Dog Ernie Monologue

Hello everybody, here is Gianni.
You might know me from Twitter or Instagram. Well actually not me, but my dogs Ernie and Berti.
Since almost three years I am sharing our life with you. Countless pictures have found their way on your screen and all of them were meant to cast a smile on your face, cheer you up, encourage you and entertain you.
But until now you only know our pictures, not our story. This will change. I am going to tell you how our anxious Airedale Berti found his way to us and how this fearful creature became a wonderful part of our family. Additionally I will try to give you all some advices regarding anxious dogs and dog ownership in general. In the beginning Ernie will be a kind of Sidekick in this story but that might

It all began with the desicion to strenghen the relationship between my girlfriend (and now wife) and me. We wanted to get a dog together. My wife Alex searched the web for more than a week until she found the perfect dog breed for us. An Airedale Terrier. They are intelligent, fearless, happy, playful and slightly stubborn. Of course I agreed with her desicion. Partly because Airedales sounded to be cool dogs, but mainly because in a working relationship you just know when you have to agree with your mate.
Again the Web was searched and after a little while Berti was found on "Airedales in Not" a website dedicated to help Airedale find a home. He was a 10 month old boy, who was still living with his breeder.
"Fantastic!", was our first thought. "If he is still with his breeder than he will be perfectly socialized and

We didn't understand that Berti gave us a broad hint in that instant. Blinded by our wish to get a dog we ignored this huge warning sign and we thought:
"Great!! This dog doesn't want to be with the other person! He wants us!"
That Berti was an anxious dog didn't came to our minds.
You might call this now stupidity, and to some extend I agree with you, but for me this was just fate.

Shortly after we watched this scene, we had our talk with the breeder. She was a shabby looking old woman who answered our questions swiftly and cagey.
Of course Berti is socialised.
Of course he is house trained and well behaved.
But you might need a dog trainer for the finishing touch.

Well, if a breeder tells you, that the dog he wants to sell you is perfect, but you might need some help for the finishing touch, you may rest assured that the dog is everything but not perfect.

Soon the conversation changed it's topic and we were talking about money. All this took place while we were sitting at the breeders dining table. But Berti was almost not noticable. His older Sister and a Aunt of him were permanently fighting for my attention. However his mother was nowhere to be