Meet Rusty. He’s our most prized, but he’s not a possession.
He’s an entity unto himself, with a spirit and a soul just as strong and vital if not more so than any human’s. He’s a sweetie-pie, though we never, ever tell him that (lest he develop a complex). He’s strong, but gentle, determined, but patient – all definitely virtues in a pup.
Of course, he hardly gets any love. We never, ever hug him 473 times a day. We don’t give him treats and excitement after every successful walk, and we keep it very much to ourselves when he gets right what we’re trying to teach him. We don’t believe in positive reinforcement, except in extreme cases like every single day. We believe in being tough, in hardening him for the weirdness of this world and its people, but that’s only because we know that strong dogs are more photogenic.
So here he is. Don’t stare too long – he’ll start to think he’s cute or something.