Table of Contents
acknowledgments
Any book is the work of many people, and any dog book is the work of many people and dogs. Because the dogs arent editing me, I will start with the people. My thanks to the editors at I-5 Press, especially Andrew DePrisco, Amy Deputato, Babette Haggerty, and Jarelle Stein, and to publishing coordinator Karen Julian, who also served as a model for our training photo shoots.
Thanks to my good friend, the amazing photographer Fernando Escovar, whose work is seen on the cover of this book, and to Pam Marks, whose images grace the interior.
Thanks to Mission Viejo Animal Services Center, Melissa Kauffman, and Lisa MacDonald, who so graciously volunteered their facilities and homes for our photo shoots, and to Autumn Ewoldt of Cedar Bend Humane Society and Pam Wiese of Nebraska Humane Society for sharing their photos with us.
A much-deserved shout-out to my good friend Bryan Renfro, who shared many of his dog-training techniques with me three decades agoand I share them with you.
Heartfelt thanks goes to the owners of our cover dogs: my good friend of thirty years, Steve Berens of Animals of Distinction, and Beth Javier.
Last but not least, I thank all of our cover dogs, especially my own companion, Foster, whom I rescued from the Orange County Animal Shelter; Ted the Chihuahua; and Abbey the German Shepherd Dog, star of the motion picture I Am Legend, trained by Steve Berens.
The publisher would like to thank the following photographers and other providers of photos for this book:
absolut/Shutterstock
Yuri Arcurs/Shutterstock
Noam Armonn/Shutterstock
AVAVA/Sh utte rstock
Stephane Bidouze/Shutterstock
Steve Brigman/Shutterstock
Cedar Bend Humane Society
Cioli & Hunnicutt/I-5 Publishing, LLC
Willee Cole/Shutterstock
cynoclub/Shutterstock
David Davis/Shutterstock
sonya etchison/Shutterstock
Mars Evis/Shutterstock
George Fairbairn
Isabelle Francais
Gorilla/Shutterstock
Kimberly Hall/Shutterstock
Susan Harris/Shutterstock
HomeStudio/Shutterstock
IKO/Shutterstock
Julien/Shutterstock
Ka rka s/Sh utterstock
Dmitry Kramar/Shutterstock
Sergey Lavrentev/Shutterstock
marikond/Shutterstock
Pam Marks
matabum/Shutterstock
Michelle D. Milliman/Shutterstock
Nebraska Humane Society
Neeila/Shutterstock
Tomas Pavelka/Shutterstock
Anita Patterson Peppers/Shutterstock
Maxim Petrichuk/Shutterstock
Photosani/Shutterstock
plastique/Shutterstock
saasemen/Shutterstock
S_E/Shutterstock
Konstantin Shevtsov/Shutterstock
Joel Silverman
Wendy M. Simmons/Shutterstock
Sma rt-foto/Sh utterstock
Michaela Stejskalova/Shutterstock
April Turner/Shutterstock
Svetlana Valoueva/Shutterstock
Anke van Wyk/Shutterstock
Emily Veinglory/Shutterstock
Ivonne Wierink/Shutterstock
Yeko Photo Studio/Shutterstock
yui/Shutterstock
introduction take 2
Zulu once belonged to Fred and Catherine. His former daddy, Fred, manages a retail store in a large outlet mall, and his former mommy, Catherine, is a bookkeeper for a local plumbing business. (Zulu never knew any of that, by the way.) College sweethearts, the newlyweds still enjoy a great social life with their many mutual friends and their work associates.
Zulu is the Shih Tzu puppy they received as a gift from a college pal. When Fred and Catherine met this irresistible bundle of auburn fluff, both new pet parents were over the moon.
Once reality set in, Zulu spent long periods of time in her crate while Fred and Catherine worked and played. Time with the noontime dog walker was the highlight of Zulus day. When her parents came home, usually late in the evening, her joy was expressed in yips, yaps, and inevitable puddles. The couple didnt much mind, or even notice, the wee for the first few months, but after a while Freds patience wore thin and Catherine stopped making excuses. Zulu was impossible to house-train, they agreed.
The animal shelter on Main Street is great with rehoming toy dogs, and theyre sure that Zulu will find a better home in just a few days.
A comical terrier mix, Homer is five years old and once had a human baby sister named Sandy and two parents, George and Amulya. A few years after George and Amulya got married, Homer joined their family. Having grown up with dogs, George used to call him the kid or daddys boy, which always made Amulya roll her eyes and wonder. Homer was the first dog Amulya had ever owned.
When the squirmy, gurgling Sandy arrived, Homer was all grown up, though still a bit gawky, with legs that seemed to belong to a much larger dog. He enjoyed listening to Sandys baby sounds and liked watching his parents play with the new installment.
Sandy didnt start paying much attention to Homer until she started toddling around the house. George and Amulya enjoyed seeing their two babies interact with each other, and daddys boy enjoyed playing with his now two-year-old sister. He didnt even mind Sandys clumsy attempts at pettingreally more grabbing and pulling than pettingbut as soon as the toddler would latch on to his sensitive ears or long tail, the game would quickly end.
One day, when a warning growl failed, Homer retreated from the playroom to the safety of his parents. When Sandy chased him into the kitchen, Homer turned around and followed the growl with a snap in her direction.
Standing at the stove, Amulya panicked. This dogs become unpredictable, George, she said, and the baby is at risk.
After days of watching Homers every move and pleading with his wife to change her mind, George tearfully dropped Homer off at a no-kill shelter.
Trump, a Goldendoodle, was a needy soul by anyones definition, though his former parents never saw it. Jessica and Rob both had major careers on Wall Street. Commuting downtown and working long hours in the office meant that their usual 9 to 5 was more like 7 to 7. A true yuppy puppy whose designer mix had been featured in the New York Times, Trump went to doggy daycare three days a week and had a dog walker take him out twice a day on his days at home. He enjoyed attention from everyone he met, especially when Jessica and Rob let him tag along on their weekend hikes.
For all Trumps cuddly cuteness, Jessica and Rob were unresponsive to his overtures. He was a good boy, naturally obedient, happy to please. In their minds, though, he was just a bit dopey and not very driven. They had had such great expectations for their Goldendoodle, whom they named after The Donald.
When the economy began to slump, Trumps parents became less interested in the dog. Doggy daycare was cut back to once a week, and their weekend outings dried up. Jessica lost her job. Soon thereafter, Robs company decided to move him to Chicago, and the couple had no choice but to relocate quickly.
The apartment they could find in Naperville, on the outskirts of Chicago, did not accept dogs. Trump was surrendered to an all-breed rescue group before the move.