Blanka is from Kyiv, Ukraine. During the invasion of Kyiv, our organization evacuated her shelter because we were afraid it could become occupied like other shelters where hundreds of dogs died during the Russian occupation. Blanka is one of the lucky ones. She was brought to the USA this past Spring and has been fostered by a dog trainer. Please see his notes and see if Blanka is the right dog for you!
Blanka is an interesting dog. The first word that comes to my mind is introvert. She's not into playing, with other dogs or people. She's timid and jumpy. Always alert and always scanning.
In a biological sense, she's the perfect dog. Vigilant, non-confrontational, avoiding instead of seeking. Athletic, graceful, springy, fast, slim, confident and self-reliant when left to her own devices.
She is a survivor.
She is weary of people and it takes some time for her to warm up to folks she doesn't know. In the same token, she is extremely passive. I have not seen her show any signs of aggressive behavior (towards people), despite being in some stressful situations.
For example, she was just subjected to two younger kids (8&10) this past weekend and while it was obvious she would much rather be elsewhere, she tolerated them reaching out their hands to her for sniffs and brief pets (I was overseeing all of the interaction and the kids were being coached through the process and familiar with dogs in general).
The same family has a two-year-old female Pitbull mix. Maya is like every other pit I know, full of energy and very "spirited". Blanka escalated to using her teeth when her other signals didn't work. I say used her teeth because she did leave a scratch on Maya's muzzle, albeit very minimal. But like most pit's are, that's the message Maya needed to understand that Blanka didn't want to play and Maya left her alone for the rest of their time together.
I share that story so that everyone is aware of who Blanka is and what to expect. She's been introduced to no less than 10ish different dogs and has shown no interest in interacting with any of them and all of them (except Maya) got the message very quickly and gave her space.
That's not to say she can't be around other dogs, as she has been regularly. It just needs to be understood that if the other dog doesn't get Blanka's message (turns head away, low growls, air snaps - in that order), things might escalate.
As a volunteer at a shelter helping to run play groups and being exposed to many, many dogs, I never saw any behavior from Blanka that I would consider alarming or dangerous. She's just simply saying "I'm not interested in playing with you. Please leave me alone." And as long as that is accepted, all is well.
I had a board & train Great Dane (Lulu) stay with me for about a month while Blanka has been in my care. Lulu and my dog Titan played exuberantly which made Blanka very nervous initially. After about 10 days or so, Blanka started bouncing around behind them, seemingly interested but reluctant to engage. Even though she never interacted with them, it was a positive experience and I can tell she's more comfortable around that kind of energy.
I doggie sat my neighbor's dog over a weekend, a Shepard mix, same thing. Blanka didn't want to engage, but she wanted to be around the action.
I feel like she's just never played before and doesn't know how to or that it's ok to play.
I'm hopeful that she will let her guard down around the right dog one day soon and actually start to play.
My favorite and go-to training method is through play. Blanka has set a new bench mark for me.
Ironically, it was another TASD dog (Najya) that had set my previous record of days it took to play, at 13.
I'm significantly past that number, coming in at around 90?, and Blanka still has no interest in playing with me.
She's the first dog I've personally come across that I haven't been able to connect with through play.
And that's ok because we have connected through food. Which is my go-to method when working with clients.
She is finally conditioned to a clicker and the word Yes. We have been working on Sit, Stand, Place and name recognition.
The first time I clicked? she ran for her life. It took about three weeks to condition her to the clicker. Starting with the quietest one I have and muffling it with a towel. Now she comes running when it's meal time and is eager to earn her food by doing various behaviors. All of which I hope to pass along to whoever might "adopt" her.
Before we bonded enough to start obedience, we were tackling obstacles in my backyard. She is most agile and has no problem going over, under, across or around things. She is a pretty confident dog, when nothing scary is around.
When something scary is around, she is definitely a flight risk. She scurried under my shed when fireworks went off. I had a heck of a time getting her out from under there. I've since boarded it off but if someone didn't know or wasn't paying attention, she will bolt. And in a city environment, that could be disastrous. So be warned.
She has a very strong prey drive (survivor instincts). I've been working with her about that. Lately, she's been making very good choices when squirrels make an appearance, but it's a work in progress and another thing I would like to pass along techniques to her adopter. That being said, and considering what I'm used to - she's a dream on walks. She's very sensitive to leash pressure and responds very well to minimal feedback. "The leash is a communication device - not a restraint tool"
Another thing we've been working on is potty training. She's had a few 'accidents' in the house. I don't trust her completely and give her minimal time alone while unsupervised. This is a difficult behavior to change with adult dogs. Heck, it's a pita with puppies too. It requires 100% supervision when outside of the crate. And when I can't give 100% attention, she's either tethered by the backdoor, where I can see her from the kitchen or she's in her crate. My goal is to give her NO opportunity to make a mistake inside the house and to give her over the top praise and reinforcement when she goes outside. I'm pretty sure she's house trained, but I still don't trust her to be alone for more than a minute or so.
I feel like she would do best in an older persons, quieter house. As opposed to a household like my younger brother, who has five kids and it's very chaotic.
She is a very affectionate dog, that can't get close enough to whoever her person is. She is constantly under my feet and I have to be careful not to trip over her. She literally follows me around like a little puppy. Not the kind of dog I'm into, but I'm sure there's many folks out there that would absolutely love her attention/affection. She wants nothing more than to be curled in a ball on your lap when inside the house.
That being said, she isn't a needy dog. She doesn't require a lot of exercise (which is surprising). She isn't super into food and hardly drinks any water. Again, she just wants to be in your lap and her life is full. Which actually could lead to unhealthy separation anxiety if one isn't careful and I would want to discuss this in depth with her adopter.
Please let us know if you are interested in bringing Blanka into your family!
