# KING KAZE, SO SERIOUS! (...yet so spazzy that he got his head stuck in a Gypsy Skirt)



## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

We received an indoor climbing structure (that hangs from the ceiling to the floor) from Mexico and were in the process of hanging it and getting pics of our children playing on it for the first time while the dogs watched and wondered. To get decent pics of the kiddos in the long narrow playroom, and to get the proper angles with natural lighting from this high plains desert sun of Idaho, my wife had to go outside the house and open the window/remove the screen. This of course drew the attention of my King: KING KAZE that is! And you can see a blurry Queen Nara in the background. Kaze decided to stick his head out of the window to investigate the outdoor surroundings and ensure our home safety.

(Not sure what that red dot is on his nose in the first pic. Might be a camera glitch.)





































And thanks to Kaze's previous owner "exercising" him, and entertaining himself and others, by having him chase laser pointer light beam dots, Kaze's ADD/ADHD is improving but isn't quite gone yet. Here's a perfect example of Kaze not realizing his abilities (or lack thereof), his size, and his surroundings, as he attempts to run through my oldest daughter's legs and gets caught up (!TRAPPED!) in her skirt, looking like a Gypsy Dog. My youngest daughter (and the rest of us!) thought it was hilarious, and oh so typical of Kaze indeed. He has come a long way, and his rehabilitation is going well. I was just thinking how long it's been since I've seen him chasing sun rays on walls or shadows on the ground. He isn't cured yet, but he's on the right path now that he's a member of our pack.

Here is Kaze getting himself stuck, and he literally couldn't get himself unstuck as he kept trying to push forward. Eventually he realized he wasn't going to fit and he backed himself out, but not until we all had many good laughs watching his attempt to squeeze through her legs with his eyes bulging out of his head. My poor King.


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## dylan_and_atlas (Apr 1, 2015)

So cute! He looks like a riot haha 


Side note- is it bad to have a puppy chase a laser light? I do this with my pup for 5 minutes right before bed every night after a walk so he's extra tired.


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## SkoobyDoo (Oct 7, 2014)

People should not use laser lights as toys! Yes dogs can become OCD about them.


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## My2shepherds (Jun 10, 2014)

OMGosh!!! He is Absolutley Goreous! I love his coloring!! :wub:


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## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

dylan_and_atlas said:


> So cute! He looks like a riot haha
> 
> 
> Side note- is it bad to have a puppy chase a laser light? I do this with my pup for 5 minutes right before bed every night after a walk so he's extra tired.


Yes, very bad. It causes ADD/ADHD in dogs, which can lead to seizures and the dog might have to be put down. There are threads on this forum about how bad it is. I can see in person how negatively it affected Kaze, as he has a very short attention span and will react to anything moving (lights, shadows) which causes him to break focus. He literally cannot complete a full thought process. He will go to get a drink of water, and before he's done, he'll suddenly stop and run off if he hears a noise or if I take a single step. And not run off scared, just run off before completing the thought. So when he is doing anything (eating, drinking, etc.) I will stand still and have my family stand still until he completes the process and is naturally done, and then we can all move again. It helps him rehabilitate and calms him down. It's been a long road to help break him of all his bad habits that originated due to laser pointers.


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## Ellimaybel (Mar 16, 2014)

Oh how funny  They get themselves into the most ridiculous situations


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## dylan_and_atlas (Apr 1, 2015)

Oh gosh, I'm happy you told me! I had it for my kitty because she loves it & then Atlas saw & wanted to play. No more of that! Thank you, sorry to barge in on your thread!


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## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

dylan_and_atlas said:


> Oh gosh, I'm happy you told me! I had it for my kitty because she loves it & then Atlas saw & wanted to play. No more of that! Thank you, sorry to barge in on your thread!


