# Moses Lake Matisse



## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

Wow! Can't wait to call him GRAND Champion!!! So impressive! Misha's daddy is a GCh. 

Sounds like Matisse had a great time with the ridgeback! I have groomed a few of them and they have all be really nice dogs. 

Sorry your breeder was a grump, but sounds like you made the best of it!


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Well, thanks a lot Mischief. I am not positive I'm going to go all the way for that though....I'm not 100% Matisse is getting much out of all this. I'm having a bit of a moral dilemma here. But I'll think on it.

It sounds like Misha comes from some good stock. She sure looks like it! Beautiful girl.

Thanks for such a nice post Mischief.


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## plr (Oct 20, 2012)

Sorry -- deleted


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## atlflier (Mar 31, 2014)

Sorry Poodlebeguiled I've been out of pocket and am just now checking in on how things are going for Matisse. I found your story of his love affair with the Ridgeback sweet and comical all at the same time. Too bad your breeder was having an off day as that would be a downer for anyone to have to deal with. I guess I don't get why some are so overly protective of these guys/gals. They are social animals after all. Maybe that's what makes me a newbie...I'm not experienced enough to know any better. I told my breeder that I want Micah to play with others, bigger and smaller, and to give him as much opportunity as possible for that type of interaction. Just last week she sent me a video of him playing with a little 4-month-old female Jack Russell owned by one of her co-workers at the vet's office she works at. I loved seeing how gentle he was with her. 

So what have you decided about Matisse's future, are you going forward?


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Oh sorry...I forgot to check back on this thread. LOL. Getting more forgetful these days.

I am still undecided about whether to continue or not. I'm not sure, even in the best of times it's worth it. But time will tell. Maintaining this coat is really a pita, I gotta tell you. lol. I'm so tempted to shave him down with some gigantic sheep sheering clippers. 

I think one has to be cautious with larger dogs or even not such large dogs...I am very careful to make sure my wee ones won't antagonize another dog or that the other dog appears to be very tolerant. And I keep on watching when they interact to make sure that the tolerance level doesn't shorten too quickly. lol. It can start out fine and dandy and then change sometimes. Or it can go from play to prey in a heart beat with some dogs. So, being watchful of body language is important. And my breeder is right to be careful with dogs I don't know...just walking past them. But once I spend a little time and assess the situation, it can be just fine, as it was with that big Ridgeback. But throw food into the equation? That would be a new criteria to watch...to see if one was guardy about that...it could change the scenario. Or what if a dog that normally is very tolerant happened to have a particularly stressful day that day? Maybe his tolerance level could be shortened. And the other dog might be extra annoying in it's play that time. So, it's always good to keep an eye out.

That was great practice for little Micha to get to play with another dog and play so nicely together.


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