My first ever dog walk

On February 2nd 2021, I came home from a trip to my then boyfriends house and met my siblings gathered around a (then scary looking) dog.

We live in an unsafe part of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. And calling where I live 'unsafe' probably means there's a 'safe' part of this state, however, there is no safe part. So, I guess we just live in Bayelsa state.

Since we moved to this part of town in 2019, our house had been attacked by window thieves almost 10 times.


One time mom called to tell me they stole a loaf of bread through the window. It was hilarious. The people are hungry and poor.


Anyways, on the night of February 1st 2021, these thieves came around again, broke into my dad's car and stole the brain box.

This made it the second time this event was happening.

On the verge to stop these thefts, my parents built high fences around the house, installed security wires and took all preventive measures.

They still got in through God knows where to steal from his car again.

So, that's why they decided to get the dog.

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When he first came, he was only 6 months but he was still a big boy.

His name's Gavin. He came already named so we had no hand in naming him.

I have a fear of dogs. So you'd have to imagine what it took from me to adjust my life to accept that I would have to take care of an animal I'm scared of.

I can't exactly say he warmed up to me pretty quickly. There was the time I could never get close to him and I'd have to monitor his every movement coz I was certain he wanted to eat me.

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I can't exactly get into full details of my trip with Gavin right now, but maybe some other day I will.

Today I took Gavin out for a walk for the first time!

Although for the last couple of weeks my brother had been taking him for brief walks and complaining about his behaviour outside.

I decided to take him out myself and observe my brother's complaints.

At first, I was scared. I mean, he's pretty big for an 8-month-old and he's getting a little too strong for me to control.

He was quite obedient for most of our walk.

I observed that he was trying to be protective of me on several occasions.

He barked at a random man pushing a wheelbarrow, tried to attack a cat and almost got into a fight with a smaller dog.

Asides from those events, I'd say he behaved well.

I began to understand why dog owners always find it funny when people run away from their dogs in public.

It's hilarious when you think of how adorable and loving that creature is but then strangers just see a 4-legged monster.

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Taking my baby out for a walk was the most thrilling exercise I could have done for myself.

I look forward to getting him to have better self-control. I consistently make the excuse for him coz he's still a baby and all but I have to admit that I'm having a hard time getting him to obey instructions.

I'd appreciate some advice on how to go about that.

I read online that I could train him with a doggy treat. I plan on doing that soon and maybe I'll take pictures and let you know how it goes.

He's friendly and camera shy.

He's a German Shepherd by the way, very observant and intelligent.
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Personally I don't like dogs, no matter how friendly the are, its been long and I still have the phobia. Anyways, I guess its more than a pet and for security purposes as well.

Have you ever had a dog of your own?
I hated dogs until I got to experience Gavin. It's just a different love affair when the dog belongs to you, whether for security or as a pet.

He's cute. Only way I could ever warm up to a dog is if I meet them as a puppy too

He's still a puppy. Funny enough. You'll love up on him in no time.

Hello, Gavin. Welcome :)

I love your story, thanks for sharing it. I wish you both many pleasant walks.

Ps: I love your #doglover tag too :)

!invest_vote

Thank you. He's pretty excited about future walks too

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Nice little story. But how come that dog is so big, it was castrated, right?
You should be happy to have a German Shepherd if you're thinking of training, German Shepherds respond well to training as I've heard.
Gurl, I didn't know Bayelsa was like that, fuck! I hope the dog is helping?

He's not castrated actually. And he's still a baby.
Most parts of Bayelsa are quite insecure. It's such a shame.
He's very active at night. But during the day he's useless for security.

I'm guessing that's still alright, it's at night y'all need him the most isn't it?

Yup. He does a good job