I need to speak a word in defense of these past pups of mine. I have learned so, so much through this OTSC journey. And I learned a few things about dog ownership that I was sadly ignorant of during my first several dogs. Here's one of my favorites of Lucy and my then 4 year old:
Smoky was an Aussie. And Australian Shepherds have a wonderful reputation as family pets, which is precisely why my parents purchased him. My dad was looking for another Boots and he thought the Aussie would fit the bill. But expecting a dog to just be a certain way without good and consistent training, means disappointment. He was not deserving of the disappointment we had in him. My parents simply did not have the time to train him as he should have been. He may have been an excellent dog. And, don't get me wrong, he had his good traits and moments. He just didn't meet his full potential. Also, bred as a questionable purebred from a local farmer, you just don't know what exactly you might be getting. And a careful breeder breeds for traits and dispositions that may fit better into a family. Touchy with children, resource guarding, skittish, stubborn, etc, would be marks of a dog you may choose not to breed - unless all you're worried about it what your dog looks like and making a few bucks. Know your breeder. Train your dog.
Denali was an Alaskan Malamute. She was beautiful and could have been a
registered pureblood. She could have been a wonderful pet. But I made the mistake of falling for an adorable puppy and bought her without any prior research into the breed. If I had learned a bit more before buying her, I would have realized that Malamutes require an astounding amount of exercise. Bred as work animals, this is what I thought she would be fun for - pull my kids on the sled! Which was great! Until we realized that she needed it CONSTANTLY to keep up with her massive energy. Again, I also expected her to just "be a good dog" bc of her breed with a smattering of mediocre training. I realized how gosh darn stubborn they are because they just want to WORK. They want something TO DO. She was bored following me and three little kids around all day and I simply did not have the time or energy to train and exercise her. Know your breed. Train your dog. Be realistic.
I was so excited about Sassy, our Great Pyrenees. I tried so hard to do a better job with her. I thought I had done a better job researching. But I missed some important traits that made it hard to fit her into our family and farm life. Or I at least didn't realize how important they were until it was too late. I tried to train her. I wanted to do more for her as an owner. But at
that time we had taken on a new farm life just that year, and shortly afterwards I gave birth to my 6th baby. And I was homeschooling. And we were dirt poor. I expected her to help because that's what a good Pyrenees did, right?! But without proper training, she and I were a mess and I just couldn't keep her under control. She chased my neighbors buggy down the road (it ran through our land, so she saw it as property invasion) which they hated. She got into their yards and terrorized them but somehow always knew exactly when I was arriving home and was always sitting innocently in the front yard when I drove in. Three years into her, the neighborhood problem that had been seething unbeknownst to me came to a head and we decided to let her go in order to keep the peace. Do better research. ACTUALLY train your dog. Don't expect success if you don't plan to put the time in. Don't have a puppy and a baby at the same time lol.
So that's the way it was. Two dogs I had personally owned for 3 years each and I couldn't keep them under control and I was just plain frustrated. It was never how I imagined it would be. I was tired of the emotional roller coaster of loving a puppy, becoming frustrated with its adulthood, and the guilt of giving up on yet another animal because I just couldn't do it anymore. I knew it was mostly my fault for not doing a good job as a dog owner. Would I ever have the time and energy for another one? As we continued life on the farm without a dog it became increasingly obvious that I would have to figure it out. Predators formerly kept at bay by the presence of a dog were beginning to encroach on our defenseless animals. I didn't really want to keep repeating the Headless Chicken Incident (refer to the "Time to Buy a Dog" post ). We needed something out there keeping an eye on things and making predators think twice about sneaking into the chicken coop. But this time I was going to do things as I should have with Denali and Sassy. This time I was going to learn from my mistakes.
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