This is our baby Zoe (aka the Zo-sta) and we have now been the proud owners of this 70lb bundle of joy for nearly 2 yrs AND we are absolutely loving it...most of the time.
We have numerous friends back home (the land of Oz) who now share their lives with two legged creatures and I constantly receive emails from them telling me how much their lives have been changed - for the better. Yes, this last tidbit of information surprised me as I am well aware that these little people (let's call them miniatures) will definitely change the lives of the people they reside with, but I wasn't sure that this necessarily meant positive change (just my opinion, of course).
So our baby - the four legged kind - came into our lives on November 11, 2005 and our lives have also significantly changed, both positive and negative. In the beginning, dealing with a 6 month old puppy certainly forced me to encounter more of the negative changes that I really hadn't anticipated; changes such as the constant source of energy in a 45 lb body tearing up the house and wanting to go, go, go, only stopping long enough to chew up a brush, the odd clothes hanger, a pair of sunglasses OR the $100 Ann Klein stiletto's that I must admit to having a love /hate relationship with anyway - mostly hate! The fact that Zoe chewed up the shoe causing it to appear almost unrecognizable felt almost like a God send, as they may have looked really sexy, but in reality were the most uncomfortable pair of shoes I have ever owned! Truly!
But in spite of those insignificant monetary losses, which I must take some of the blame for as the fact is that puppies will be puppies, and chewing is a major part of being a puppy, life as a dog owner has been an adventure. It also involves a great deal of learning; learning about the stages of animal development, health care, obedience training, and a whole lot of patience. Growing up around numerous animals I really thought I knew it all, but I would quickly learn that all the obedience training I learned as a teenager is now classified as fear based training, or using methods associated with negative reinforcement. By participating in the positive training methods practiced at Ahimsa Dog Training and reading numerous training books, I have learned that you don't need to use fear or force to train a dog, and that they will more willingly respond to reward based training methods that will enable you to have a well-mannered dog - while creating a harmonious relationship with your dog.
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