Canine Einstein

Kirby
1990 – 2008

Kirby started it all. I was 9 years old and had been wanting a dog for who knows how long. I wanted a German Shepherd, but I was small and my mother didn’t think I could handle a large dog. When I was 10 years old, I got Kirby. He wasn’t a German Shepherd, but he was perfect. Quiet, obedient, loving, playful. He was everything I ever wanted in a dog and more!

The vet estimated his age around 3 or 4 years when we got him. We adopted him from a woman who had posted an ad in the paper about a dog she had found on the streets, so we knew nothing about his background. All we knew is that he was perfect.

Kirby lived with me for 14 years and literally grew up as I did. He was estimated to be 18 years old when he passed. Kirby will always be cherished and remembered. If it weren’t for him, my love of dogs may have never grown the way it has. RIP, Kirby.

Emily

Admittedly, I only knew the basics of dog training when I acquired Emily. She has since taught me a lot about dog behavior, as she was the first dog that I ever really had to train. Emily was given to my mother by a co-worker who couldn’t handle the energy of a two-month-old Jack Russell Terrier pup. Emily was like hell on paws — there was no commanding her to do anything and her will was the size of Texas. On top of all that, she had aggression issues with people and dogs alike. There were many times when I considered getting rid of her. But I didn’t. I persevered.

We took Emily to a training class as a puppy. Not a positive reinforcement training class, either. They forced Emily to wear a pinch collar and every undesired behavior was reprimanded in some form, whether physical or verbal. Emily hated every minute of it and there were times when she was literally trying to back out of the pinch collar, almost to the point of choking. I gave up on that way of training pretty fast and found positive reinforcement training not long after that. Emily has been a reformed and much happier dog ever since!

Blaze

Despite her sad expressions, Blaze is a very happy Lab/possible Coonhound mix who is easily trainable but can also be extremely stubborn and apt to following her nose. Blaze came to me by accident when I was working at a local pet store. The manager was friends with a local animal control officer, and came to her one day asking if she’d like a puppy. There were three puppies to choose from…the manager made her pick, and when asked what would become of the other two puppies, the animal control officer explained that they were to be euthanized that day if no one wanted them. Needless to say…Blaze came home with me that day, and the third puppy was also rescued by a co-worker. I named her Blaze due to the white marking in the middle of her forehead, which was at the time much bigger.