The Happy Hound                  

Beagie came to live with us in May 2005.  She was running free in the 'hood (and had been since that January) and stopped in my yard one day absolultely too terrified to move.  She was probably about 6 years old.  She had never been in a house before (terrified of doors!) and had no sense of house training.  In keeping with being a fearful dog, she had all kinds of aggression issues.  Oh, and did I mention she was storm-phobic?  In fact, Little Beagie was afraid of everything. 

What I've Learned from Beagie~

I've learned that patience works.  That you pick one challenge, the easiest one, and work on that and if you gain success on that ground, you will simultaneously gain success on ground you were studiously avoiding because you didn't know where to start.

While we worked on teaching Beagie to deal with her fear of garbage cans, lawn equipment trailers, card tables, etc., we never once addressed her storm/fire-work phobia. 

It's six years later and Beagie has no qualms about going outside to pee/poop in the rain (and she's a hound!).  Even better, this past Fourth of July she sat beside me on the back steps and shared a chicken sandwhich while my neighbors blasted off numerous fireworks.