The Education of Anca Wood

This is a lazy cat who doesn't move much. When I went to play with Hermione, I met something called a cat. We were on opposite sides of a kennel run, so we couldn't touch each other. I didn’t really pay much attention to it, but now I’ve learned that there are two of them, (two!), living with us at the farm. How could this happen?  And what are they? They lurk in the shadows, sleep on the beds, play in my parents' drinks, and run when I approach. I’m not supposed to chase them, but that’s what I really want to do.  This cat is different. She wants to investigate everything. If I can’t chase them, then what good are they? They don’t want to play, but I think they would like to get me into trouble. They’re just there, waiting for me to make a mistake. I have lots more to learn about these creatures.

My first time in the pool. My trainer has a huge salt water pool with a deck around it. I’ve been swimming in it since I was eight or nine weeks old. I’m a strong swimmer and have always been able to swim across the pool and then back to the exit ramp and deck; that’s about 15 feet in each direction. Here I am with Navi and our trainer in her pool. Unlike the border collies and my sister Navi, however, I don’t love swimming yet. I basically swim to get to my mom who is outside the pool watching and laughing at me. My mom is threatening to take me to Paws to Swim in Richmond and introduce me to dock diving. Now this is my kind of pool.

With my pal Hermione. It’s been said that golden retrievers have to be taught that not all people are friends, while we German shepherds have to be taught that not all people are enemies. My mom believes this old saying, so she has been on a mission to socialize me with other humans and dogs too. I go to play group at my trainer’s house where there’s a carefully selected group of dogs – border collies, Jack Russells, golden doodles, golden retrievers, and Portuguese water dogs. We all have mostly similar play styles and get along well. Play style is important. We German shephers love to chase, chase, chase, body slam, and bite necks. It can look rough, but generally isn’t. The Jack Russell in the play group loves to run too and is so fast that no one ever catches her. Oh, how I wish I could. That girl can run like the wind. If anyone gets too rough, the golden retrievers break up that group. They’re the peace keepers. There are also plenty of very attentive humans to make sure that w...

Here we are all ready to leave the kennel in Dinwiddie. I was born in Dinwiddie County and spent the first eight weeks of my life there. Apparently, I was the rowdy one who was always the first to explore the world or cause mayhem. My parents had said that they wanted an alert, wide awake, look out world German shepherd, and that’s what they got. Because of the covid-19 pandemic, there were special precautions in place when my parents came to get me. There was a specific time for arrival; they had to wear masks; and they had to practice some major social distancing. No problems there. I was waiting for them in an X-pen at the end of the driveway. If I do say so, I was a cute little bundle of energy, and I was more than ready for a new adventure. My new parents took my back to their farm in Lunenburg County. It was a long, hot drive, kind of boring, but I didn’t want my parents to assume that I was an easy-going sort, so I threw up all over my mom and then promptly went back to sl...

Here I am a seven weeks old, a mere pipsqueak. Hello, dear readers.  I want to tell you a little bit about this blog. It’s called The Education of Anca Wood , that’s me, but it’s really about the education of my parents. You see, they think their job as responsible German Shepherd parents is to civilize me, teach me how to walk on a leash, not to pee in the house, to sit quietly while they’re eating,   to play nicely with other dogs and kids, and basically just hang around with them and do whatever they want.  I hate to tell them, but it’s the other way around. I’m training them to meet my needs. Take house training as an example. Whenever I need to go outside, I whimper. If that doesn’t work, I increase the volume of my whimpering and sound pathetic. They usually come running. If they’re slow, well, I just pee on the floor. My parents don’t like that, so they learn quickly. When I want to play, I act cute and cuddly. They usually fall for it every time and bring out ...