I loved everything about raising Kolt. The cute blank slate puppy with wide eyes and a sponge for a brain. The chance to put good training foundations on from the beginning. The opportunity to mold and shape him. He was my first puppy and I wouldn’t trade any of that (or him!!) for the world. And there absolutely will be more puppies in my future.

But when I think towards my next dog, I kinda lean towards a rescue pup/teenager.

Why?

Because I see potential in those crazy ones. I see dogs with misguided drive and the need to work. I wonder to myself “what would be possible if they were in the right hands?”.

The crazy ones. The ones who drive pet owners nuts. The ones who get into trouble. The ones who are misunderstood.

Most of the population wants a dog who hangs out quietly on the couch for 23.5 hrs a day and then turns on to play a rousing game of frisbee and go for a short walk around the neighborhood.

Me? Well, I also want a dog who can hang out quietly sometimes. But that’s a learned skill. I want a dog who needs to do something. A dog who wants a problem to solve. One who isn’t content just being but rather needs to be *doing*. The kind that, if they’re expected to just be, quickly turn into the crazy ones.

Because those dogs who are currently “bad dogs” in the wrong situation can be oh so good in the right hands.