I love my dog

Not thinking all that clearly when I brought my seven year old and three year old into the Humane Society to pick up our dog from her spay surgery that day. I didn't think that the glass wall flanking the puppy room that was adjacent to the waiting room was going to grab their attention. I allowed them to convince me to go and say "hi" to all the puppies and small dogs. But the animal lover in me overcame and kept the practical , level headed side of me quiet. So three weeks later we brought home a wriggling, twelve pound furry puppy that we named Sasha.

It had been seven years since I owned a large breed dog and I forgot how much BIGGER they get and fast. In three months time she has gained 30 lbs and now has turned into this.

It's been a lot of adjusting to having a large dog around the house for everyone including our other dog Bella. A few times, I admit, I have threatened to take her back to the humane society because I feel like I bit off more than I can chew. She has been a handful with her barking, running out of the yard and escaping the backyard.

Thankfully, since she got bigger she cannot escape the backyard anymore. Her large body just doesn't fit through the small holes Bella dug. But we had not be able to control her barking or running out of the front yard and down the road or across the street to jump on our neighbors. Instead of giving up, we tackled the problem head on, we bought a Humane Dog Trainer. Wow!

That was the best thing we ever did. We bought the collar for, ahem, more than I wanted to spend but it has paid for itself already. We took the dogs outside to go to the bathroom and our neighbor had his dogs outside. Boom! The dogs take off down the road barking and my husband is calling their names but they are ignoring his calls. He gives Sasha the warning beep and she still doesn't listen so he presses the shock button. Several times of pressing it and she hauls butt home! Whoa!

We didn't even have to run down the road and retrieve her. This afternoon I took the dogs out and a boy was walking down the road and Bella ran after him. She's only 10 lbs and it's not so bad to have her run away but Sasha tried it and was given the warning and she turned right around at the edge of the lawn. It's like a different dog. She pretty much has to see the controller in your hand and she obeys every command. I figure that after a few weeks we'll have our dream dog and life will resume normalcy. Now if I can only control her shedding.

Big dog means a bigger mess. It's all good.