Raising Kita

You wouldn't know it now, but Kita was a terribly behaved puppy.  We got him when he was about 11 weeks old, and despite being absolutely adorable, he wasn't very friendly and would not listen to a word we said.  Huskies are very intelligent dogs and he learned very quickly; he only had one accident before he was completely potty-trained, but he was willfully disobedient and enjoyed causing trouble.  There were times I regretted getting him in those first few months, and I thought I could never grow to love him as much as our cats or my elderly American Eskimo, Simba, that at that time still lived with my parents (he passed away only a few months later).  We have a relatively small bedroom and had started off by putting Kita's crate in the room that we kept our cat toys, litter box and tortoise.  During those first few months, he managed to dig holes through his cage and through the carpet.  He would also wake us up at all hours of the night.

One night, Chris was out of town, and I decided that I wanted Kita to sleep in our room that night.  He stopped his destructive behavior and never went back to his old room.  After awhile, Kita's behavior changed significantly.  We realized that he had learned all of the tricks that we had taught him; he had just pretended otherwise.  He started listening to us and wanting to play.  We also realized that he loved kids and other dogs, so walks became quite an adventure for him.  Anyone that meets Kita now will tell you that he is the friendliest dog they have met.  He loves to give kisses and is the dog at his daycamp that insists on making sure that every other dog is involved in the fun by befriending any dogs that are otherwise shy.  Huskies can be a tough breed to raise, but I would not trade Kita for the world and every frustration that he caused as a puppy was completely worth dealing with now that we know what a wonderful pet he has turned out to be.

Because Kita is so friendly, I know that he would want every other dog to have a family that loves them, so I created a blog page for him promoting dog adoption.  Check it out and let me know if you have suggestions on ways to make it better.