To understand Java I have to introduce Hanna. I adopted Hanna from the rescue group FOCAS. I knew I wanted a pit bull or pitty mix because I have a soft heart for the underdog and the pit bull situation pulled - and still pulls - my heart strings. Plus I think they’re beautiful. You know, the athletic, muscular short haired dog. I saw Hanna’s picture on the web and I just knew I had to adopt her. So, Hanna came into our home because of her looks and that was pretty much it. I was clueless.

Hanna was 5 months old and had already been returned to FOCAS by her first adopter for reasons I will not get into here.  She was originally adopted out at 8 weeks; one of a litter of puppies in foster care.

With Hanna, my reactive girl, I began my journey into dog training. We took basic family manners classes, agility classes to build her confidence, fiesty fido classes to work on reducing her reactivity. Is she a better dog for all this today? How can I know? I will never know who she would be if I hadn’t done this work. She is still reactive to other dogs. She does fine with people.

Hanna is the perfect dog for 95% of the dog owning population. She is a couch potato, completely and utterly housetrained (if she ever had an accident, which she hasn’t, I would know she had suffered terribly waiting), she has nice blend of affection and independence. I owe Hanna everything for what I know about dog behavior and positive reinforcement dog training. But I am with that 5% who wants to get out and DO things with my dogs. Agility. Rally. Hiking. Hanna and I cannot do these things together. It took years for me to accept this - I wonder if it’s like what a parent must feel learning to accept the limitations of an autistic child.

My next dog would not be adopted because of her looks. I made a checklist of traits. Looks, other than size, would not be on the list.

So, how DID I end up with a Yorkie?? Or is she a Silky? A fru-fru dog that I’m supposed to dress up in lacy outfits and hair bobbles? Do I have to start wearing fru now too? Do I have to carry a purse? Are you kidding? I mean, here’s a list of my previous dogs:

Doberman
Doberman/Rhodesian Ridgeback mix
Pit Bull/Greyhound mix

The theme is obvious. The tough dogs. Athletic. Short hair. All muscle. People supposedly look like their dogs though I would never presume to possess the beauty of a Doberman or Pit Bull. But I am athletic, thin and fairly muscular. And my hair is pretty close to a buzz cut.

Anyway, that was before I knew. Before I knew the REALLY tenacious and tough nature of the terrier. The ratter.

My Yorka Lorka is my LIFE. OK, she and my husband too and my Pit mix, Hanna, who is now 7. I love this girl. She is amazing and her name is Java. She answers to Girlee.

In truth she is both tough and soft. She can obsess for hours over a squeeky toy left on the counter top, over a crumb of food out of reach under the couch. I don’t mean a passing whine - I’m talking grunting, clawing, panting obsession. She just will not let it go. I have to keep an eye open for this behavior because the girlee can become stressed to the max in these situations. This is the way she works - she is doing what she was bred to do. She does NOT give up.

On the other hand she is soft and can spook easily over strange, usually loud sounds. She has the biggest doggy smile I have ever seen - the “submissive grin”. She launches into big appeasement behaviors with people and other dogs that make her appear SUPER friendly. And, of course, she is friendly. These behaviors are saying loud and clear in dog language “I am not a threat to you”. A minor problem with this is that people, you know, human primates, do not read a dog running at them with all their teeth showing as “not a threat”. I have to work to remember this because when it happens Java’s back is to me and I don’t see the grand smile.

So, how DID I end up adopting a Yorkie from the San Diego pound?