thank you Stryker

I didn't cry when she left. Her new owners came in to get her and she was absolutely overjoyed to see them. We hauled her stuff out to their car, she jumped right in and started sniffing around. I called her over, held her head in my hands, kissed her nose and said "behave yourself monster, I'm gonna miss you!"

As I watched them drive away, I thought about how much this little dog has taught me.

Start the day off right.
Stryker started every day with an enthusiasm for life I've never, ever, seen in a dog before. It wasn't just about life though, she wanted someone to enjoy life with. We had an early morning routine of going out for a walk in the dark, just the two of us, before everyone else was awake. She started the walk by bouncing all over the place, then progressed to sniffing around, and we ended the walk with some chase games. She greeted every day with gusto and zest!

Always greet friends thoroughly.
We worked a lot (A LOT) on appropriate greetings. In the end, I gave in and decided if she can show enough self control to sit, offer eye contact, and wait for the person to approach; who am I to micromanage the vocalizing, rubbing up against, and other silly greeting behaviors she does? I actually found it quite endearing after a while. If Stryker likes you, you'll know it.

Be picky.
At first I was quite annoyed with the fact that she wouldn't eat well, she didn't play with the assortment of toys we had in the house, and constantly scratched at some collars I put on her. Apparently she just had preferences, like we all do, and that's okay. She started eating really well at her first long-term foster home, chose the toys she liked from their toy bin, and learned to wear a rolled leather collar without complaint. She's much better about all of these things now, but it made me stop and think. I needed to appreciate her individuality.

Bond.
This is a hard one. I took her in knowing she'd always be a foster dog. There was no potential for her being a 'foster failure' as I'd promised my elderly dogs I just wouldn't bring a young, bouncy, energetic puppy into our house. Because of this, I wanted to keep my distance. Then I read Denise Fenzi's post about her "half dog - Juno"

I did not work to develop a deeper relationship with her – to make her feel special and amazing.  I wasn’t comfortable making her “mine” – because she wasn’t.  I kept a wall between us.  It felt unfair to her owner if I bonded with Juno as one of my own.

Substitute "It felt unfair to Stryker if I bonded with her" at the end and this is exactly how I (initially) approached fostering her. I didn't want her to settle in too much, I didn't want to complicate her life even more by allowing us to form a bond, and most of all, I selfishly wanted to protect myself from the hurt of her leaving.

I set about making her “my” dog...I ignored minor transgressions of the house rules if she was breaking them to be closer to me. I watched her style of play carefully and started spending a few minutes each day running around the back yard and trying to engage her when she was at her most energetic – truly an exhausting activity.  In training, I worked very  hard to add value to myself by thoroughly integrating toy rewards with celebration, play and ring... 

While not all of this is applicable, I took what Denise Fenzi wrote to heart. Stryker and I started to play. We started to have morning and night time together. I started taking her to work with me. And she started making more progress than I'd ever imagined. She started responding to my non-conditioned cue words with a wag of her tail and her eyes dancing, as if to say "I'm ready for anything." We could watch something scary together and she'd look to me for confirmation that it truly was okay. She learned to lean into me when she needed support during a stressful situation. She learned to trust me.

Take time at night to enjoy the ones you love.
At the recommendation of two people quite experienced with Shepherds, I started putting my dogs and cats away earlier at night. For an hour or more, Stryker and I hung out, just the two of us. Sometimes we played training games, sometimes we wrestled on the floor, and sometimes we watched movies. Her antics at night made me laugh so much that I called it my "good for the soul" time. She made sure I never went to bed upset.

I took Stryker in knowing full well she'd be a lot of work. I knew she needed to learn a lot of skills in order to be ready for a new home and I knew that somehow, I'd be up for the challenge. What I couldn't have expected is how much of an impact this black and tan beauty would have on me. "I love this German Shepherd, I still don't love German Shepherds."

Some come into our lives, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever, the same.

--Flavia Weedn