Thanks to a great suggestion from a friend, I survived Taylor’s shed! LOL! It wasn’t real noticeable at first, but then when doggie hair started appearing on my clothes, chair, and well… everywhere else… we had a problem. When I started to eat and breathe it - that’s when something had to be done. I couldn’t find anything to control her shed, until a friend said something about the Furminator. I saw their clips on the site and was like “That’s what I need!” If you have a Husky or a big dog that sheds… you need this!

Best $50 I ever spent for not only a sheadless dog, but for my own sanity. Taylor was absolutely perfect letting me brush her… filling up a grocery bag full of hair. She gets her brushing about once a week, along with her nails done with the PediPaws I got her as well. I bought this because I’ve always been bad with the regular nail trimmer and wanted something that wouldn’t hurt her. I can guarantee that she was cut by a nail trimmer because of her reaction, but with some reasurance and positive reinforcement, she now willingly lays perfectly still, although I can see it in her face she’s expecting to be hurt. That will fade over time I’m sure. More money well invested.

Since my last post, she’s gotten her own bed to lay on out in the livingroom, because I got tired of watching her lay on the hard floors all day. Of course, it’s by my computer because she’s always with me, and that’s where I’m at. She has her huge bone that she guards from the kitties (like cats are always on the lookout for large cow bones to steal!).

Oh, I didn’t mention cats! We have two girlie kitties that we got three months ago. At first Taylor thought they were chew toys and I thought we’d have a serious problem, but with a little conditioning, now they are buddies and get along great… she don’t even mind them by her bowl when it’s chow time - THAT’S a big acomplishment!

Speaking of acomplishments and chow time, I’ve mastered her finiky food choice.. FINALLY! I’ve switched her to Iams Lamb & Rice dry food, and figured I’d buy the matching wet food… and she eats it! All of it! I’m so happy! No more wasted dog food to throw away or hope she eats. It’s great stuff.

She’s also learned to train us when she’s gotta go - which I hoped she would! I also trained her to “Sit Pretty” like in her picture here. She naturally did that when she really REALLY wanted something, so it wasn’t hard to get her to do this on command now. Pretty sweet. If that wasn’t enough… she knows how to crack peanut shells to get at the peanuts. It had me crackin up, even though I had a shell mess to clean up… but she loves them!

In closing… she’s a spoiled, pampered princess that gets her lovins.

The first weekend in October, we went camping outside of French Lick, IN. She loves anything outside and was in doggie heaven. Like everywhere we go, everyone ended up knowing her name before we left.

She didn’t have a problem with the drip down there or back, and she was just lovin being out. That’s what I admire about her; she’s got that thirst for adventure. She don’t care where we go - down the street or to a park, she just loves being in a place with new smells.

This was the first time she’d been in such an open area and she could barely contain herself. The leash I brought was 15 foot, but it’s only an inch to a husky that wants to run! LOL. And run she did.

Too bad I only got shots of her laying around… but running with a huge camera in an open field didn’t seem like such a good idea. But you can tell she was enjoying herself, either running her little head off, playing with the neighbors, or just relaxing and enjoying the day.

It’s been one full week of Taylor, and it’s been nothing but great stuff. She likes to spend most of her days outside, where she can smell all the little critters that are around our neighborhood. I think she’s just an outdoors kind of gal. There’s puppies next door to us that she’s desperately wanted to go visit, so she’s always looking over that way, whether they’re outside or not.

This girl is seriously smart. She remembers where she saw people or an animal, and wants to go check to see if they’re still there… a day later LOL. She’s all ready learned sit, and we’re now working on proper behavior before a walk. We are working on sit/stay when the door is opened. It took about 5 or so minutes the first time, but we are getting better at it. She has a lot of self control and a willingness to learn, and I admire that. With a bit more work, I’m sure she’ll have it down by this time next week.

We went to Broadripple Park this past Thursday and had a blast. She loved the ride there just as much as she enjoyed the park. She was a hit with everyone there, especially by the kids.

She has hardly touched her dog food since she’s been with us. I bought Natural Balance, which seemed like a pretty decent food for her, but she doesn’t seem to think so. She’s gotten plenty of treats from the family this past week, so I think that could be another reason LOL. We’ll try to mix her food with some canned food, and see if that gets her apatite going. She has the most peculiar habit about her food, which may explain why she got a bit plump at the kennel when her and Truman were together.

When I give her a treat, most of the time she’ll take it like ‘oh, if I must’ and lay it gently on the floor (remember, she knows exactly where she put it) and go about her business. When she notices one of the kids heading to that spot, she’ll rush in, grab the treat, and gulp it down like she was starving. I was talking to a gal at work and she says her Husky does the same thing with the cat. It’s not that she’s aggressive around her food and my kids, because my two year old can take stuff out of her mouth. It just might be a Husky quirk, and one that’s just a bit comical.

Of course she’s been sleeping on our bed at night, and likes to spend her time on it when she’s inside. It might be that I am always in here too, because she will follow me like a lost puppy around the house.

There’s not one day that has gone by that she hasn’t made me laugh. My family’s faces are always cleaned from her industrial grade face washer tongue. She’s always up for a round of wrestling in the morning, and hasn’t mastered running on hardwood floors quite yet. Oh, and she’ll do just about anything for a piece of my homemade cheese ball.

The most important thing about her, is that she’s always careful around the kids, and is always willing to please me. She just needs a gentle, but firm ‘No’, and she stops what she’s doing. She really is a diamond in the rough, and it’s a wonder how she’s been with Northern Lights for so long without someone seeing how awesome she is.

We are looking forward to going camping in October, and I know she will absolutely love it.

This is Taylor. She’s the newest member to the Berry family. She comes from Northern Lights Husky and Malamute Rescue. Her and her son Truman were taken from a puppy mill, where they spent their lives in a cage. Truman is still up for adoption, waiting for his family to find him. Taylor has never had a family, and was never trained as a house dog.

You would never know this if you met her. This is her second day with us, and she has all ready learned to sit, walk, tell us to go potty, and not go nuts around cats (working on squirrels). I can pick up her favorite treats out of her mouth with no problems, and she’s totally trusting of me and my husband. She is totally tolerant of the kids, and any accidental falling or pushing is remedied by her swiftly moving to another room (ie: bedroom), with no complaints.

Her favorite spot is the bed, naturally! She’s been sleeping on the hard ground for who knows how long. She didn’t even know she could get on the bed, until I had to coax her. We have hardwood floors, and I do not think any dog/animal/person should be subjected to sleeping on a hard surface.

She quickly learned that our room is off limits to the kids, so she can find peace from them when the attention gets overwhelming for her.

Taylor can double for a cat… a very big, slobbering cat. She’s very agile and has no problems getting to anywhere she wants. She plays like a cat, and mostly listens like a cat LOL. Her cuteness is overwhelming, and she’s shown us her full-on begging style, and it’s darn near impossible to resist.

We will see in the coming days how quickly we will all adjust to this prancing ball of cute-infused fur. Tomorrow is my real test, as I have to set my alarm earlier to take her for a walk! I know she has to have one, and she will keep me on track.

I can’t wait for Thursday, as that’s Broadripple Park day.

Stay tuned for more Taylor!

-Taylor’s Momma