Athena-The Bear

Her original name was Meesha. We got her at the pound. The notes on her past said of the previous owners, that the father hated the dog. She is a border-collie Chow mix all black. Lots of hair like a chow, but moves like a border collie. Because of her "past" she seemed to have a difficult time around men. It took about a year and a half for her to feel comfortable enough with my dad that she would come to him when we were not there. We tried to find a "godlike" name for her since she had such a rough start and we didn't care for the original name. We tried a number of Greek mythological names and she responded to Athena.

Everyone says that she looks like a bear because she is so big and hairy. She has certainly turned into a "Gentle Ben" kind of dog. She still gets nervous around kids, but she is doing a lot better.

We give her such a hard time and she gives it right back. We'll get her feet and she'll pull her feet under her so it looks like she doesn't have any feet. She'll tickle us with her nose, by nuzzling up to our bums.



Now, we talk with our dogs all the time. Athena has been the most responsive. We would ask her if she had a good day. Sometimes, we wouldn't get anything, but sometimes she'll wag her tail and start "talking" in dog speak, obviously excited about something. People think we are nuts when we say that we talk with our dogs.

I just remember growing up and mom and dad would have friends over. The other kids would come up to their parents, "mom..mom.MOM..MOM!" and then mom would turn and yell at them. If they had acknowledged them from the start, even to say, "mommy is talking, please wait" I don't think they would ever yell at each other. Our approach with our "kids" is to respond when they bark. They bark at a noise from outside, so we go check the door and let them look out. They settle down and we have less barking.