appear as the leader and recognise when she believes she out ranks you. The stronger she play fights, the harder with her you have to be. It may seem abusive but she is complete lean muscle, with a mouth much like scissors. Once she realises herself, she will need to be kept inline. She has taught me to be strong and remember that I have to be evolving and growing at all times. Tough love and difficult circumstances are the best ways you can grow to the next level. Forever evolving.
5 Random Things Even A Dog Can Teach You:
1. Stretch Out All The Time!
There is no designated time for stretching, stretching can and should be done several times a day and whenever you feel a slight muscle or joint tension. This means paying close attention to your body. Whenever I observed her moving from a stationary position, Shanty would thoroughly stretch her limbs before moving around.
So Now I stretch religiously
Whenever I have been sitting down for too long in an unnatural position, I make a conscious effort to feel for any tension in my body and stretch it out. This allows energy within my body to flow freely, increasing blood circulation.
2.Don't Be Greedy
Even when she was going through massive sprouts of growth, Shanty was never greedy. She is the only dog I have seen turn down, some of her favorite treats if she is full. I have seen Shanty fast when she is ill and when she is not tired or has not exercised to her liking, she will not eat at all. In the past I have gobbled twice as much and stayed in bed all day. Talk about greedy!
3. Have No Fear
One day I went to the beach and took Shanty with me. She would have been no larger them a 8kg bag of rice. I picked her up and dipped her slowly into the water, deeper then she could stand and kept my hand underneath her. To my surprise she swam away, I stood there for awhile waiting for her to get tired, but she didn't. No one taught Shanty how to swim, somehow she knew what she needed to do, she never had any fear. if ever she is scared of something she goes back to it and tries to figure it out, figure out what it is and conquer her fear.
4. Love Unconditionally
No matter what you do to her, Shanty will never turn down love and affection. She has such a protective spirit and no matter what happens she always looks after her owners and young children. She never holds grudges, I believe dogs are better at forgiving then most humans.5. Practice Makes Perfect
Shanty learns quickly, I toilet trained Shanty when she was 10 weeks old. She learnt her name and commands at round 4 months. From 5-6 months I taught her tricks and how to communicate. I have never needed a leash with shanty, she knows not to stray far away from me. Shanty will repeat what she has learnt over and over again, until she feels she thinks she better at doing it then you are. She applies what she learns and uses it to communicate with us. It's Incredible to watch.
6. Trust Your Instincts
When we are out in the forests or in the wild. She comes into her own, her sense of smell and hearing are far beyond my own and she is incredibly strong and agile. She has encouraged me to increase my muscle strength because I can see her being gentle with me, and other people.
Shanty knows when something is not right, she can sense from afar when someone or something is within her territory and she knows just who and what she trusts. If shanty doesn't like someone, I trust her intuition and leave the situation, Shanty can smell you and tell if your ill or how you feel. She lives through her senses alone, her mind has no voice to talk her out of what her intuition is telling her.
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