A little history on my two. In the back is Ares, he is a full-bred German Shepherd. I got him for my now husband as a Valentine's Day present. I sought out Shepherd breeders online and took my hubby (then boyfriend) over to the breeder's house as a surprise (he always wanted a German Shepherd) and Ares picked him! Ares turns 5 on December 4! We brought him home when he was just 10 pounds and he was a breeze. He was potty trained (I mean held it for 8 hours while I was at work) at 12 weeks old. He can do tons of tricks and, although he started as a Daddy's boy, he is definitely a Momma's Boy now.
And then there is Onyx...the smaller dog in the front. I was never a big dog owner but Ares was such an amazing animal we decided to expand our mini-family. We wanted to do a good deed so we sought a GSD in need at a rescue (this was before all the GSD-specific rescues existed on Facebook and such). We went out and met Onyx - her name at the time was Libby. She was about 8 months old and pulled from a kill shelter with her brother (who, oddly enough is a blonde color). She weighed 30 pounds and had a severe cut around her neck because her puppy collar had stayed on too long.
Onyx came home with us (positive story: I convinced a good friend of mine to adopt her brother). Onyx was not potty trained (as we were told) and had probably all of the worst habits an animal can have...many of them we have worked on. Turns out, Onyx is German Shepherd/Lab/Bordie Collie...she now weighs 78 pounds (she has a big appetite). Almost 4 years later and boy oh boy has Onyx kept our hands full.
Onyx stories to be continued...
