Nikita's Story

I often talk about my 2 children, Zach and Cam.  But I have realized lately that I have neglected to talk much about my other 4 children, AKA- Nikita, Roscoe, Leo and Mr. Bean.  In all reality, they are a much bigger pain in the #@$ then the first two, but I love them all unconditionally and my life would not be the same without their constant source of entertainment.  So I've been thinking I really want to write up a post about each of them individually and tell their stories...   

I'll start with Nikita since we have had her the longest.  We got Nikita when she was barely a year old.  She came from a home where she lived with a single woman who worked nights and slept days.  Nikita basically spent her first lonely year of her life in a 5x5 kennel that had rarely, if ever, been cleaned.  One of the first things we noticed when we got her was how abnormally soft her paws were.  She was rarely let outside to play, and for her first few weeks with us it would hurt her soft paws to walk on gravel, concrete, or even dirt, it was very sad.

  

Nikita's previous owner had a stalker.  The man who was stalking her had killed her other dog, also a German Shepherd, and that is why she decided to get Nikita in the first place, as a replacement, for protection.  Fortunately she soon realized that she could not give this puppy the life that she deserved and needed.  She decided to let Nikita go an she got herself an older dog.  That is how we ended up with Nikita.  Greg and I were head over heals the second we met her.  Within just a few hours Nikita went from living in a kennel with only one woman as her room mate and whom she rarely saw, to a bachelor pad with Greg and 3 of his buddies, a constant flow of their friends coming in and out, and free rein of the entire house and yard.  Plus one of Greg's room mates had a pit bull puppy for her to romp with, they were instant best friends.  Talk about a new life!  I remember the first night we had her she paced the room and cried all night long.  She was so confused.  It was really sad.  Her next few nights she would pace and cry a little less and less until she quit all together and was finally comfortable in her new life.  As of now, she can't stand to be in tight quarters, in fact she chewed a hole right through her kennel just big enough to squeeze her head through.

Nikita is such an intelligent girl. To this day she still has many habits that are very much instinctive from her life with her previous owner.  Because of her crazy first year of life she has always had a hard time warming up to men, but she rarely has any problem with women.  We think this is because of her role as the protector from the woman's stalker.  She is now our protector and I am so happy to have her.  I feel completely safe with Nikita around.  Safe in the way that nobody could get near me and the boys without having to go through her first, and safe in the way that she would never attack anyone without good reason.  She is very smart, very obedient, and very loving.  She is such a good girl!  Her protective instinct kicks up about 10 notches as soon as Greg walks out the door.

I have to tell this quick story, because she makes me so proud.  A few months ago I took the boys and the dogs down to the beach, as I often do during the week because there is rarely anyone else there.  On this particular day there was one other man down  there fishing, but he was about a quarter mile down the lake so I was sure we had plenty of space.  She paid him no attention at all until he went to leave and had to walk past us in order to get to his car.  This caught her attention.  I told her to sit! and stay!  She did so, but she did not take her eyes off of him for even a half second.  She never even blinked.  She was trying to hold back an uncontrollable growl from deep inside her chest the entire time he was near.  I never even touched her and she never even flinched.  This is the kind of obedience this dog has.  After he was gone.  I told her she could go and she ran straight to his trail to sniff things out.  She came running right back wagging her tail with a big old smile on her face, everything was clear... Now you see why she makes me feel so safe.

Nikita is now 7 years old. She is still healthy and strong, very strong in fact.  She is as soft, as beautiful, and as intelligent as ever.  Writing this post makes me want to go snuggle her right now.  I just love this "pretty lady" and now you know why.