meet the dogs: Bez

Bez.  Where do I start and how do I describe this dog?  Bez is the one dog we have that makes people talk in high pitch voices and shriek that he is "SO cute"!  They think he's adorable.  Which, he is, but there is more to Bez than meets the eye.

Adam got Bez when he was 1 from a family who no longer wanted him.  His name back then was "Riggs", and I've heard it said that from the moment Adam brought him home, Bez ruled the roost.  He slept where he wanted, sat on your lap when he wanted, ate wicker furniture when he wanted and tried to kill other dogs when he wanted.  

When Adam became part of our family, so did Bez.  Aethan was 3, and very excited to have a dog.  But, 1 week together and it was obvious that we had our work cut out for us.  One day, Bez was snoozing on our bed and Aethan approached.  Bez snapped.  Adam and I, "newbie" dog owners, panicked.  We had all sorts of images racing around our heads, including giving Bez to a new home.  

But, we worked on it.  We worked HARD.  Bez hated dogs, disliked most people and enjoyed making sure that everyone knew about it...but, after months of hard work and years of maintenance, Bez is much, much better.  While wouldn't leave him alone with Aethan, and he's tried to bite me numerous times, he is a much more mellow, tolerant version of his former self.  He's welcomed new dogs and foster dogs into the house, and since we brought home Daisy, our dog aggressive boy has learned to play, respect and ignore the others.  

He's also a model and Earth Walkers unexpected mascot....

It used to be that Bez couldn't handle being in proximity to another dog, even if it was behind a fence, Bez was like a literal Tasmanian Devil.  Now, he's learned that other dogs can be fun, too.  Still, he's not very good at picking his battles and will usually try to argue with the biggest, toughest dogs he can find.

He's always been Adam's dog, and the bond between Bez and I is different than it is with the others.  It is sometimes a work in progress, but we love each other, deep down, and even when times are tough, we're still family....

And he's still a great model...

Truly, he's been the biggest challenge and I've learned an insane amount from this boy.  I'm glad he's not easy, or else I would never have discovered that I like working with problem dogs.  Maybe I never would have ended up with more, or working in rescue...is it possible I have Bez to thank for shaping this huge part of my life?