As has become clear to me, living in Edmonton, and not in the best part of town I must add, having ways to protect yourself against people is definitely not a superfluous luxury. For me, as a woman this became especially clear, the night intruders went searching through our and our neighbors’ garden. My husband had woken up, and somehow this woke me up as well. Being that we were only here on a visitor visa, we had no weapons, besides a small hunting knife and a can of bear spray. As he went down and closed the curtains, and got the animals locked up, I was left with the task of calling the police. You would expect that 911 as an emergency-phone number has a quick response, though I was on the line for 15 minutes, had to tell my story twice, and like half an hour later the police finally arrived. Luckily for us the intruders had already left by then. In retrospect we don’t think they were burglars, just maybe drunken guys, who made a lot of noise, probably not realizing what they were doing in the first place.

Fact remains that at that moment I have never felt so powerless. Not knowing any self-defense, having no weapons, and having nothing but two cute, but worthless protection dogs (our border collies), I realized I/we needed another dog. A big dog! The problem with another dog is just the costs, plus I am pregnant and would have to train another dog: in protecting, in which I have zero experience.

But after meeting the current landowner last weekend, it became clear, we were getting a dog! Not so much to protect against people anymore, but more to protect us and especially the small animals against all wildlife, ranching from bears, to lynxes, to foxes, coyotes, wolves, and so on.

People had advised against German shepherds since they are also a herding breed. Meaning, they could/will be herding and hunting small livestock like chickens and rabbits. However, I do know my fair share about herding (having done sheepherding with Inti) and am optimistic that I can teach the dog to not herd. Whereas I am just not a fan of hunting dogs and pole dogs like huskies are (for me) especially difficult to educate, with their hunting instinct and being very independent.

There is however a breed that I like more than German shepherds, that is the Dutch shepherd. It is like a smaller version but healthier (no back problems) and comes with all the good traits that German shepherds come with too. I did find one perfect little pup, three months old already and potty trained (thank God, that is the worst thing about puppies). The owner unfortunately never responded, and, on the website, there was no phone number to call. In the meantime, I did find another litter with pups that looked just perfect and with good- and healthy-looking parents. Both present with the pups, which I really like, because the parents tell a lot about the puppies.

After staying a bit unsure, Seb convinced me that it indeed was a good decision to do it now. Because after the baby arrives, we both will not have time for a puppy too.

So, I decided to give the owner a call. As faith have it, we could come by the same evening and there I picked out this perfect little monster! Although I did like a couple of others more because they had pitch-black faces, and I find that extremely pretty in GS, I had to choose this little one. She just fitted perfectly with me, active yet quiet and affectionate. Seb liked her sister more, who happened to have a black face, but she had way too much energy for my liking. I knew that would get on my nerves, if not already short term, then at least long term. And color only means so much. I have the strict rule that in the end the dog chooses the person and not the other way around.

So here we are. Home and happy with our new family member. We named her Kima, which is Native American for butterfly. Coming home it only took a couple of minutes for Nayeli to realize we had gotten her a perfect playmate. They are inseparable, like a big and small sister. Inti is the grumpy old aunt, but we didn’t expect anything else from her. Even the cats seem to be handling Kima very well!

All in all, we are very happy. And so is Kima!