《 hector ← sweetnose mastiff tasks 》

[Venatici]

This is my sweetnose mastiff tasks for my child IWK Spes Fidissima Teucrum. They are complete as of 24/1/2017.
Characters in the story are owned by myself and are IWK dogs, or are owned by the user dave. who gave me permission to use them in said stories. Thank you!



ⅰ First introduction
ⅱ Meeting another pet
ⅲ New toy
ⅳ Picky eater
ⅴ Training
ⅵ Dealing with special needs or hardships
ⅶ Bonding
ⅷ Overcoming a fear
ⅸ Favorite sleeping spot
ⅹ Theme song
ⅺ Happiness
ⅻ Theme of your choice!

[Venatici]

We weren't sure what to think.
The call came through early in the morning, asking if we were still taking in dogs- particularly big dogs with 'issues'. He was protective and was beaten up by some other dogs they guessed- there were eye issues but the fact he 'loves cats, so maybe he'll like Alkie' was strung in at the end in a last ditch effort. It didn't take us long to decide we'd drive down there and look at the big guy, see if he could fit in with our little family of misfit dogs.

Our kennel was named 'invisible whiskers' as a sort of hidden meaning. A lot of people associate cats with whiskers, but what about dogs? For them, it was kind of out of mind; so we decided to take in dogs that other people wouldn't take in. We'd either help bring them back to health so they could do what they loved in terms of work (like Alexander, our originally starved and mange ridden dog who now is a fully working sled dog), or so that they could just live comfortably (like Hachi, who acts more like a community friend rather than a dog).

When Hector came in, it was for certain that he needed someone who could constantly care for him. He was cautious with every step and with his eyes being as bad as they were, he was accidentally bumping into the people holding him at the shelter. It was clear he was newly injured- this was recent, as it was not hard to tell he wasn't accustomed to the eye problems. There was questions if his hesitance was because of not being able to see, or if he just didn't like people. Figuring that the answer would be found out sooner than later, everyone started discussing logistics and we tried to figure out what they knew.

"Perhaps Ren will get along with him?"
"He doesn't like other dogs much."
"You think he was owned by someone previously?"
"Probably. He responds to 'heck' and knows how to sit."
"Well that's a word for sure. I don't want to know how you all found that one out."

---

While a friend was back at the kennels getting everything set up, there was a request to move to a quiet room with the dog. He laid down against a wall, and I made constant soothing noises to let him know someone was there so that wouldn't startle him.
He otherwise seemed indifferent to me, not really sure what to do aside from sniffing a pants pocket and trying to lick through the fabric to get at a baggie of treats stashed there. Carefully letting him then sniff my hand I pat his head and gently rubbed his ears, wondering how exactly this would all now play out.

[Venatici]

Everything was so confusing, and then all of a sudden so simple yet again.

I was allowed to stay somewhere warm and comfy. There was a really low couch that all I had to do was step onto and lay down, and I was praised quite often. This new 'name' they called me- it was strange. It sounded like my old name, but it wasn't the same.

There was a sudden surge of terror when something fell on me. I jumped up as best I could, almost slamming into something in front of me. A hiss was heard from the corner and a scrabbling of claws.
"Who's there? What in the name was that for?"
"Oh don't get your tail in a twist. There was water on the counter and I didn't see it."
"Sure, whatever. Who are you?"
"Depends who's asking."
"Me. I'm Heckrodt, though these humans call me 'Hector'. Now, who are you?"
"Alkie. I'm a cat if you haven't noticed. I'll warn you, Jasper tried to chase me once, it didn't end well for him."
"Very well."

Cautiously I stood there for a few more moments before being sure I couldn't hear the cat any longer. Figuring the coast was clear, I slowly moved back to that comfy couch to go nap a bit more. I hadn't met another cat in a while, and it made me miss some of the cats I knew and probably wouldn't see again. Cats always had such an attitude but I always rather enjoyed their company, even if they were incessantly creepy most of the time. They liked sleeping, and I liked sleeping, so felines and I normally got along quite well. They never bothered me much, and in return I would keep the other dogs from bothering them. I wondered if at some point I would meet this 'Jasper' that the cat mentioned.

After some time I flinched slightly, feeling something resting on my back and now crawling onto my shoulders.
"Chill, you're warm." It was the cat again, after a while I shifted so that I could lay more comfortably and Alkie just stretched out and let his paws rest against my ear. We both ended up falling asleep, and when I woke up I felt a twitch of whiskers grazing my nose. I lifted my head quickly and sniffed the air, smelling that unfamiliar smell again.
"You can not see me, can you?" I heard, flicking my ear dismissively.
"No. I can't."
"Oh. Sorry, then."

