In addition to my family's childhood dog Ish, I've owned and cared for two others in my adult life. My wife and I rescued Lily, our 8 year old Beagle mix from the shelter she was born in, at 2 months old. This little girl presented a whole host of challenges we'd never experienced before. I personally took her through group obedience training for several weeks which curbed a good bit of her issues as a young pup. I continued to work with her well after the training, but it was apparent that she needed a bit more enforcement to be the dog we wanted her to be. At that point, she was about 4 years old and she did not completely obey us. So, we signed up for a few months of one on one obedience school with a dedicated trainer who worked with us as owners and of course, Lily. We learned so much valuable information from this professional that we still use daily. In Fall 2018, we fostered Hyde, a sweet 7-8 year old Pit mix who was brought to Vermont from South Carolina via the Passion 4 Paws rescue group. A week into the foster, we adopted him for many reasons. He's the most gentle and easy going older dog who just wants to play, eat and cuddle. This guy integrated nicely into our family and got along well with Lily, and vice versa. We couldn't bear to give him up to another family and make him re-locate once again. We could tell he wanted to stay in our home for his duration. He unfortunately had to be put down November 2022 but we will always feel his presence. We've fostered puppies, dog-sat for multiple dogs at once and provided extra care for senior dogs who required insulin injections, eye/ear meds, etc.