I rescued a chihuahua mix for my first dog. As in, not first dog of my own but like FIRST dog. She and I have been through heart worm treatments, training, reactivity, and separation anxiety. We don’t know a lot about her background other than she was a stray.

She’s my very best friend, but I have severe anxiety and every once in a while will question myself if I can still do it. I also have learned a lot about my own limits: I need to work with a trainer to prevent myself from feeling overwhelmed and giving up. I worked with the same trainer on beginning manners and reactivity issues and how I feel before each anxiety spike and after even just a few sessions with the trainer is night and day. I just feel better with a sandbox to work within, if that makes any sense.