There was silence for a moment before I felt a paw smack me on the nose.
"Hey, watch it!" In between my growling I heard a snort of chaff in response from Alkie.
"I think you'll fit in quite nice here after all."

[Venatici]

While the setup of the land and the house were more build towards a kennel setup, there was a fenced in backyard area that connected to the side of the house. It was mostly bare, having almost nothing but a closed up shed, a tree, and a separate closed off place for a garden. After some time Hector was allowed to go outside in this area alone whenever he desired, because for the most part it was 'doggy proof' and allowed him to have some more freedom. The other dogs such as Hachi occasionally came in the area when gardening was to be done or there were guests over, but it was made sure of that Hector didn't meet these other dogs yet.

One particular day it was insatiably warm out, and the owner had a surprise for Hector.
"Hector! Com'ere! I got something for you!"
Curious about what he was being called for, the mastiff carefully led himself to the doggy door before comfortably finding a spot to sit on the patio. Once greeted he was led over to a new sort of novelty- a plastic kid pool. Cautious, Hector sniffed around. He hadn't been sure what this was and didn't feel like going in until he heard a bunch of splashes and some comments from Alkie who had jumped in. The feline was now trying to coax the dog into coming into the water, as well as the owner.

After a tentative moment Hector cautiously stepped into the pool with one paw. The water rippled around his paw and he stretched his toes before taking one big jump and splashing right into the water. Alkie hissed and scrambled out immediately as the big dog started playing with the water, getting himself soaking wet. He then tried to grab the hose with his mouth, getting an unexpected surprise when it splashed him in the face. Barking, he tried to nose his way to get the hose again, 'attacking' the water as best he could while splashing around.
"I'd say he enjoys the water, what about you?"
"Definitely."

[Venatici]

We didn't necessarily expect Hector to have issues eating- as an assumed stray, he tried to eat anything put in his bowl. The eating itself and what he ate never really was an issue, because while the dog had preferences Hector almost never turned down his food. The issue we were trying to deal with is the aggression concerning his food.

Now Hector didn't have problems with other places for food. For example he wouldn't really try to eat Alkie's food when it was out of Alkie's bowl or try to take food off of a plate if it was left on a table. He was exceptionally guarding of his food bowl if there was food in it and it was a concern for everyone. When a few days had passed and he was comfortable with a routine, Hector began trying to sit and wait at his foodbowl, ready to give a low growl at anyone who was going to bother him.

Our solution was to try and give positive reinforcement for whenever he wasn't as guarding around his food bowl. When dinner time came around and Hector lingered around his food bowl, he was called over and given praise. Gradually this repetition turned into him coming over and laying down, and him eventually calming down until he actually was eating the food. Once the routine of dinner had been dimmed down with him not guarding the bowl, eventually we got the person who he trusted most to slowly inhabit Hector's space while eating. When he gradually became comfortable with that, it changed into a system of every time someone messed with Hector's bowl, he got a treat- so that now when someone came near him when he was eating and tried to move his bowl, he expected praise for not being aggressive.

It took a few weeks and some patience doing it every day, but the light at the end of the tunnel appeared and the hope his aggression concerning food just grew, to the point he didn't really mind anymore as he associated being bothered at dinner time with praise.

[Venatici]

Training with Hector was thankfully not all that difficult. As time passed on it was suspected that Hector may have not been a stray all his life, perhaps a dog who had just no longer had a home or was dumped onto the streets. That being said, the sweetnose mastiff had some decent prior knowledge. When he first arrived at Invisible Whisker Kennels he came to a specific phrase which eventually melded into his name, and since we already had worked on stuff like his aggression we did not expect much issues to arise.

Most of his training was to aid him with his blindness and also make everything easier for both parties. We taught him commands such as sit and lay down, to which he took very easily. The training was mostly to even out the playing field; commands like 'easy' were used to make him slow down or try and become more aware or cautious of his surroundings, while specific cues like left and right helped him find if he was off track and going to bump into something. Caution with the stairs were taken as well with stepping up and down so that when we were with him we could help him more.

[Venatici]

When we took Hector in we knew about his special needs. He was completely blind in one eye and had little sight in the other, and had problems concerning being protective. We managed to solve the concerns regarding his food and his aggressiveness but the blindness we wanted to really take care of. We wanted Hector to have a good life, where he could feel confident enough without having to rely on us every living moment: so we asked our friend who owned a blind dog for some opinions.

