Zoe

Zoe (aka Zoomies) is my Alaskan Malamute/Siberian Husky mix.
Zoe is my "project" dog but she is also my "heart" dog. She has
taught me so much and has helped me become a better trainer.

I adopted Zoe from the Humane Society of Chittenden County in
South Burlington, Vermont, while I was interning there. Zoe had
been picked up as a stray along with her sister in Williston, VT.
She was about 6 months old. Surviving on her own in February in
Vermont must have been brutal - under her heavy fur, Zoe was
very skinny and her nails were worn down. After spending a week
at animal control and not being claimed, Zoe and her sister were
brought to HSCC for adoption. Just a month prior I had lost
my soul mate dog, Bluebell, to kidney failure so I wasn't sure I was ready for another dog. But I
couldn't resist Zoe's intense blue eyes and how she immediately bonded to me, even when she was
still in the shelter.

Zoe failed several aspects of her temperament test and would have been a difficult placement at best.
She was scared of men, timid with just about everyone else, and was a rampant resource guarder.
Soon, my timid adolescent doubled in size and grew into an explosively reactive fear-aggressive dog
with people and other dogs. I often took Zoe to work with me at HSCC and she surprisingly accepted
the staff there but everyone else was Not to Touch Her. On walks and in public, she roared and
lunged at dogs who approached her on leash and snapped at people who tried to pet her. I searched
for ways to work on her behavior and delved into clicker training and was greatly influenced by
Emma Parsons and Leslie McDevitt's work. Since then, I have been able to use many of the
techniques I learned as a way to help Zoe to help my clients with their reactive dogs.

Today Zoe is greatly improved but she will always be a "project". She takes exception to strange dogs
coming up and intruding into her personal space. Check out Suzanne Clothier's excellent article "He
Just Wants to Say 'Hi!'". I love her and respect her for who she is: a brilliant, funny, goofy,
intense, survivor. My dreams of competing in Rally Obedience and Agility with Zoe are on hold
indefinitely as we continue to work on basics: allowing routine handling, looking at other dogs without
reacting, not object guarding from other dogs, etc. While she's not much interested in sledding (she'd
happily leave me wrapped around a tree while she wanders off on some great smell...) Zoe is a great
partner in training. Although she is brilliant, Zoe will always be behaviorally challenged, something I
attribute to her lack of socialization in her first home. Today Zoe can hike with clients' dogs in a
highly supervised, structured group and enjoy herself. For her to be in the presence of other dogs and
not only not screaming her head off, but actually working and enjoying herself took a lot of training
and hard work. For her, that is a huge accomplishment! Every time I think she's improved as much
as she can, she has another break through. She is an amazing dog!


	Pawsitive Results Training & Behavior *"Where dogs and their people learn together"* Serving Beaver & Lawrence Counties, Pennsylvania & surrounding areas (724) 847-0577

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