All You Need is a Bit of Spirit!

For those who know me well, they all know about my (not so) little baby Spirit. He's a Siberian Husky that we got from a rescue shelter at the beginning of November 2016. He's the light of my life and my little toddler puppy. He's currently 1 year and 8 months old.

When we first got him, we had a lot of problems. His first family had him as a puppy. They also had another dog that was older. They claimed that Spirit (then named Lucian) was aggressive and was mean to the older dog. He was a puppy!! It's almost like they had never experienced a puppy before. This family decided to take Spirit to the vet to have him put down. The vet, bless his heart, couldn't possibly put down a puppy. So he called a lady who rescues huskies and husky mixes. She took him in, changed his name to Spirit, and a few months later we adopted him.

I don't think his first family did any sort of training with him at all. We had to not only train him to fit in our family, but we also had to fix the problem behaviors that he had from his previous family. Neither my husband or I had ever had a dog before. Spirit is the first dog for both of us. We had no idea how to train Spirit or how to tell what he wanted. We quickly learned that he hated being in a crate. So we nixed that idea and let him have free rein in the house. After he destroyed a lot of things from the bedroom, we started blocking it off. Being a husky, he's not only mischievous, but he's also really smart! He would figure out how to jump over any of the barriers that we put up. We soon learned that by standing the crate up, we could block off the bedroom and Spirit wouldn't jump over it.

It has taken quite a while, but we figured out how to "doggo proof" the house when we leave and how to tell what he wants. He recently did a beginners obedience class and graduated. We want to continue having him in training. It is good for him to be around other dogs so he can learn to socialize with other animals. Spirit is our baby and we both love him more than we thought possible. He has the biggest heart. He loves everyone and everything. He still has all the crazy puppy energy and the toddler mentality.

When people first meet him, they can be a bit intimidated. He likes to jump up and give kisses. It makes me angry when people who don't know him well, judge him. Those who have been a part of his journey since the beginning know how far he has come and how hard we have worked with him. He is a sweetheart and a big lover. His happy doggo smile and silly derpy face can melt hearts. He's even won over some people who claim they're not dog people. Is he perfect? No, but what animal or person, for that matter, is? He still has a lot of growing to do, but for now, I am very happy with his progress. I can't imagine what my life would be like without my husky!!