Jahzara was one of our Greyhounds. We had been fostering for a few years after Gunner died, and Jahzara (originally Jane) joined us as another foster.

Jahzara was very afraid of everyone when she came to us. Afraid of people. Afraid of men. Afraid of children. Afraid of other dogs. Pretty much afraid of everyone she encountered.

She warmed up to me quickly. She figured out right away that it was good to find someone she could trust. That person was me.

My husband? Not so much. It took a good two months before she would even approach my husband. Mostly just avoided him whenever she could.

When potential adopters would come to meet her, she would run and hide.

When we went for walks in our neighborhood (we lived in the suburbs at the time) she would avoid everyone else. People passing by? She would swing as wide as she could to avoid close contact. Other dogs? Same thing.

At some point, she started to become reactive to those we passed by. Not because she was aggressive, but because she was afraid. If you react and look ferocious, it's a pretty good bet that everyone will stay far away from you!

If kids came by, boy, she avoided them more than all the rest. Kids were the scariest of all.

We decided to adopt her about two months after she came to foster with us.

Jahzara was also one of the smartest dogs I have ever had the privilege of sharing my life with.

I didn't know it at the time, but during her foster period, when I was working with my Collie and she would be watching from her kennel nearby, she was learning as she watched.

When I first started training with her, she already knew some of the stuff I started on because she'd seen me do it with my Collie. Wow! Most dogs don't learn that easily by observing!

Because she was so smart, she learned quickly and through training and behavior modification, she learned how to handle all of the scary things in life. While we worked on some “obedience” stuff, our training also focused on HOW to handle scary things. Breaking things down into smaller steps helped her learn she could handle the stuff she thought she couldn't handle.

We worked hard on learning that people, men, kids, dogs and everything else was not so scary and that we did not need to put on a big show to scare them off. She learned quickly that there was a far less stressful way to handle all of these things and it was just as effective.

She learned to handle people and other dogs on walks. She learned to handle visitors. She learned to accept my nephews (at the time, young rowdy boys!) when we went to visit family. She learned to like (mostly) my husband.

She learned how to make friends with – or at least accept – the visiting dogs who began to come and stay with us. (She was with us when we first started offering boarding services to some of our clients.)

She was thrilled when we moved out to the country – to our current place in Sedalia. She loved having room to run. She loved going for walks and NOT seeing other people and dogs. She loved having me more to herself.

She actually loved the new puppy Romeo when we added him to the family. I thought for sure it was going to be a difficult adjustment having a rambunctious puppy in the household. She impressed the heck out of me when she accepted him and was fabulous and patient with him. I never could have guessed that based on how things started!

While she started out very afraid of everyone, you never would have known it if you had met her once she got settled in with us and learned how to handle life and enjoy life.

We had some things to work through when she first came to us, but she was one of the best dogs I have ever had.

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