About My Mixed Up Mutt & Me

Just over a year ago I adopted Toby, a lab mix from the Idaho Humane Society (IHS). My parents had agreed to get me my first dog as a high school graduation present (I had only been begging for one since I was first able to do so).
At the shelter, I watched the volunteers bring in the dogs one by one, these dogs were all in a class from the IHS's Inmate Dog Alliance Project of Idaho (IDAPI), a training program. I was waiting for the face, whose picture I had studied for weeks, to appear. Finally, I saw his shiny black nose, alert eyes and floppy ears come around the corner. I felt like I could explode with joy!
The dogs and their potential adopters were given a few minutes to get to know each other before we went to a quick lesson about their training. During the training, the instructor took Toby to the middle of the circle of dogs and people and told him, "Sit. Stay." then went on with teaching. Toby stayed and looked around the circle, sniffed a little patch of grass then looked at me. He wagged his tail a little, looked back at the instructor (who had his back turned) then quietly got up and walked back to me. That was when I knew that we belonged together, and that he knew it too, but neither of us knew just how much our lives would change that day.
As a first time dog owner I have learned so much from Toby that I want to share, from favorite toys to training tips, and everything else in between.