The Tiger Chronicles

This week we brought home a new puppy.  His name is Tiger Hope DeVille. He is a mix of some sort with a brindle coat.  He is a busy, busy puppy. He is full of energy and love.  He smiles with his happy tail and his attentive eyes.

When I went out looking for a new family pet, I visited our local animal shelter.  For months, I had gone online searching for a small dog that would fit our lifestyle. Then two weeks ago, I saw this photo of an adorable mini Schnauzer mix puppy.  So, on my lunch break, I took a ride over to the parish (county) shelter.

It was very clean, organized.  I signed in, told them that I was "just looking" for a small pet. They escorted me to the area with the smaller dogs and when we opened the door, I was immediately overwhelmed.  The room was spotless but it smelled like dog--10 to be exact--and each was literally screaming for attention.  One by one I checked them out.

My evaluation went like this...  wild, adopted, too much hair, adopted, chewing the metal kennel, nope, what's wrong with this one, sister of the fellow with too much hair--also too much hair, uhm no, this thing is huge, oh hell no.  I stood there trying to figure out if I had missed something.  After going back and forth, engaging in some puppy talk, and wishing I had brought ear plugs, I announced "I like that one" and asked if I could hold him.

I was handed the puppy and told not to place him on the ground--germs.  It was a little awkward at first.  Then I got it right and he laid his little head on my chest and peered up at me with big eyes.  Tiger, formerly evaluated as "what's wrong with this one" was my choice.  So back in his cage he went and I was off to complete paperwork.

If you can tell, I didn't choose the pet that I originally viewed online. Honestly,  I don't even remember seeing him.  Instead, I picked Tiger who just so happened to be quiet.  He sat calmly and looked unconcerned. Since I am not into noise, he seemed perfect (and he is).

After the big snip, I went to pick up Tiger.  He was a totally different doggy. Happy, happy, happy...  Busy, busy, busy...  Squirmy, squirmy, squirmy...  It took us a few minutes to get settled and then we got into the car.  He was all over the place.  Hair was flying everywhere.  He was licking all over everything.  He was chewing my work bag.  And I thought, "you big faker!"

I had been played.  I honestly believe that Tiger had observed visitors over the weeks that he was in the "pen" and saw how the entire adoption worked in regards to new owners and new pets.  The better behaved pups made it out first.  And now, here we are, together...  Tiger is wagging his tail, licking everything and being just plain hyper.  Then there was me, trying to explain to him that he had to calm down before I could drive him home.

As luck would have it, I had almost a week after adopting Tiger before he came home.  I had plenty of time to come up with a plan to introduce him to the family.  I had purchased a pop-up kennel instead of a permanent one since I didn't know how big he would eventually become.  I purchased a couple of toys, a collar, a leash, a flea deterrent, some food, puppy pads and a sticky roller to snatch up all of the flying puppy hairs.

My original plan was to bring Tiger with me to work so that I could crate train him.  That went out the door for three reasons--first, he seemed to have grown since I initially met him so he was probably going to scare some people; second he was shedding hair like crazy; and third, he was way too busy to be in my office.  So, we went home instead.

After the drive home, I figured out how to get Tiger out of the car.  I was very nervous that he would bolt.  I put on his collar and leash and we took a little walk around the yard.  I was very happy to see him make both a number one and a number two.  He seemed so at home, not nervous at all.  We played for a couple of hours and then I introduced him to his pop-up crate. He was a little scared but he calmed down and I let him be for a couple of hours.  

Surprisingly, on day two, I realized that he was virtually crate trained.  I couldn't believe it. He must have been trained by the shelter staff. Other than the excited boy squirts, he didn't pee or poop in his crate.  By the end of the week, we were up to a daily walk and multiple times in the yard to potty.  Though I am still nervous about the potty situation, he is doing well.

In addition to being virtually crate trained, we are working on a few other things.  He is pretty comfy walking on a leash.  He pulls a little bit but he mostly walks right by my feet.  He has met the kids and loves playing with them.  He even walks on the leash for them.  Our next big step is to work on getting him to come when called.  Since my kids still don't follow this command, I am going to be patient and just wait for it.

Come back to learn about Tiger's puppy progress.