My first dog was a black Laborador Retriever that we got when I was around 9. We had a family meeting and all naming suggestions were considered. She ended up with 'Dutchess Meghan JoJo'. We called her JoJo. She was extremely smart, sweet, and well behaved. She also almost never barked. We had her for 11 years and she barked maybe 5 or 6 times. I cut my animal training teeth on her. My parents would call me the Beastmaster when I'd go out and teach her new tricks. We ended up having to put her down due to a blockage in her colon that was inoperable. The first dog that I got on my own as an adult was half Doberman, half Siberian Husky. She had one yellow eye and one blue eye. You could see the Husky in the ears, the eyes, and the big tail. You could see the Doberman in her coloring (she even had the brown dots over the eyes), her face, and her coarse, straight hair. I named her Copper, after the hound that was a main character of Disney's Fox and the Hound. I adopted her in 1997 from the SPCA. She was 11 months old at the time and had been picked up by animal control because the owners wouldn't or couldn't keep her from roaming and refused to have her spayed. After having her only 3 months, I ended up having to find a new home for. I lived in an apartment at the time and worked long hours and she was *not* happy in that situation. Unfortunately, having adopted her from the SPCA, I had no way of knowing anything about her personality before hand or that she suffered from severe seperation anxiety. I found her a home with a big yard and a family with children and a mom that stayed home during the day. I miss her, but I know she's happier.

When I got my own house, I decided to get another dog, in 2001. I looked for my future companion through smaller animal shelters that keep their dogs with foster families while trying to place them. That way I could inquire about the dogs' specific personalities with the foster families before adopting and be sure I found a dog that was calm, didn't suffer from seperation anxiety, and was happy with mostly being a couch potato (since my townhouse doesn't have a yard). My new dog definitely fits the bill. She is an older and much more mellow dog. She is half Rottweiler, half German Shepherd and looks similar to my previous dog. Her name is Sammy. She already had the name when I adopted her, and she knows it. Thus, she will keep it, although I don't love it. Her actual age was unknown when I adopter her, but estimated to be between 2 and 3 years old. She ended up in foster care because her previous owners abandoned her. She remained in the empty home until it was leveled to build a Shipley's. She then lived on the lot where the Shipley's was built, living off of donuts she was fed. She was finally picked up and ended up with the association that trains dogs to assist the deaf. She was with them for about a year and was doing very well, but started to show food agression. Food agression cannot be tolerated in assistance dogs, so she was given to Twyla's Friends in Kingwood, TX, where I adopted her after she had been there only a month. She showed some food agression with me at first, but a firm hand and training has gotten rid of that problem. She doesn't seem to be able to forget her foraging days, though, because she eats like every meal may be her last and her normally well-behaved and sweet personality seems to be all but forgotten when food is anywhere in sight. We are spending a lot of time working on that problem. Overall, she is sweet, extremely intelligent, stubborn, and a big baby.

Dog Parks

Unfortunately, Houston had no official dog parks just a few years ago. The Houston Dog Park Association formed in an effort to open dog parks in Houston. Now, a number of dog parks are available. Locations and hours are listed on the HDPA website. Fortunately for me, I happened across an unofficial dog park of sorts not too far from my old house before there were any official ones. A group of people met every night and let their dogs play and run around together. It was on an awesome little piece of land and there was a great group of dogs. Luckily, there is no shortage of dog parks where I live now.