The Great Escape

Malamute(Stargazer), we call him Gazer is a bit over 6
years old but when he was a puppy we had a crate for
him. He hated it! One night we were up in our bedroom
and Gazer was in his crate with the door open. He had
alot of stuffed toys and I knew which ones he liked
best and not so well. Anyway, One by one in order of
liking he started to remove them and place them in a
pile away from his crate. Finally when he had them all
out of there he laid down next to them and went to
sleep. It was so funny. Needless to say the crate was
given away shortly thereafter and those old toys are
at my Mom's for sleepovers but it just goes to show
how smart dogs are. He rescued his little pals. We
only used the crate when we went out and hoped he
might feel like it was his own little haven but that
never happened. We were lucky enough to be able to
spend real quality time with him when he was small so
now that he is big(VERY) he is a very good dog. I
don't know if it is just him or the time and love we
invested but it is such a small price to pay for the
rewards. I have seen too many dogs given away when it
is really the owners to blame. When they are so small
they are so eager to please and be in the "pack".
Unfortunalely it seems that too many people don't
consider that short of raising a child it is one of
the biggest responsibilities.