Oh my goodness, what was I thinking? This is the question many have been asking. After all I have grown children and still live in seminary housing. Well let me tell you, I was thinking of putting mine and my son\u2019s mental health first over anything else. That\u2019s what I was thinking. Many studies have shown the benefits of animal therapy. I know it has helped my son and me as we wait for Doug\u2019s call.
\nBefore adopting Houdini, I did research the breed. Australian Cattle Dogs are high energy, with high prey drive. All are very good traits when being used on the ranch. The research I did, also indicated the \u201cbackground\u201d of how they came to be. If interested in learning about the breed, this link was very helpful and interesting. http:\/\/www.cattledog.com\/misc\/history.html
\nThe breed in itself is a working dog. They like to be kept busy. They were bread to herd cattle after all. They truly are not the snuggly coach potato. That\u2019s not to say they won\u2019t want to sit on your nice comfy couch from time to time. So why did I pick this breed of a dog?<\/p>\n
In the past we have owned 2 chows, one passed away very quickly after only having him for a short time. The other chow lived to be 13 before she crossed the \u201crainbow bridge\u201d. For an even shorter time we had an Italian greyhound, which shortly after purchasing her, went to an Italian greyhound rescue. All I can say is do your homework before you pick a dog. We also had a Pekingese, born at our campgrounds until his death in November of 2014. He was feisty little guy who didn\u2019t like many people, or small children. We even rescued a senior Chihuahua, who was later left with my dad when we left for Seminary and died in the summer of 2012.<\/p>\n
So I ask again, why Houdini? Well after seeing my son actually smile and interact with our friends dogs that are ACD\u2019s how could I not consider this breed? Our other dogs were not as energetic, and remember I mentioned my peke, well was kind of mean. He only liked me and just a handful of other people. My kids never really played with the dogs, but only because they were not the playing type. We were also not interested in the normal over-bread dogs, like labs and retrievers. So began our search.<\/p>\n
I must be honest and say, I didn\u2019t expect to find Houdini so quickly. What is also kind of interesting, was my belief that a dog will pick its owner was also proven, at least this time around. We saw four dogs, and Houdini was the only one, who actually paid attention to the family, not the environment, and laid his head on my son\u2019s chest. So truth be told, who picked whom? This dog has fit into our family very well. He is more active than I anticipated for a 2 year old.<\/p>\n
Seeing as how I did my homework, I was able to learn that when these dogs get bored, they will find another outlet for their boredom. This could have disastrous results! These dogs also like to chew, regardless of the age is. So we stocked up on items for Houdini to chew, and so far we\u2019ve been in the clear there.<\/p>\n
I have been takin g Houdini to obedience classes. It is a six week course that covers the basic commands. Houdini is responding well to those commands overall. The problem is, this dog is so smart that he also gets bored quickly. So if training is not entertaining, well he\u2019s not doing it! This dog can be more stubborn then Becky! Those of you, who know Becky, know what I\u2019m talking about!<\/p>\n
Even with his stubbornness, he has made great strides in his training. Houdini is becoming the perfect dog. With continued training, he will be the perfect dog. I was hesitant to rescue. They are just as many bad stories as there are good stories regarding rescue dogs. I am very glad we rescued Houdini. A puppy wouldn\u2019t have been much more in this case, although I later learned I almost bought from a puppy mill\u2026.NOT GOOD! Puppies have different challenges than adult dogs. Houdini was housebroken already and crate trained. This made life much easier to bring him home. The shelter we rescued from is a no kill shelter, so Houdini, if not adopted, would have lived out his very long life in the shelter instead of in a loving home. We saved him, but he also saved Travis and me. Our days are filled not with thoughts of what\u2019s next, but rather thoughts of playing and training Houdini.<\/p>\n
So I guess, I can honestly say I\u2019m in a better place now than I had been a few months ago. I finally let go and started living my life instead of driving myself crazy as to \u201cwhat\u2019s next?\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Oh my goodness, what was I thinking? This is the question many have been asking. After all I have grown children and still live in seminary housing. Well let me tell you, I was thinking of putting mine and my … Continue reading