German Shepherd Dog Eyes. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Once upon a time there was a young German Shepherd Dog who lived in an apartment. Looking back, his family probably loved him but, did not seem to understand him. They worked all day and left him home alone. As happens with German Shepherd pups, he grew. A lot. And he had a lot of energy to burn. It was frustrating, I’m sure. One day, he ate a couch – or dug up a neighbor’s lawn. I don’t remember. It doesn’t matter.
When I met Max he was living in a shelter. He was a little reluctant to come to me – after all, so far his experiences with humans had been frustrating and confusing. But Max was a bit of a “foodie” — the liver training-treats won him over.
If he could tell the story, I’m sure he’d tell you that I fed him cookies and we went outside to play. In my version, I was delighted that he saw it as play. It didn’t seem to be a good time to tell him that I had a checklist in my pocket and was there to evaluate him for a friend who ran a training program that might get him out of ‘doggie jail’ AND give him a career as a police dog.
Max passed his initial evaluation with flying colors. His name was changed and he entered a rigorous training program where he experienced his share of ups and downs. Upon graduation he became K-9 Ox and a member of the Middletown (CT) PD. During an almost nine-year career, Ox was responsible for many felony arrests. But his real strength was with “live finds” — reuniting numerous lost, confused or distraught individuals (children, adults and seniors) with their loved ones.
Hmmm…. let’s see…. a high-achieving adult who overcame early adversity (surrendered to the shelter) through hard work and discipline…. and contributed more than expected to his community. Sound familiar? Sure sounds like the life story of all the successful HUMAN adults we wrote about in What Kids Need…..
Maybe we should re-name our success principles the FUR foundations????
p.s. if you want to see this handsome guy this link will take you to his final K-9 Olympics competition — on the day he retired, at age 10! Atta boy, Ox.
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