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Sit, Stay, Quiet - and That Goes for the Dog, Too - Page 2

© Lesli Richardson

A dog is not an investment. It's not a possession. It's a living, breathing, (usually) thinking creature that's capable of boundless love and adoration of its owners. It will sometimes even willingly give its life to protect those owners. Considering they are willing to do that, a little training, even just ten minutes a day, isn't too much to ask. If you find yourself in a situation where you are contemplating giving up a dog you love, ask around, find a trainer, a breed club, even just a knowledgeable friend to help you out with training. Because if you won't handle it, what makes you think that someone else walking off the street will be willing to?

And don't kid yourself that when you blithely drop your pet off at a shelter that someone will adopt it. Maybe they will - and maybe they won't. Some shelters have as little as a five-day turnaround on owner surrenders before they are slated for euthanasia due to lack of space. Our bully girl was the exception, not the rule. God knows that the people who work rescue, shelters, and animal control do their best to educate the public but they alone can't adopt and save them all.

We bought her a new collar, with multi-colored smiley faces, and had a nametag made. We listed her as Bubba, even though I'm acclimating her to Bubbles. (Bubble-brain, Bubble-butt, Bubblehead...) She's learning the trick to working a cookie out of a Kong, and she's already picking up the hand signals that the other dogs know. She's not a stupid dog, just unlucky.

Until now.

Woof.

The copyright of the article Sit, Stay, Quiet - and That Goes for the Dog, Too - Page 2 in Dogs Etc. is owned by Lesli Richardson. Permission to republish Sit, Stay, Quiet - and That Goes for the Dog, Too - Page 2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.