My canine princess

Me and Goshen at the beach

I must admit that I have been a bit prejudicial against German Shepherds previously. Not that they should be poor dogs in any way, but merely a bit boring and too easy, with their extremely well developed willingness to learn and eagerness to have a purpose. That was of course until I met Goshen. I think it is safe to say that the breed has a new fan. However, Goshen is something out of the ordinary and it takes more than good dog training skills to get such a pleasurable dog as her. Her solid mentality is a natural quality of hers, that only was helped to bloom through a wise education from her daddy. We never put a leash on her and she could not care less about surrounding humans or dogs. If any of the irritating neighbour terrorist dogs tries to provoke her, she walks past them like they did not exist. She is fascinated by all the cats, though, and occasionally goes after one, but most of the time it ends by the cat chasing the dog and I get a good laugh.

It is sad to remember that she had quite a boring life for so long, but it is heart-warming to see the change in her today. I always do stuff with her, ask her things, make her run and pick up things, search for hidden things and regular obedience stuff and she really confirms the Shepherd's eagerness to please. I thought I wanted a bit more personality in the form of independence and "mind-of-their-own" in my dog, but Goshen has proven that hard-headedness is not a prerequisite for a strong personality.

She has bonded strongly with me since I am the one that spends most time with her and she follows me around the house. When I am studying or writing during daytime when we are alone, she occasionally comes up to me, digs her head in my lap, gives me a few kisses and then goes back to her place, just as if to check in on me. She knows her limits around the house. She knows that she is not allowed in the bedroom and she would never go in there when she is alone in the house. Only time is when we have gone to bed and she looks around the corner as if to ask for permission. Then I say OK, she comes in, walks around the bed to say good night to both me and Yoram and then she leaves, without us having to ask her.

She is great with the kids too and has the patience of an angel. Ziv is very nice to her but Gal is still so young so we have to watch him, because sometimes he can get pretty rough on her, and my tolerance with that is zero. I will miss her like crazy when we go to Sweden...

Goshen enjoying the beach with mummy and daddy