Continuing the stories of the dogs I have loved. After Ginger passed, we got Toby He was called Toby the Wonder Dog after he survived an encounter with a train. Since I have covered several incidents with Toby in previous blogs, I will move on to our next dog, Lizzie. We got Izzie from the Pikes Peak Humane Society (Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region (hsppr.org)). We went down there looking for a puppy and she was, I think, the only puppy there. We had a chance to visit with her in a separate room and fell in love. Because she was picked up as a stray, the Humane Society needed to hold her to allow time for her previous owner to come in and claim her. It was disappointing that we could not take her home. However, we could put a deposit on her for first dibs after the holding time elapsed. If she was claimed though, we would forfeit our deposit. We put our money down and after the waiting period went to see if she was available. When we got there, we prayed before going in believing God would provide us with the right dog. She was available and we adopted Lizzie, which was what the Humane Society staff called her. She was a sweet puppy and my wife held her in the car on the way home crying happy tears.
After our experiences with Ginger and Toby, we decided to go to training classes with Lizzie. Initially, my wife would take her to class so Lizzie would be her dog. But Lizzie was too strong for her and I ended up taking her to classes and she ended up as my dog, much like Bailey. Though my wife walked her regularly without any problems. She was smart and trained easily even passing the American Kennel Club K9 Good Citizen test (American Kennel Club (akc.org)). Unlike Bailey, Lizzie was well socialized and got along well with all the other dogs in class. One of the dogs was a wolf hybrid named Thunder who looked like a wolf. He was large and imposing but he and Lizzie became good friends and would sit or lie down next to each other licking each other’s faces. Though not as friendly as Lizzie, Thunder did not have any issues with the other dogs, except for a large male Airedale. They had to be kept separate or they would fight. I think it is interesting how dogs like people don’t always get along with everyone.
With the training and her social personality, Lizzie became an exceptional pet. She was also a ‘ball dog’. Ball dogs can be seen at most parks around. They are the dogs that will chase the ball, over and over and over again, until they are exhausted. They are not distracted by other dogs or people and are totally focused on the ball. Most retrievers are ball dogs, but many others are as well even dachshunds. Lizzie was a mixed breed who loved to chase the ball and would chase it until she was so tired, she would just lie down. Even when I went out into the backyard to do some work, she would bring me her soccer ball and bark until I threw it. She would continue to bark and chase the ball for as long as I was out there. Lizzie was perhaps the best dog we have owned because of her temperament and her training.
Because we spent the time to train Lizzie, and the resultant good behavior, I think it prepared us for the challenges we were to face with Bailey.
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