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such as his head and ears, when I moved on to acclimating him to having his legs and rear handled. I would put a tasty treat in one hand, lay it on top of the other hand, and stroke his legs and feet, allowing him to eat what I was holding while I did it.

In the midst of the trust-building exercises I was also obedience-training him. It was like banging against a brick wall at first, since pressing his behind to get him to sit elicited a fear response, and if I held the treat above his head in hopes that when one end went up high enough the other would do down, he simply jumped up for the treat.

Then I hit on the right plan. I waited for him to begin sitting on his own, said sit before he got all the way down, and then gave him the treat.

Bear is a bright dog. He caught on to the "Sit" for a treat business in about three tries, once he could see what I wanted. Soon he was learning other things as quickly as I could explain them to him. "Speak"? No problem. "Leave it"? A cinch! "Give it"? HA! His favorite, though, is tug of war. We have destroyed enough stuffed animals for six kids.

Bear isn't cured, he still has some issues that I don't think will ever go away. I've been bitten by him more than once, but I know that he didn't mean it, because I can tell he loves me.

I think he has flashbacks because I've heard him crying in his sleep. Every time he's ever bitten me he's had this same look on his face, as though he didn't see me, he was seeing something else and it was terrifying him. When he realizes who I am he cannot get close enough and I know that he sees me as a protector. And he's appointed himself my protector.

I didn't give up on him because he was hard to manage, and I've gotten one huge reward from it: My baby Bear.

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