Venus story (Part II)

Venus had to confront a decisive time in her life: the arrival of a human baby. She left being the centre of attention to leave the space for the new "intruder". Venus has always been very respectful with her: she knew that everyone was going to be disappointed with her if she would have harmed my daughter.

Soon she changed a leader for another: my partner decided to move on with his life and I had to be her master. We both adapted to the new situation slowly and learned to live together… At that time, all the commands were in French but now she is "bilingual" and she understands Spanish as well. She was taught to sit down, lay down, to shake hands and not to nap on the couch… The normal commands for a dog. It cost me lots of cheese but also patient and love.

Once more, Venus had to change house and left behind a great garden for a huge roof. Those were hard years, where her presence was mostly on that roof and on the street when we walked her. Venus has always accepted changes with stoicism. Her only requirement was that she knew I was around and, if I had to go out, I would be back.

At that time Venus didn´t like others to be her leaders but me. Sometimes she became a little jealous of my daughter but it never was more than a fright (showing teeth and gum and a small bite). Those years were hard and I realized she was part of my small family.

(To be continued)

(First published on August 30th 2009 in http://maritza-gonzalez.blogspot.com/)