Genuinely Good Dogs

Sometimes we're lucky enough to come across genuinely good dogs in our lives. Ones that are just good souls with kind hearts. You might get one in a lifetime or you might get many, but they're the dogs we'll always remember for their almost human like qualities. These dogs put up with our mistakes and fumbles in training, they take it in stride and just ask we do our best and they turn out to be our heart dogs. That's what Izzie is for me, she's just that damn good dog. I know lots of dogs who fit that part for their people too.



Take Rio for example...

She was a rehome, taken from a really bad situation and acquired by my friend, Madison, who at that time was a young, first time dog owner. Probably wasn't the best idea at that time for her, but sometimes logic falls away when that poor abused puppy looks you in the eyes and tries to bite you from the end of their tether. None of us expected her to stick it out with this dog she got suckered into taking, especially me (sorry love, but you knew I doubted you!)

... Am I ever glad I was wrong about that.



I met Rio last weekend. I remembered what she was like years ago when Madison brought her home. Fearful, reactive, skeptical of the world. She was a mess at less than a year old. I thought that without someone very experienced, this dog would be a disaster and would bite and meet her end sooner rather than later. Like I said, I am really glad that I was wrong. This dog is amazing and I would take her home in an instant.  For a first time dog owner to take that damaged dog and turn her into this lovely, well mannered, happy-go-lucky dog is awesome. It took years of hard work, patience, persistence, and tough decisions. She still has her quirks, she still can't be trusted around kids and is a little guardy with food and toys, but she is who she is and it's managed well (I don't generally like kids either and am a little guardy around my food too, so I guess we're kindred spirits in that sense)

Rio is just naturally a sweetheart. I spent much of my mornings playing with her and Izzie out in the backyard and giving endless belly rubs while just hanging out on the couch. She's a total introvert (dogs can be introverted and extroverted right?), she is a gentle loving soul who just wants to be cuddled and played with by people she loves. She's not a very naughty dog, although she has her moments i'm told, she just wants to be good and make her people happy. She's just such a chill dog, I love that about her.

I'm very proud of how far this dog has come and she's not even my dog, hell I barely had any influence in how she turned out. Back then I never would have thought I would ever be able to bring Izzie over for fear of Rio maybe attacking her. I don't think she'd be where she is with anyone else. All she asked from Madison was to understand her and love her and do the best she could. It wasn't without hard work and mistakes, but she gave this dog her all and Rio turned out to be that genuinely good dog for Madison. I think they were both what each other needed in their lives. The connection is unmistakable with the way Rio looks at her and seem to understand every word she says. Rio is her heart dog. 

I'm so glad they stuck it out together and I think Izzie is pretty glad too because she likes her new friend. It was lovely to have our heart dogs there together and getting along so well. Neither dog without their quirks, but from snarfing in peoples faces to obsessively patrolling the backyard we love our girlies for who they are and they are definitely genuinely good dogs.

Red Balloon

Really there's not much to blog about. On the dog front our outside classes have ended and we have a month off before we move to the barn. Izzie and I haven't been doing much at all for training. I haven't sent entries for any trials either. I'm so busy lately that I not only forget but just don't feel like doing anything or going anywhere dog related on my weekends. 

In what little free time I get I am working on another hobby of mine. One day I would like to take some photography classes but for now I have the internet tutorials and simply like to just play around until i figure it out. So I'll put a few here for you guys to enjoy.

I've been wanting to try these photos for weeks now and finally got around to trying them out. They're a bit outside my comfort zone and more thought out and planned than most of my photos. Gotta step out of the box occasionally I guess!

Enjoy!