When he was very
young he got used to lots of strange men coming in and out of
the house due to renovating so he doesn’t act like your
“normal” Estrela who is supposed to bark very
noisily. He is so calm and confident about it all that he
usually doesn’t even make the effort to get up and see
who it is when the door bell rings or when people enter the
house!
But I am not fooled
by his relaxed attitude, he knows exactly what sort of person
is entering and I am sure that he will react if someone bad
enters. This I have learned in the 7 years he has lived with
me.
Estrela’s are
excellent in instinctively knowing what people are like so
you can always trust their reaction to people. When looking
for an Estrela pup all those years ago we were secretly
tested this way by a breeders dogs. Luckily her dogs gave us
the thumbs up and we were not advised to look for another
breed.
Flecha has had his
moments of being a pain (like all dogs only worse) in
puberty, unfortunately taking after his father in the fact
that they both had a very long puberty, and drove me nuts
with his stubbornness. But an Estrela is a dog that is bred
for making its own decisions and it is also very funny to
experience. If you can’t appreciate a dog often doing
what he thinks is best don’t acquire an Estrela. If you
do like these qualities they are wonderful dogs to have
around.
Estrela’s and
Lagotti are an excellent combination. One being large,
stubborn, losing lots of hair twice a year and not having
much of a will to please as they think their perfect the way
they are. And the other being of a practical small size, easy
to get along with, non shedding dog that loves doing anything
that makes you happy. You get the best of both worlds!
Flecha thought
Tiekas pups were awful!! But once they were 4 weeks old and
could hear him he realised that a growl made these yucky
small animals leave him alone and he got used to them. He
loves showing whose boss by getting his food first and eating
a bone while they watch him. They all have their own bone but
everyone always thinks that Flecha has the best one. As far
as I can see they are all the same….
Flecha is extremely
well mannered and will never take any food off tables or
bones from other dogs including the pups. He dose look at me
pleadingly if he wants a bone that a pup has. I guess the
thinks me taking it isn’t bad manners.
Due to his large
size people are sometimes scared that he will knock them over
when he comes running up to greet them (he can do this rather
enthusiastically). But he is actually very careful and stops
just in time. He has never knocked anyone down.
This was a quick
story to introduce you to my beer. If you would like to learn
more about the Estrela then you can click on the link at the
top of this story.
