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In this first year since I took Hagrid to my home I learned a great deal. I sort of expected it as he is my very first dog and I figure fostering a dog is a bit like parenting: Before you actually did it you know a great deal less. I wasn't considering that my obtained knowledge is of use to anyone but me. But I might be wrong. Apart from that, there are people on Twitter who enjoy stories and pictures of Hagrid. In this book I have the possibility to share experiences that just won't fit into Twitter's character limit.

A couple of weeks ago, I met a guy with a young great dane that was barking excitedly, jumped into the leash. The owner had obvious trouble keeping control over the situation. \"Can't you just behave like that well-mannered dog there?\" he asked his dog while pointing at my Hagrid. Well, Hagrid was really calm but never the less interested in that moment. I commented that this was a coincidence but that it helped not to let him get that excited by distracting him before he does. The guy was asking me for details and I asked him which command his dog knows well. He answered that his dog was already good at sitting and we were equally surprised when that little girl-dog sat on command even when being completely excited. That was the moment when I figured maybe my experience might help someone else. Not necessarily by doing the exact same thing but maybe by finding similarities that they can use.

This book is neither a manual nor a guidebook. As stated before, Hagrid is my first dog and I just don't have any further experience than that. I didn't study how to train dogs. This book won't give anyone answers on how to train or treat their dogs. However, it tells the story of what I learned by looking into books, shows on TV, and a lot of sites on the www. And I describe how I tackled things. If that inspires someone to try out something similar, awesome. Otherwise I'm happy to provide some hopefully enjoyable stories and happenings.

Disclaimer while this book is in the making: Obviously I am not a native English speaker. Expect errors until feedback will correct those bugs. And, having started, I noticed already that I do not have a clear idea how to arrange content in chapters. When there is a new version of this book, I might have sneaked in some changes in old chapters and I might have rearranged content that you have already read before.

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