The Life I Never Intended to Love: Dog Owner. Katherine Bindley: “During the pandemic I chose a breed often compared to a velociraptor. It ruined my life–until I discovered that he’s the best dog who’s ever lived.” www.wsj.com/articles/…
I can absolutely relate. Minnie is a high-energy dog. She’s mellowed now, but in her first few years she ran us ragged. Even today, I walk her for more than 90 minutes a day and she’s ready for more. Many times when we get home from walks, she does zoomies just for the heck of it.
And she’s 10 years old. In dog years, that’s the same age as I am. I do not do zoomies.
Also, Minnie is a hybrid between a german shepherd and basenji. German shepherds are highly trainable, which is the reason why so many of them are working dogs. Basenji are among the most stubborn, hardest-to-train breeds. You might think that would even out and make Minnie average in trainability. But no, she swings wildly from one extreme to the other. Sometimes it seems like she can read my mind and does exactly what I want as soon as I think it. Other times we give her commands and she knows exactly what we want, and she says nope.
So yeah in several ways Minnie was a poor choice for us as sedentary first-time dog owners … but we would not part with her. There’s a lesson about life decisions in there.