I found this and many other articles when I googled it:

Why Dogs Chase Laser Beams (and Why It Can Drive Them Nuts)



> When a wiggly little bead of light catches a dog's eye, nothing in the world matters more than capturing it. Unfortunately, "it" is just an ungraspable bundle of massless photons. The lack of closure in laser-beam chasing could be messing with your dog's head.
> 
> Dogs (and some cats) instinctively chase these bright-red dots simply because the dots move, said Nicholas Dodman, a professor of animal behavior at Tufts University's Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. Movement automatically stimulates their innate prey drive, which explains why lower-on-the-food-chain animals such as rodents and rabbits often freeze in place as a survival strategy. Although dogs aren't so discerning when it comes to color, their eyes contain a high preponderance of light-sensitive cells called rods for top-notch motion detection.
> 
> ...


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## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

When we first got Kaze, we would let him roam our house. He would disappear for a while and we would hear noises. We would go looking for him and/or the source of these noises, and find him leaping off our daughter's beds to "catch" sun rays high up on the walls shining in from the bedroom window. He would stand on the wall scratching at the shadows and rays. He would also scratch at the floor like he was trying to dig and kill the rays and shadows. He was going mad, thanks to laser pointers. Now he is much better, but the damage is still done and it will probably take years to undo. Good thing for him I am very very patient and I love him more than the world.


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## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

Also wanted to add: it seems that it does not affect cats like it does dogs. We don't do it with our cats or dogs, so I haven't actually researched the effect on cats. I just remember people posting on here that cats don't show side-effects, but dogs do.


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## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

Another article, as I'm researching ADD/ADHD vs OCD in dogs:



> Treating Compulsive Dog Behaviors
> 
> By Lisa Radosta, DVM, DACVB
> 
> ...


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## dylan_and_atlas (Apr 1, 2015)

Well thank you so much. I'm very sorry for what happened to Kaze. Thank you for educating me, Atlas will no longer be playing with it at night [or ever]. He's almost 15 weeks and he has gotten a little bit more mouthy after I introduced the laser, which is most likely teething, but now I wonder if that was contributing.. But again, thank you so much!


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## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

Here's another I found:



> Warning: Don’t use Laser Pointers!
> January 3, 2012
> 
> Using Laser pointers or flash-lights as a chase game for dogs (and some cats), can ‘literally’ drive them crazy! Don’t use them.
> ...


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## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

Threads from this forum:

http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...ed-chase-laser-pointers-how-do-i-untrain.html


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## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...knew-laser-pointer-would-my-saving-grace.html


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## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

dylan_and_atlas said:


> Well thank you so much. I'm very sorry for what happened to Kaze. Thank you for educating me, Atlas will no longer be playing with it at night [or ever]. He's almost 15 weeks and he has gotten a little bit more mouthy after I introduced the laser, which is most likely teething, but now I wonder if that was contributing.. But again, thank you so much!


 You're welcome. Here's the search for "laser pointer" on this site and all of the threads about it:

German Shepherd Dog Forums - Search Results


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## SkoobyDoo (Oct 7, 2014)

dylan_and_atlas said:


> Oh gosh, I'm happy you told me! I had it for my kitty because she loves it & then Atlas saw & wanted to play. No more of that! Thank you, sorry to barge in on your thread!


I looked it up too!
https://positively.com/dog-behavior/behavior-problems/ocd-behaviors/light-chasing/


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Gorgeous pictures! I always love your pictures!


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## Susan_GSD_mom (Jan 7, 2014)

I love your pictures, and Kaze is so majestic looking... Well, usually, unless he's caught up in a gypsy skirt. 

Kaze is blessed to be in your household, he found the right Mom and Dad, as have all your kids, two-legged and four-legged!

Susan


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## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

I showed my wife this post and she mentioned that she thinks her camera was accidentally set to auto instead of manual, thus causing the phantom red dot. Funny that we were talking about laser pointers, and my fav picture (and now avatar) is the first one with the red dot on his nose. I was able to edit it out for the avatar.


