One of my characters has acquired a dog. It's not going to be a major focus of the story, but a recurring bit of "local color" & occasional characterization, so I want to get things right.
The setting: a fantasy analog of 17c Europe. My character is a military man: in the winter he lives in town, during the fighting season (May-Dec) he's generally in the field with his army. He's a man of high rank but embarrassed finance, so he does not currently keep the kind of stables & kennel he once did (& intends to in the future when his current problems go away) - but there's still a whole mess of servants, horses, and dogs in his life because you have to maintain certain standards no matter what, & you can pay servants/tradesmen with promises of future money for quite a while even when they know you don't actually have any right now.
The dog: a scruffy ratter of unspecified breed. A small pack of them are kept by the breeder to control the vermin around her house & garden, & she sells/trades the puppies locally. At the time my character encountered her there were 2 litters of puppies on hand, & this dog was one of the younger batch (approx. 5-6 mos old?). The breeder does not do much direct training; in practice, the older dogs teach the younger ones their business. This particular puppy, being so young, had not yet learned her job when she was given to my character, who keeps her mainly as a pet -- but she definitely has strong terrier instincts.
Some questions:
-- How will the puppy interact with the other dogs in the household/army? (A mixed group of hunting dogs of various types - particularly when following the army, probably a rather casual assemblage that may include pets, hunters, & ferals)
-- Will there need to be close supervision when she is introduced to a group of them, or is it sufficient to set her loose among them and let the group sort itself out?
-- Given that the puppy left her home pack very young and unskilled, & my character, while fond of this dog, has no particular predilection for dog training, what kind of training, socialization, & discipline are necessary and desirable to make the puppy well-behaved among humans & at least modestly competent at catching & killing small critters?
The setting: a fantasy analog of 17c Europe. My character is a military man: in the winter he lives in town, during the fighting season (May-Dec) he's generally in the field with his army. He's a man of high rank but embarrassed finance, so he does not currently keep the kind of stables & kennel he once did (& intends to in the future when his current problems go away) - but there's still a whole mess of servants, horses, and dogs in his life because you have to maintain certain standards no matter what, & you can pay servants/tradesmen with promises of future money for quite a while even when they know you don't actually have any right now.
The dog: a scruffy ratter of unspecified breed. A small pack of them are kept by the breeder to control the vermin around her house & garden, & she sells/trades the puppies locally. At the time my character encountered her there were 2 litters of puppies on hand, & this dog was one of the younger batch (approx. 5-6 mos old?). The breeder does not do much direct training; in practice, the older dogs teach the younger ones their business. This particular puppy, being so young, had not yet learned her job when she was given to my character, who keeps her mainly as a pet -- but she definitely has strong terrier instincts.
Some questions:
-- How will the puppy interact with the other dogs in the household/army? (A mixed group of hunting dogs of various types - particularly when following the army, probably a rather casual assemblage that may include pets, hunters, & ferals)
-- Will there need to be close supervision when she is introduced to a group of them, or is it sufficient to set her loose among them and let the group sort itself out?
-- Given that the puppy left her home pack very young and unskilled, & my character, while fond of this dog, has no particular predilection for dog training, what kind of training, socialization, & discipline are necessary and desirable to make the puppy well-behaved among humans & at least modestly competent at catching & killing small critters?