Lately my schedule has freed up. Ever since we got back from this long road trip I spend my days laying in my crate. That’s not to say I am not busy. Apart from protecting my family I have two additional jobs. Chasing ducks out of the backyard pond and snapping at the bees that have appeared in the backyard. Regardless, today seems like a good day to sharpen my writing skills and to tell you my (ongoing) autobiography.

I was born at a puppy mill. At least, that’s what I think it was. My dad was a sable German Shepherd and my mom a pure German Shepherd. When I was about two months old I was bought by a man who lived in Pittsburgh, PA. I was very curious to see how my human would turn out. It was just him and me. My human lived in a fancy house. At first I was mighty impressed.

However, things started going wrong. My human worked long hours and would be gone. Worst still, I didn’t get to enjoy that fancy couch or even eat a pillow in frustration. I was kept in a small crate for hours on end. A kind lady would stop by to feed me and walk me. But other than that it was pretty much me and Charlotte (the spider). once I snapped at her, after which she spun “you’re nuts” on her web. I have to say, I agreed with her. My confinement drove me absolutely crazy.

My owner called me Maui after some island he had visited. He liked me, but he ran a restaurant and was gone until the middle of night. I guess when I started howling all day and night he decided it was time for me to go.

My owner put an advertisement for someone to adopt me at a website named rescueme.org. The rest is history. I can say I got super lucky!

Rosie told me the story (after the first month when she stopped terrorizing me) of how I was found by my mom and dad. They had been looking for a dog for Tanya (Rosie could never figure out why) and mom found me on rescueme.org. She thought that I was stunning (ahem). Dad talked with my owner and he decided to get me the next day!

My owner bid me farewell. He was nice enough to give my toys and crate. I must say that I wasn’t too sad to leave him.

The drive to my future home was exciting. I wondered where life was taking me. We arrived home in the afternoon. My papa went in and the whole family came out, along with Rosie! The kids were very surprised to see me but Rosie started barking and I started whining. Needless to say, the introduction to Rosie didn’t go well.

My parents wisely decided to initially separate Rosie and me. I was more than happy about it. Rosie was wildly scary. After about a month I won her over. She must have realized that I was her future husband and she had to let me grow, if she wanted a husband at all! The first night at my new home was my last night in the tiny crate. My new family was astounded about how tiny the crate was. My entire body was oozing out of it. The next day they got me a huge crate. I loved it! Since that day it has been my favorite place in the house.

I found every member in my family interesting. They doted on me. But the first couple of days I was almost continuously on leash with the older kid Tanya. At night she would lay next to my crate. I got the picture. I was to be Tanya’s dog. I had no reason to complain. Tanya is the smartest, prettiest, most charismatic owner I could ask for. She is a natural leader. Oh, I am so lucky! One interesting fact. When Tanya was younger, she loved Toothless, the dragon. She told me that she always wanted it. And guess what! I have a dragon mark on my head. You can find it if you look. Ain’t life amazing?

In case I haven’t mentioned it before, I am very smart. It’s true, ask anyone around here. Most of the times my humans sigh about it. I get it, it’s hard to have a dog as smart as me. I knew the way back to my new house after the very first walk. I came completely potty trained. Along with being smart, I am also an alpha. Both these traits proved a significant challenge to Tanya and the rest of my family. I had to get them trained. You don’t believe me? Read on.

As soon as I would step outside for a walk, I would bark at every passerby. That was cute for two days, after which my humans felt they had to make me stop. I would lunge at passersby and I would bark out of the window. I would growl menacingly at the neighbors. My humans grew alarmed. They got two dog trainers involved. As it turned out, the dog trainers trained my humans, not me! They were taught how to take me for walks in a way that I wouldn’t be dangerous. Guess what! It involved a lot of treats! Thus began a long, ongoing journey of training where my owners learnt how to be super consistent with me so that I could remember not to act up. There was a plan for the entire walk. I will try to find the plan and post a picture in a later blog. Jokes aside, I am very grateful that my owners take the time to train themselves and me. We work as a team and I no longer act menacing toward strangers and other dogs. Without their patience I could have ended up in the pound and my autobiography could have been a lot shorter (ulp).

Getting back to my smarts, my humans are surprised at how easily I can understand everything they say. Its true, I find it very easy. Their expressions tell me all that I need to know. Despite my German heritage I have picked up English very well! I also know the chicken language. Most of the times they say “danger is around” when I come by (heh heh). But I don’t think I can harm them. They are like my sisters. And they lay yummy eggs.

My owners may have trained themselves and me, but I still have the great protector trait. If Rosie is outside and barks, I go crazy trying to protect her. I have also guarded Tanya. Under my care, she has grown into an adult. And heaven save any human that tries to harm Leena. That would probably be the last time they see their hands (or chin). To the outside world I am ferocious. At home with my family I am a fluffy bunny. I can cuddle my humans as well as they cuddle me. I put my front paws around them. Sometimes I also use all my paws for a full hug.

My world went a bit haywire this year when my family decided to take a trip for 3 months in the West. You can find all our blogs below, but to summarize, I had a lot of duties on the road. I tried to stay close to my family so that I could protect them. I tried to help them on hikes by finding the easiest paths for them. My humans don’t seem to know much about how to use their legs. Get this, they only walk on their hind paws. I don’t get it. Moving on, I protected the chickens from the wild coyotes and other dogs. In the evenings I would cuddle with all the humans. I also got a lot of walks. Thankfully now we are back home and I have less to do. The one good thing about this trip was that it calmed me down. Home seems less of a menace now. I no longer feel the need to protect everyone at every hour.

This May I turn 4. My journey continues. I will keep blogging and updating all you fine folks with my activities.