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## Bridget (Apr 5, 2004)

Beautiful dog. That is hilarious!


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## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

Lilie said:


> Gorgeous pictures! I always love your pictures!


Thank you. I don't post many anymore, as I've pretty much sworn off internet to spend time with my family and dogs. Every once in a blue moon I return to post some more, just to let everyone know we're still alive and well. Ha!



Susan_GSD_mom said:


> I love your pictures, and Kaze is so majestic looking... Well, usually, unless he's caught up in a gypsy skirt.
> 
> Kaze is blessed to be in your household, he found the right Mom and Dad, as have all your kids, two-legged and four-legged!
> 
> Susan


Yup, Kaze is the King I always wanted (no offense to my Queen NarNar). When we bought Nara, I actually wanted a male, but they were all sold. There were only 3 females left out of a litter of 9; 3 males and 6 females. We were going to name "him" Nara Simha Deva, after the Hindu half-man, half-lion Lord of Protection. With Nara, we changed the name from Deva (masculine) to Devi (feminine) to make it work. And before Nara, and even now, I want/ed a male Doberman who will be named *ANUBIS* Keeper of Divine Justice. Still working on the wifey on that one, since she was attacked by a Doberman as a girl. Anyways, Kaze quickly put our other males in their places when he moved into our house, and ascended to the throne naturally. He is so big and strong and fast, he's truly unbelievable. Other than his laser pointer issues, he is my all around favorite dog. He is also my Velcro, similar to what I hear about Dobies. I can literally, without sensing him, know that he is always near. If I visually lose him and look to my left, I'll see nothing, which means without doubt when I look to my right, there he will be. And yes, he is always behind me or next to me, no matter where I sit or walk to. None of our other dogs have ever done this. I think he is thanking me for taking him in and giving him the life he always wanted/needed. It's like a boon, or life debt (picturing Jar Jar Binks...ack!), where he will constantly thank and repay me until the day he or I die, whichever comes/goes first. 



Ellimaybel said:


> Oh how funny  They get themselves into the most ridiculous situations


No, not normal...unless your name is Krazy Kaze. Only Kaze does things like this. Ha! He'll forget where walls are and quickly turn his head to run off, and SMACK run right into a wall with full force, then act like it didn't faze him. Oh my poor King, why were you tormented with laser pointers? But yeah, this is exactly what he's doing in those pics. Like forgetting walls are there, he forgot that a skirt was in front of him, and tried to run right through it. Like a fly in a spider web, or a Chinese finger trap, Kaze was caught in a skirt looking like a gypsy:












My2shepherds said:


> OMGosh!!! He is Absolutley Goreous! I love his coloring!! :wub:


I once found a GSD on Craigslist that was all brown with the black muzzle. I posted the pic on here, but once the CL ad expired, the photo no longer worked. It was a female, and she was gorgeous. I was told she is called a Golden Shepherd; never heard of one until her. Kaze's face/head look very much like her, but he does have a diluted black back and colorations, and he is black and red like Nara.










Funny thing about Kaze's coat and color, and you can see them in the photos, are his very lightly colored paws. He reminded us of Two Socks from Dances With Wolves, so we call Kaze Four Socks, or sometimes Four Boots. We love him so much!


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## Susan_GSD_mom (Jan 7, 2014)

counter said:


> ...Kaze..... is so big and strong and fast, he's truly unbelievable. Other than his laser pointer issues, he is my all around favorite dog. He is also my Velcro, similar to what I hear about Dobies. I can literally, without sensing him, know that he is always near. If I visually lose him and look to my left, I'll see nothing, which means without doubt when I look to my right, there he will be. And yes, he is always behind me or next to me, no matter where I sit or walk to. ....


