Let me introduce myself...

My name is Ayse and I'm from Ohio. I happened to be at the right place at the right time and now my job is to show everyone back home that a little dog like me can succeed.

People tell me I'm smart, but I already knew that. They also say I have a lot of drive, which means I have a strong inner desire to always do something. Basically, I have two modes,"on" and "standby," and I'm always looking for the next activity. In fact, that's probably how I ended up at the shelter in Cleveland, I figured out how to break out of my yard. I could probably pick locks if I put my mind to it.

Anyhow, I came to California on a plane and spent a couple weeks up at a barn. That's where I learned cool tricks like "sit" and waiting for my food. I learned about toys, how to play fetch, and socialized with other dogs. This stuff all came to me very quickly. Since I have so much drive, it was easy to channel it into something for which I could be rewarded. Finally, it all began to make sense!




While I was up at the barn I made friends with a girl named Ana. We have the same color hair. She knew that eventually I'd be ready to learn about the real world and asked to take me home to foster when the time was right. She lives in San Franciso, which is waaaaay different than the barn, but she knew I could handle it.

It's been a really big transition. Every day I see and learn new things. When we go out, I notice everything. I'm the kind of dog that sees the bird on the very top of that tree before you ever will. Not to mention my nose is better than your eyes, and I can smell all the dogs, all the cats, all the food, and all the people that have passed through. Think of every one thing that can get a dog's attention, like a stroller, or a person, or maybe another dog across the street, then multiply that by a hundred and you have the city. Sometimes when so many new things hit me at once I get over-stimulated, my brain shuts off, and I can't hear you anymore (well, I can hear you, but I am not going to do what you ask of me) .

Good thing Ana has a solution for that: we go slow. The more excited I get, the slower we go. My first day it took one half an hour to go one block. She let me sniff everything and explore. I am not afraid, but it is all very exciting until I have learned about it, then it is not so exciting. At the same time we practice "sit" and "come" and I earn my whole dinner on a walk like that. Today I have been in the city almost one week and I went for my first jog. Even though I saw many new things, they are all not so new now and I was able to concentrate on my job as jogging-buddy. By the way, I did really well as jogging-buddy.

Ana tells me that I have to earn my freedom through good behavior, so right now I spend a lot of my time in a crate or on a tie-down. It's good for me, actually. In a kennel I will pace, but the smaller space makes me relax so I sleep a lot now.

I live with a little hairless dog called Xdog (I can't pronounce her real name). We're not really friends yet, so I just call her my roommate. It's kind of like a Craigslist situation where you live together and tolerate each other, but you wouldn't choose to hang out if you didn't live together. Still, we're learning to get along. There's also a cat at this place, which is weird for me since I only know cats from chasing them. This one doesn't run, but I also haven't had the chance to chase it since one of us is always contained when the other is out.

I am really good at learning, even survived my first BAD RAP training class (and did better than everyone thought I would!), so I can't wait to see what the future has in store for me. Everyone keeps telling me I can do anything I put my mind to, and that makes me dream real big.



p.s. don't ask about the silly outfit, these Californians have no idea what cold really is!