Project Name Change Begins

Meet Diamond. (Circa Summer 2013)

She’s energetic. Sweet. Loving. A puppy. Owner surrendered, and now my dog.

She was named Diamond by her previous owner who couldn’t keep her. I fostered Diamond for months only to give her back to her original owner who thought she was able to keep her again. A few months later, she is back with me, and this time for good. Diamond had been given a home, then fostered by me, then brought back to that home, etc. She had also been taken care of by her previous owner’s neighbors. In short, she had no stability. After I made the decision to keep her permanently, I encountered a few problems along the way.

1. She did not trust people.

This didn’t come as a surprise as there was not one person she had grown to trust.

2. She only trusted dogs.

Also not a surprise as she was practically raised at my job (a hotel and daycare for dogs). She was raised by the pack.

3. She only trusted people if she saw them with a dog.

4. The training I had accomplished was undone in the months she was back with her former owner.

5. She was overweight.

The first challenge I took care of was the overweight issue. She is now at the ideal weight of 29lbs.

I then tackled the issues of walking on leash. She quickly learned!

The biggest problem is trusting humans. Taking her to Petco and having her walk comfortably in the store around other people (sans dogs) proved to be a nightmare. She always eliminates, shakes, and has her tail between her legs. I walk her around Petco with treats in hand for over an hour and ask people to give her treats and pet her. She takes the treats and tolerates the petting but is in a very heightened state – she is NOT at ease.

For this reason, I have chosen to change her name.

She needs to let go of the behaviors that come attached to the name Diamond.

Misha is her new name. Misha means bear in Russian.

I will also be retraining her in hopes of making her a Therapy dog for Canine Assisted Therapy, Inc. She is destined for greatness.

I will not let her down. She deserves better.