My dog bites

Yeah.....so what. I still like her better then most people I know! My poodle Scarlet is 13 years old. Aside from family and a few high school friends this is the longest relationship I have had with anyone....including my husband and children of course. We have another dog, a one year old Yorkie named Stitch who after a year has still not learned to crap outside. I like Scarlet better then him. Scarlet started out as my sister's dog. I was in college home for the summer when we got her. I thought she was super cute of course but did not spend as much time with her as the rest of my family once I went back to school. Giving an 11 year old a poodle when she wanted a chihuahua is not the best idea I have ever heard of and needless to say my sister did not really take responsibility for her. Once I graduated from Ohio State and got my own apartment my new BFF came with me. Scarlet has been my constant companion ever since. She has been there when bad relationships ended and she was there when the best relationship began. She has always been a GREAT dog, she potty trained easy, she never chewed up things other then her toys, she never USED to bite. When Joe and I moved in together she just took over that house the same way she has every other place we have lived. She accepted a new baby into the home two times with not too much complaining. Cant say the same about the Yorkie but he is starting to learn who is boss. The older she gets the more opinionated she gets. She does not like the vet or getting groomed and this is where the biting comes in.....a few years back she started to snap at the vet and ever since they have put a muzzle on her for appointments--this teeny little muzzle to keep this big scary dog from biting. Pet Smart will no longer use clippers around her muzzle because the tries to bite them (the clippers). Her favorite person to bite is probably my friend Kim who is her stand in mom when Joe and I go somewhere over night. Kim used to be able to come into my house and just let her out. Then Scarlet caught on to this game and wont come for her when she calls. So Scarlet goes to her house now and bites her I would say at least twice a day (yes I realize she is a GREAT friend). She only bites Joe and I when we are trying to *ahem* clean her up on occasion when she has had some *ahem* trouble going potty. She also on occasion (okay, probably every day) have accidents in the house but give her a break....she is like 1000 years old in people years.

So why do I put up with a dogs that bites me, snaps at my kids , will almost take your finger off over pizza crust, and pees in my house? Easy.....she knows all my secrets, all the bad things about me as well as the good and still loves me...she is always waiting on the back of the couch when I get home from work, she gets more excited then I do about nap time.....need I say more?