July 10th 2012 1:42 am
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This is the "tail" of how I came to live with my human. I was born in New Orleans, although I don't remember my early days, and my human isn't sure what all my life consisted of before I came to be living in concrete confinement. My medical records show I was neutered at eight weeks old, but 5-6 months later, I was still in the shelter. My human isn't sure if I was adopted and then returned, or if there were just too many other cute puppies, and I grew up before any puppy adopters spotted me.
It was January of 2009 when I first saw my human. She was studying in New Orleans and missed having a pet. She knew how many dogs end up in shelters, many never to leave alive, and she wanted to give one a forever home. She walked around, looking at every dog, most them were bouncing off the walls and barking, including me! Finally she stopped by my enclosure to look at me. I was young so I didn't have a bed to rest on like the older dogs, my space was completely bare. She asked one of the shelter workers if she could meet me out in the fenced yard, and I was taken out.
The second the leash was off, I was zooming around the yard. I jumped on the woman who had brought me out the second she turned her back to me, and then continued sprinting, pausing only to sniff occasionally. The woman told them I was neutered, and all set to be adopted, but she seemed a little surprised when my human said that yes, she wanted me. I was captured, with some effort, and taken into the back again to be microchipped while my human filled out the papers and paid for me. I was led back out to her and she foolishly knelt down to greet me. I jumped at her, slashing the front of her face with my nails. Everyone in the room froze as blood dripped down her face, but fortunately she knew I was just overexcited and it was her fault the accident happened.
With my new collar and leash put on, I pulled my human outside, eager for this new adventure. She let me use the grass, then loaded me into the back of the car. As soon as we got home, I promptly terrified her sister's housemate by charging her and jumping on her, growled at my new human for telling me 'no', and had an accident on the floor. I was introduced to my crate, which helped to fine tune my housetraining, and my new backyard. Every night I slept in the crate, next to my human's bed, and by day my human walked me, played with me in my yard, or hung out with me in our room, when she wasn't in class.
A couple weeks later, human and I were in obedience class together, learning how to communicate, so I could become a better housemate to all the humans I was living with. I was very trying at first, because I didn't understand what she wanted, and I just wanted to have fun! But we kept working at it, and slowly but surely our training moved forward. By the end of the course, I was more refined, but still very rough around the edges. I learned a lot from my human, but she says she learned even more from me.
A few months after my adoption, my human and I moved to Southern California, where she lived normally. So Cal was where my new life truly began. I met her Golden Retriever, Savannah, and we became friends. I also met the rest of her human family and immediately took a liking to her mother. But the best part of the move was my new freedom. With so much more space, and my human knowing the best trails, we started to work on my recall. Before long I was ready for off lead hikes, and at long last, my exercise needs were being properly met. I found it much easier to comply with my human's house rules when I wasn't bursting at the seams with energy. Finally I could run and run and run, the way I'd always wanted to.
Now that I live in a house with my humans, sleep on their couch, eat a fantastic diet, run everyday, and know that I have their love forever, I am one happy mutt!
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Dogster Obsessions: The Starter Kit for Dogs by Wildebeest
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