The Toberizer

(Taken with my iPhone 4)

Tonight I got to spend some quality alone time with Toby. I try and do this on a regular basis. Macy normally spends plenty of alone time with me...because she's always shadowing me. Toby, however, has always been more of daddy's boy and so on the occasion he decides to do some 'shadowing,' he tends to follow my dad. For this evening though, by sheer chance, he wandered upstairs while Moose was still downstairs begging for food. So I grabbed a few toys, my clicker & treats and sat down on the floor to spend some time with my boy.

It's moments like these that have defined me as a dog person. Moments with him.

They remind me just how far he's pushed me, how much I've had to grow in my skills as an owner, a trainer, and as the second half of our relationship. When we got him, I knew very little about dogs. We'd always had little dogs growing up...but my extent of knowledge with them was so small. We were one of those families who lucked out for the most part...getting confident little dogs who tended to do fine in most situations, and training really wasn't something anyone really worried about besides potty training. If they pulled on the leash that was fine, the chances of them pulling us over were slim.

Toby completely changed my world. He taught me that dogs--even our little ankle biters--needed mental stimulation. They needed training, things to do, and while love is essential...they need more than just that. He also challenged me every step of the way. He taught me to look past what was 'common knowledge' about dogs and really open up and start to research. He's the dog that drove me to spend three years lurking on Clicker Solutions. He's the one that led me to start my own dog library (I don't tease, because of him I have a book shelf full on dogs and it's still growing). He's the one that drove me to start volunteering for the Golden Retriever Rescue Resource, because I needed to not only know more, but to get more hands on experience.

He's the one that changed my life. He made dogs my passion.

So when I get nights like tonight, where everything falls perfectly into place without me having to pre-plan it, I take it with delight. We did some simple shaping: pick up a metal spoon, then a session on resting his head on his front feet, and then one on baring his teeth (working on putting this one on cue). Then I grabbed out some of our dog games toys (think the Nina Ottosson toys) and worked through several of those before just cuddling on the floor, playing together.

But as we laid there, I just couldn't help but think back to how much I've changed over the past eight years. Giving up was never an option...you pick a dog for life. But I know how hard we've worked over the years...from bringing him home and fighting parvo, to under socializing him because I didn't have clue, to dealing with dog aggression... He changed me from someone who just lived with dogs, to someone who would do absolutely everything for her dog--who'd change her life, her way of thinking, everything she could to make him happy. Every dog after him will benefit, but I credit him for doing all the hard work on making me who I am today.