When I was 6 years old, my mom and step father adopted two chocolate labs. Cinnamon was a heavier dog with arthritis from a young age, and Mocha was a real lover with quite a bit of anxiety. I loved both dogs and helped care for them, taking them on walks, scooping their poop, feeding and bathing them. While I was in college, a friend and I took in a lovable pit bull with a whole slew of problems. Gus has high energy, separation anxiety, frequent ear infections, allergies manifested on his skin, and the never charming habit of peeing when overly excited by newly arrived guests. We worked with him to ensure he got lots of exercise and kept him cozy in a crate while we were both away and made that his place to calm down if he was licking someone too incessantly to address his energy and anxiety. We cleaned his ears frequently and kept up on vet visits to keep his ear infections under control. We tried different kinds of dog food until we found one that didn't irritate his allergies. We started a system of, "Gus, go outside!" when people came over so he could empty his bladder before greeting. All this was shared between us in addition to all the other aspects of caring for a dog. When I moved to Chicago after college and roomed with my sister, she had recently adopted a young pit mix who steals most anyone's heart who meets him. Being that my sister is a nurse and loves to travel, I got to take care of Morrison all the time, sometimes being his exclusive care giver when my sister was out of town. I would love when she would come home from an extended trip and he would follow me around instead of her for a few days. Between caring for all these pups I have a lot of experience, including experience with difficult and strong dogs.