How To Train A Hooman.

When I say that my dog saved my life, I mean exactly that!

Growing up, I never had a pet, but my neighbors and some cousins did, and as far as I can remember I have always loved dogs. When I turned 30, I was living by myself, finally in a pet-friendly apartment and I decided it was time to find myself a companion. My life then was made of work, and a lot of partying, which was not just because I am an Extrovert! I wanted to be around people all the time so I did not have to be alone with my thoughts, alcohol was an almost everyday ritual, it was the only way I could fall asleep without having terrifying nightmares. Blacking out was the solution. I knew that having a dog would be hard and that I would need to change my lifestyle; I was on a slippery slope, leading nowhere good, and I knew that had to change.

On Sunday, October 14, 2018, I went to the local pound, just to look and see if there were any dogs that peaked my interest, I got to the front desk where they offered me some dog treats before heading to the kennels in the back. As you open the door to the back area, you find yourself in the middle row of 3 rows of kennels, and in the very first kennel on the right, there was this brindle bundle lying on a bed in the back right corner. I tried to lure him to the kennel gate with treats but he wouldn’t budge! After a few attempts on my part, he turned his head towards me, sized me up and turned back around. He had a Pitbull face and was the cute thing I had ever seen.

He didn't seem to be interested, so I went to check out the other dogs, but I kept looping back around to the brindle. I then decided to sit by his kennel gate and wait. After 20 minutes of me sweet talking his ear off, he finally came to the gate, and sat with his back turned to me. Success!!!

I put my fingers through the bars, which we're not supposed to do, and scratched his back - 'Ggrrrrr' - This purr/growl noise came out of him. I stopped, thinking I messed up, but then he turned his face towards me like 'Why did you stop?' I laughed as his face was absolutely hilarious. At that moment, he reminded me of myself: I act as if I don’t care, I act tough and as if I couldn't be bothered. To get to know me you have to stick around a little longer, try a little harder, but once I let you in and you find my sweet spot, you realize I am worth the effort. I continued to pet him through the gate, after a while I asked the attendant if we could meet in the open yard. She obliged and I went to wait for them in a small yard like area on the side of the building, as soon as the door opened, this short, stocky, muscle-packed thing came at me full force, we played around for 2 minutes and I was sold. I remember the lovely lady who was helping me at the time said "You two will be great for each other", and boy have we been!

I brought him home to my 2 bedroom apartment, we had to trust each other quite fast as he needed knee surgery a couple of weeks after coming home. There isn't much history on him as he was found as a stray, but he was most likely abused based on the state he was found in and the knee injury. The 3-month recovery was not easy, from carrying him to go potty, doing his physiotherapy exercises, and camping out in the living room with him in the first weeks, it was quite the experience.

I have a little obsession with Dragons, so I chose to name him Drahko: he is strong, majestic, protective, and most definitely magical.

So how is my training going? Well:

- Drahko has taught me Discipline, which is something I really lacked: Having him at home meant I couldn’t be out all night, I had to follow a schedule, mostly rotating around his poops, taking him for walks, feeding him, play time, training time…

- Because he looks like a Pitbull breed, I have learned that people will judge him before they know how sweet he is, so we did and still do a lot of training to make sure he is the best behaved dog in the room/yard. I still take it personally when I encounter such people, but I am working on educating them calmly instead of feeling attacked. The more people are aware and educated on the matter, the better.

- I don’t use alcohol as a sleeping potion anymore, Drahko sleeps on my legs and is my anchor to the real world; when nightmares get bad, he is right there waiting for me when I wake up.

- Being alone with my thoughts is something I enjoy now, I have been working on accepting the whole of me, learning and evolving into a better version of myself, and when I am not motivated to do it for myself, I do it for Drahko because I know he needs me, and that I need him even more. I will do everything to try and make him half as happy as he has made me.

Thank you for coming into my life Buddy, I don’t know where I’d be right now if you hadn’t.

To Our Adventures, past, present & future!

Love you Bubba!

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Cheers :)