Sierra

My first puppy!!!  Well, as I wrote I grew up having dogs in our family but Sierra was the first dog of my own. 

 

I moved into my house and literally one week later, without having unpacked anything yet, was Mother’s Day.  My mother, youngest sister and I went to my other younger sister’s house in the high desert on this Mother’s Day.  My entire family had been urging me to get a dog, I just wanted to find time to unpack and make a home.  While at my sisters her neighbor just happened to come over, bringing 3 puppies from a recent litter.  As they walked across the yard with these little ones I knew I was being set up.

Sierra came right over to me, jumped onto my lap, put her front paws on my shoulders, looked me right in the eye and I fell in love.  That moment will be in my memories forever; I knew she was meant to be in my life. 

My younger sister, Katherine, also picked a puppy and as we all drove home that afternoon Katherine named her dog Sienna and by the time we got home I named my little girl Sierra.  While driving she was sitting in my lap, then I saw the size of her paws and I knew she would be a BIG dog, hence the Sierra Mountains came to mind.  In addition, I was told that these puppies were a mix of Rottweiler and Wolf, both very large animals. 

Over the coming couple months it was quite a challenge to train and be responsible for such a young one, so filled with energy and mischief.  One particular afternoon while out back in the yard Sierra was following me as she did all the time but I had finally had enough of her nipping at my calves.  By this time it not only was irritating but for days my calves were black and blue.  She never broke skin, it was done in play but I knew I needed to get control of the situation now because she was going to be bigger than me.  Yep I called a local park that offered “Puppy Training Classes”.

My “Little” girl turned out to be one of the best, although we had our challenges.  We didn’t make it through to the end of the classes, she was just like me and preferred to learn in the school of hard knocks.  Still I continued training her extensively on my own, learning as we went along.  She was also extremely close to my heart since I was to later find out she had epilepsy.  More stories to come on her health condition, an incredible learning experience. 

I have decided to introduce all of the domestic and yes, many wild animals in my life initially in my blog.  Then I will post the many stories about them, the health issues and so much more.