Izzy

Over the holidays we spent a week in Atlanta visiting with grandkids, daughters and son-in-law.  Accompanying our daughter, Julie, from NYC was her 8 month old Yorkie, Izzy, the first dog in our immediate family. According to Julie, no tranquilizer was needed for the 2 hour flight, but they did fly first class.

Well... need I say that Izzy was clearly the center of attention. Everyone wanted a turn to play with her and what I found most interesting was how Izzy adapted to each one of us. The 8 year old "loved" her .... hugging her tightly and she tolerated it from him and would play the roughest with him. She was also smart enough to welcome time in her crate knowing that it was a time out from Brandon.

I had grown up with dogs as a kid but once married, Murray and I preferred cats. Walks were fun except the one time she decided she didn't want to walk with me and just went belly down on the sidewalk. She made her point and back to the house we went. The rest of the time she was a delight to walk sniffing from side to side and playful, especially to other people and their dogs regardless of size.

At first she was reluctant to go the stairs at the house but that lasted only a day or two and she was soon bounding up and down making the whole house her own.  

A slice of carrot was her treat and she got lots of practice on commands of "sit", "down" and "paw" as all of us wanted a chance to interact with her in this way.

I came away from the week with a deeper understanding of why the relationship between dogs and their owners becomes so important.

At our condo in Steamboat over the years we have had countless "dog" issues. Originally there was a no dog policy, but two owners found a way around that and managed to have their dogs grandfathered in. One of those dogs is still here and royally patrols the property. Now we have a policy that an owner can have a dog on the premises for up to 60 days which works fine for non-resident/second home owners. Renters cannot have a dog and it is amazing how many people attempt to sneak a dog on site for a few days rather than selecting a dog friendly advertised place.  

Now the 60 day policy will work for us. Izzy can be our "registered" dog and visit us any time.