It's been awhile since I wrote anything on here, I've been pretty busy with work and life in general. Even more now that I got a second dog. I wasn't looking for another dog, since I already had one, but life happens. I have a 6 year old pug named Henry. You can find him here or follow him on Instagram at @puganddestroy.
Henry is not too happy about Nero :P
I adopted a 7 month old German Shepherd. All I was told was he was 7 months old and had already had 3 homes. His previous owners had returned him because he was too high energy, too destructive, didn't get along with other dogs and was basically too much "trouble". Because of this, I was hesitant to take him on at first. I kept thinking what kind` of devil is this little guy? I didn't want to bring a dog into my home that would harm my pug. I thought it over for a week and then told myself "How bad could he really be?". I didn't want him to end up at the shelter so I took him and I'm really glad I did. We named him Nero.
When I first got Nero about 2 months ago I couldn't take him anywhere. He was dog reactive, and he would lunge and chase anything that moved. He was super high energy. He just woudn't stop, no off switch. He still doesn't. He's got one speed and that's GO. I began to think maybe I had made a mistake, maybe he was too much dog for me too, but I wasn't about to give him up. Instead I did the only thing I know how to do and thats read the docs. In this case, I joined forums and facebook groups. I started watching and listening to dog training videos and dog training podcasts. I even got a few books to read. I also enrolled him in training to give me a base to build upon from. I made it my goal to make this work and make this, his fourth and final home. His forever home.
It's been 2 months of consistent training, and you can already see the difference. He's not perfect, but practice will make perfect. If his previous owners had just taken the time to give him the structure that he needed, he wouldn't have had such a shitty first few months of life. They failed him, not the other way around.
Nero wasn't and isn't a bad dog. He's just a Shepherd puppy. German Shepherd's are bred to do a job. They need a job. If you don't give them a job, they will find a job and it will more than likely not be something you want them doing. You don't get a herding dog and then complain that he herds. That's what they do. People need to really do their research before they go out and get a dog. Dog's are not something you should just get on a whim or just throw away like yesterdays trash. Getting a dog is and should be a commitment. Your committing to having this dog for it's entire life, this could be 10+ years.
I used to think that training your dog was unecessary. I guess I was just lucky with my pug, Henry. We bonded really well and I've never had issues with him even though I've never really trained him. He just seems to always want to be around me and make me happy. Now I believe training is a must. There is no better feeling than having a dog you can trust and depend on to make the right decisions. If people trained their dogs there would be less dogs at the shelter. Most shelter dogs are there because of obedience problems. Training your dog will make you and your dog happier as well as your bond stronger.
Nero is now at his forever home. We will have our good and bad days, but I will never give up on him because thats what I signed up for when I adopted him. You can follow his journey on Instagram at @nerothedestroyer, or at nerotheshepherd.com :P