The first thing we did was to sort of 'ground' Hector. He would be a mostly inside dog so we made sure he had a sort of grounding space, similar to an area where he could tucker down and get his bearings should he feel lost and confused. It was noted to never move these particular items in his 'grounding area' so that nothing would throw him off. Once he was able to feel comfortable with this small setup we started working on really setting up the rest of the house sot hat he could feel more at ease and not as stressed. There were 'runner mats' placed on the floor so that he could just follow the mats to get where he needed to go, with little differentiating things for different areas (like a particular groove to notify about the stairs, or a particular scent by the back door).

After that we focused on outside, giving the patio area the grounding for the backyard; it was a safely enclosed area separate from the kennels so there was no issue. We fenced off any dangerous areas and placed things such as mulch around the gardens and trees so he would not run into those on accident.

When all this had been set and certain all we had to do was make sure his eye drops were kept up and the maintenance of the yard and house upkept as to not give any room for accidents.

[Venatici]

Hector was beginning to become a welcome addition to the little family we had. He had became good friends with Alkie and the feline helped lead him around at times and kept him at ease. While he was friendly with us all I was now determined on trying to bond with him, so the best way I figured to do that was find what he loved to do.
It mostly happened on accident with the kiddie pool, but after a while we began to routinely go outside when it was warm and go into the pool so he could splosh around in the little bit of water. The colder months were soon approaching and the chill of the air outside made us worry for how Hector would be with the cold. So we reverted to a generally not fan favorite: the bath tub.
So we began to bond over that. He got into the routine and began to feel more comfortable.

Hector was one for laying around and considering his special needs we made sure he got enough exercise and then let him rest for however long he wanted. He bonded through cuddles and just company at its purest point, as he had little interest in toys that he couldn't chew up. We felt this was fine, as eventually after a while when we began to take our walks Hector grew more comfortable and confident in not only us but himself too. Now in the months after we had gotten him, Hector feels more at home and we would like to think he's rather fond of everyone at the kennels- human wise at the very least, as the situation with the other dogs was still tentative and we did not want any issues to arise.

[Venatici]

When we first got Hector, it was clear to see he was almost fearless even with his blindness. There was things he was wary of, and sometimes he took caution, but otherwise it was almost as if he had never lost his sight at all. Almost nothing truly scared him; sure, he was skittish when surprised, but the true fear came a couple of months after we got him.

It was not the rain that scared poor Hector, it had been the thunder and lightning. He was terrified of it- and being unable to see the poor mastiff would whine and remain as stiff as a board, unable to be moved.
We never really put our dogs on medication aside from things such as the eye drops Hector, so it was a last ditch measure that while we were willing to take, we did not want to resort to. So we tried to once more slowly go through and help Hector: after the incident we decided the best thing for him would to be desensitizing him to the sound in case we were not home should an immediate storm happen.
We began gradually with small sounds from a tape recorder: very low and meant to just get him accustomed to the noise. It was nothing to scare him, just something similar to the same volume of daily noises throughout the kennels. We led him to a safe space next to his 'grounded' space so that should a storm happen, he knew he could go there: it became repetitive that every time he was frightened by those loud noises he would go to that spot.

Rewarding his calm behavior and gradually getting louder sounds, we invested in a sort of calming jacket to help Hector too, placing it on him before the storm so he would already be relaxed. When storms eventually came again, we were more prepared and Hector was not as frightened as he had been before. We played music and eventually Hector did not mind the storm as much, finding the storms as a source of reward as he got praise while being calm for it. One of his biggest fears was not completely tackled, but it was now manageable and did not cause him as much stress.

[Venatici]

""I get to sleep on the couch."
Jasper gave Hector a look that said nothing less of 'I will be suffocating you in your sleep'.
Hachi snorted dismissively. It had been months since this newcomer had arrived, and he heard about him through the whispers of Alkie and the rumors that floated about the kennels, but he had not seen him until now. His name was Hector and he could not see, something he was well aware with through the knowledge of a close friend who shared the same affliction.
All the dog hoped for now was a peaceful meeting between the resident guard dog Jasper and this new dog. It was going well until Hector said that.
"That is where my favorite spot is, you know."
"Lucky."

They were sitting across from each other while our handler stood near, trying not to laugh at the fact these two were just sitting opposite each other making low noises at one another in the same tone. Humans do not understand our language, so I could only imagine their confusion.
After another minute of these two staring at each other (Hector doing as best he could to see the really badly outlined blur) Jasper got directed to go back to his area and Hachi sat wagging his tail and decided to just chat up Hector.
"So you like sleeping on the couch then?"
"Yeah! It is my favorite spot, when Alkie is not trying to occupy it, the bugger."
"Must be nice."