07/23/2025
A story about my Chi-chi girl, Roxy.
When I met this girl she was a handful and still is. I fell in love with her wild spirit immediately. She would sit above all the other dogs in her program, on an agility ladder, and survey…. Just being regal and set apart. Her go-to has always been ignore, ignore, ignore. 🩷
Since she became my forever, I’ve used her leadership skills to assist me in my work. When I’m called out to do an AKC Good Citizen test, I always bring her! If a dog is going to be reactive… she’ll bring a calm energy that puts them “at ease”. If they can’t pass the “Roxy test”, they’re not ready. The flip side is, if a puppy dog is being way too extra, she’ll tell them to settle down. 🩷
Yesterday giving Cayde his test for the AKC CGC, Roxy showed me something that I’ve always “known” in theory… that is, leaders know when to speak up and when to sit down. Cayde is such a gentle calm spirit. A beautiful soul. When I introduced Roxy to him she went into her general “ignore” mode. He showed interest in her, and he LOVES other dogs, but he remained respectful. We walked as a pack, sometimes Cayde took the lead and sometimes Roxy. After a little while we came across another dog, leash on harness, and generally going ballistic at the sight of the gentle giant Cayde. Roxy came after that dog… totally under control but showing her disapproval. A little later, same thing, a dog showing anxious energy towards Cayde, being held back on a harness… Cayde would have met him but Roxy was having none of it! The lesson here is that Roxy, the Chihuahua, felt she had to protect the giant Rottweiler. 🥹 In a short hour she had recognized Cayde as part of “her” pack, respected him in an unspoken language, and put herself into correcting the imbalance of the other dogs.
1. Leaders lead from the front.
2. Leaders don’t have to prove their physical strength, just their capacity for understanding.
3. You can still be small yet mighty. 🩷