I teared up when I read your description of your relationship with Kaze. One of my wolf/shepherds was that to me. Wherever I was, I knew if I dropped my hand a bit, his huge head would be there, right next to me. He slept on my bed, from 4 weeks old until he died. I must warn you, when the ones you are very closest to pass away, it is as though a beloved human died. That was nearly 25 years ago, and I can still feel his head under my hand at my side, still feel his thick coat, still feel the gaze of his deep, deep eyes. Cherish Kaze while you have him!

Susan


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## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

Susan_GSD_mom said:


> I teared up when I read your description of your relationship with Kaze. One of my wolf/shepherds was that to me. Wherever I was, I knew if I dropped my hand a bit, his huge head would be there, right next to me. He slept on my bed, from 4 weeks old until he died. I must warn you, when the ones you are very closest to pass away, it is as though a beloved human died. That was nearly 25 years ago, and I can still feel his head under my hand at my side, still feel his thick coat, still feel the gaze of his deep, deep eyes. Cherish Kaze while you have him!
> 
> Susan


 He is a special dog who was meant to be with me. He is the dog I always wanted as a kid. He's my Lassie and Old Yeller and Rin Tin Tin all wrapped up into one. He's faster than my Siberians, and stronger than all 3 other dogs combined when it comes to bikejoring and pulling weight. I used to add barbells into a child canopy trailer attached to my bike just to slow Kaze down enough that the other dogs could keep up with him. I had him pulling nearly 400 lbs, and he was still faster than all 3 dogs combined. Now I just bike him by himself, and then take the other 3 by themselves. Kaze is my King. He's in a class of his own. He is right next to be as I type this. I think he knows I saved him from his previous situation and I give him the love he has always wanted. He has finally found someone (me!) to give his love to like he has always wanted. I wonder what his first 2 years were like. Anytime I go to pet him and he isn't aware that my hand is moving in his direction, as soon as I make contact, he flinches. I can see his entire body tremble as if he thinks I'm going to strike him. So now I try my best to remember and move my hand in front of his face so he sees it coming before touching his back or sides or neck to pet and love him. Anytime I get up to walk through the house, he gets up to go with me. I have to actually put him in a down/stay so he can relax and just lay there. I could be getting up to go grab something and return right back, and Kaze must think I'm going to leave him so he has to be at my side all of the time. There's a bond we have that I've never had before. Kaze is special. 

I'm forever grateful that he chose me when our paths crossed. When I first met him, I didn't see our destiny, and blew him off as just another dog. Once the stars began to align and I realized that there might be a chance for him to one day be mine, my life changed. I used to dog sit for him while his owner was on vacation. I remember Kaze had diarrhea and pooped all over the laundry room where he was kept, and his long wagging tail that touches the floor was flicking the diarrhea on the walls because he was so happy to see me. I spent hours cleaning it after work one night, and it was like 1 or 2 in the morning. Instead of coming home, I passed out on the floor in the living room while Kaze was in the kitchen. When I awoke, Kaze had fallen asleep next to me with his head on my chest, using my body like a pillow. That was the first time that everything began to click and our bond started to form. One day he just HAD to be mine...


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## Carriesue (Aug 13, 2012)

I really love your photography, do you by chance have a Flickr or similar type account where I can view more?


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## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

Carriesue said:


> I really love your photography, do you by chance have a Flickr or similar type account where I can view more?


Funny that you ask. My wife is the family photographer, and she did not approve of any of the photos posted above. There's something about each one that she does not like. Some of them are focused on Kaze's ears, etc. She only uploaded them because they were my favs out of the batch she took. Anyways, here is the link to her flickr account that supports our family blog:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/

I would say only about 10% of the pics are of our dogs. The rest are of our kiddos and nature and crafts. Enjoy!


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## RZZNSTR (Jan 24, 2015)

King looks great!


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## Black Kali (Aug 31, 2013)

counter said:


> Funny that you ask. My wife is the family photographer, and she did not approve of any of the photos posted above. There's something about each one that she does not like. Some of them are focused on Kaze's ears, etc.


I understand her  but thanks for posting them anyway! He is beautiful


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