The Beginning

I started this blog to recount my adventures of being a dog-owner.  Like many people out there we love dogs (or animals).  I have always claimed to be an "animal" person myself--truth be told I never truly understood the Cat Person vs. Dog Person.  I love animals in general, and my poor mother was continually traumatized daily over what I would happen to bring home--typically utilising the excuse "He followed me home!  Can I keep him?". This excuse worked equally well for cats, dogs, frogs, lizards, snakes, crawdads, goats, a few sheep, and one horse I dubbed Mr. Ed (because he looked like Mr. Ed).


Don't ask me where I got my Dr. Doolittlesque habits, I have always adored animals for as long as I can remember.  For most of my single adult life, I have always owned cats.  Mainly because they were easy (the are relatively self-sufficient), I was able to have them in my apartment-most landlords were relatively lenient in regards to cats, and being a single person out on the town I was able to leave the cat at home for a few hours to fend for themselves.


Then my days of solely being a cat-owner swiftly came to a close.  My boss had placed a deposit on a male Giant Schnauzer a few months before his wife had their first child.  A few months after their baby girl was born, he brought home a rambunctious Giant Schnauzer puppy.  Anyone that may be familar with the Giant Schnauzer will automatically think "Uh-oh what in the WORLD was he thinking?!?!".  Albeit they are wonderful dogs, they can be very head strong, and training can be time consuming.  They are also on the aggressive side, and you MUST take measures to socialize them as soon as possible in order to avoid some of their personality quirks.  Needless to say, this new furry bundle of joy soon became too much for him to handle, and as his schedule became busier and busier with his career and family life, I ended up being stuck dog-sitting.


So long story short, this hyperactive, semi-trained MONSTER of a dog (100lbs of puppy is a lot of puppy) became my new dog.  Initially, I viewed owning him as a "temporary" situation, but as time went on this overly frustrating animal became one of the greatest loves of my life.  He stayed with me up until he was involved in a tragic accident (after he ate 2 fences and got out of the backyard--he was alone for all of 2 hours so I still amazed he managed to accomplish that).  When he was killed I was positively devastated, and I even took a few weeks off of work.  My boss suggested the best way for me to get over him would be to get a new puppy.  I thought that was one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard, but I did agree to go "look" at puppies, although I had zero intention of getting another dog anytime soon...if ever.

When we got to the kennel, there were more dogs & puppies than I have ever seen all in one spot.  My jaw dropped as I peered around at all of the bark, bouncing schnauzers.  Still I held back on choosing a puppy, but I did start to play with a few.  The handlers brought out a few schnauzer puppies, but I wasn't truly interested in any of them....then the brought out a beautiful pepper and salt Giant--she was a little shy, but didn't instantly wet herself and roll over on her belly.  She was all silver with a stripe of black going down her back and I thought she was positively beautiful.  It was love at first sight, and I then became the proud owner of Zoe Liang the Giant Schnauzer....