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“Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow – that is patience.”
Author Unknown
Over the years of working with pet owners, I’ve learned one thing. While they claim to be patient, the moment the pet acts out of line; out the door it goes. I have to admit that my own family has told me countless of times that if Gambit was their dog he would of been euthanised or tossed out at this point. Something I strongly disagree with so let me present to you Gambit.
Gambit is not a bad dog, he’s complicated.
He’s the mix between a wolf and a husky, making his training harder to accomplish then most. He was four weeks old and very sick. The choice was I either pick him up in Sainte-Hyacinthe or he would of been disposed of. He had never seen the outdoors either and was the runt of the litter. He is not from a puppy mill nor a backyard breeder, the man was not expecting a litter and had no idea how to take care of dogs properly and could care less. I brought him to the vet that night and he cost me over 1000$ in treatments. Nicky wasnt too pleased with the arrival of a buddy and showed her love by biting his nose. As he screeched in pain and my friend trying to console him, I took him in my arms and he stopped crying altogether. Thats when the strings of fate truly linked us.
As he was growing up, he always pushes his limits and sees how far he can get. He had to be crate trained till 3 years old since he suffers from anxiety attacks when I leave the house. He’s destroyed his cage, pantries, chopping axes, dvds, books, shoes, clothing, dry wall, door frames. You name it, he’s destroyed it. He destroyed a couch which resulted in a new couch being bought and at least twice a week, I come home to destroyed items. He busts through the fence when he’s left outside unsupervised or alone and digs as well to see how far he can get before I catch him in the act. Just last week he destroyed my phone, I bought a new one and while I was in the shower, he ate the new one (same day).
People keep asking me how I remain so calm and patient, to keep him even with all the trouble he causes. Its simple, the more patience I have and the more training I give him, the better he becomes overtime. To ease his anxiety and destructive behaviour, a year ago I got a third dog ( a rescue which was red collar -highly aggressive that needed rehabilitation) they are now best friends. They both leave Nicky alone but Gambit tests his limits till she chases him angrily barking at him, he loves the attention. He loves the cats and loves to meet other dogs but for every good day we have, add in 3 bad ones!
Gambit is turning 4yrs old on the 19th of October 2010 and I’m expecting him to give me a surprise even though I’ll be giving him a gift.
A pet is like a child, you don”t simply get rid of them when the going gets hard. You tough it out as a family, surpass the troubles and move on. Gambit will probably always be a trouble dog, till the very end and all I can say is, when that happens, i’ll have alot of stories and wonderful memories. And trust me, I still got plenty of stories to go around. So to all the pet owners that feels discouraged out there and wondering why they keep trying, just remember this.
Love is unconditional, patience is a virtue and the time they give us is too short to remain angry.
