Hiya! Savannah Here!
LIFE CHANGING INTERVIEWS WITH SAVANNAH
A Bi-Monthly Series Featuring Adult Rescue Dogs and Cats
Oh you are so gonna luvluvluv my doggy interview today! He is just, well…cute…and wise and brave!
My good furriend, Khumba, from Twitter (@khumbasibe) and FB , Tails from the Pack, is the one who sent me over to have a meow and woo with this guest’s older brother…but then once I meowed and aarrwwoo’d (yes, I do speak some Sibe and a few general doggy dialects)…with his pack leaders, we thought his little brother would be a purrfect interview guest.
So let’s not wait…help me give a warm paw blog welcome to:
DEZ
APAWS!! APAWS!! APAWS!!
Savannah: Hiya Dez! Thanks lots for stopping by and having a bark with me…I know your big bro’ Tyler, @Tyler_T_Dog, from our Twitter barks, arwoo woo’s and meows…So purrleased he directed me to you!
Dez: I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am to be here…or anywhere! I’m the luckiest Dez ever!
Savannah: Well, I know you and Tyler get out for lots of walkies…but let’s get started…can you bark a bit about how you found your furrever home?
Dez: I was picked up by Pet Angels Rescue. They found me after a looooong time of living out on the streets. They put me up for adoption on a website, I think it was on this thingy called Pet Finders??
My people told me that they saw me on there and knew they had to come check me out because I was soooo cute.
One day, in May of 2010, Pet Angels Rescue had an adoption event at a local mall and guess what?!? They decided to take ME—DEZ! (Back then, my name was Frank, but I didn’t like that name too well. It didn’t really fit my personality.)
There I was in a little make-shift cage with a bunch of other pups when this real nice couple came in and started looking at me. I knew I had to be on my best behavior or they wouldn’t pick me. So I acted real cool and didn’t get all excited like the other pups in the cage. It worked! They decided to take me for a walk to see if they would just love me forever.
After our walk, they put me back in the cage. I was so confused. I thought they loved me and wanted to take me home. The man kept talking about how “Tyler” would react to me while the lady kept talking about how cute I was. Then they both left and I was real sad.
Savannah: Oh Dez, that must have been so scary—not knowing if the bipeds would come back for you…I am sorry you had to wait.
Dez: It was pretty scary Savvy…is it OK if I call you Savvy?
Savannah: oh cat! Of course!
Dez: Anywho, a few days later, they came back! They decided to take me home with them. I was so happy when they were filling out the papers that I was running all over the house. Nothing could keep me still! That was the same day I met my new brother, Tyler. He’s an older husky and he acts grumpy sometimes, but I know he loves me!
I’ve been in my new home over 2 years and I love it! I’ve gained lots of weight and have lots of toys. Tyler and I go to daycare 2 times a week and they love us there!
Savannah: So Dez, can you bark a bit more about any stuff you had to work through when you first came to live in your furrever…did you have any, well…like…ya know…luggage baggage left from your past??
Dez: I warmed up to my people real quick.
At first I didn’t like to put on my leash. In fact, my first day at my new home, they put me on a leash in the kitchen because they didn’t know if I would tear up all of their fancy stuff and make a huge mess. Well, I chewed right through that leash without them knowing and I busted out of the kitchen and had a great time playing with Tyler all day.
When they got home they were so surprised that I had eaten through my leash, but even more surprised that I didn’t tear up anything, so I got lots of treats!
The only problem I really have is I am very possessive of my big brother, Tyler. Sometimes when we go on long walks together, I pick fights with other dogs because I think they want to hurt him. I know he’s old and I feel like it’s my job to protect him. I’m only 20 lbs. and he’s 90 lbs., but he’s a little weak and I don’t want him to get hurt.
My pack leaders work with me to try to keep me from getting so excited. We go to the dog park, but I don’t ever start fights at the park. It’s only at home. They told me that I need to get that under control if I want to be a Canine Good Citizen like Tyler.
I’m still trying…
Savannah: Well, of course you need to keep Tyler safe…even if he is grumpy sometimes; you know he is happy to have you with him. Dez, did you and your pack leaders do special stuff to help you with your, errrr…ummmm…anger management.
Dez: I don’t really have many issues…and I don’t really get “angry”…just really protective of Tyler.
Savannah: oh Dez, thank you for correcting me…”anger” is a peep behavior…I know we cats and dogs react to stuff that scares us or threatens our own, or our furriends’ safety…purrlease go on…
Dez: I’ve been a really, really good boy. The few problems I do have, we’ve done some different things to try to address them. Since my issues are with other dogs, my pack leaders take me to places where I can interact with other dogs and be social with them. My first challenge was daycare.
They wanted me and Tyler to go to the same daycare place, so I had to take a temperament test before I was allowed to go. They left me at daycare for almost a whole day and I didn’t start any fights so I got to go to daycare with Tyler!
When I started going with Tyler, that was when I became more possessive, but I learned which dogs were our friends and which dogs Tyler didn’t want to play with. He told me, and I make sure to keep those dogs away from him. I’m not mean to them, I just bark at them until they go play somewhere else. They call me Tyler’s Body Guard! BOL!
The first time we went to a dog park, I thought I had gone to heaven! There were so many puppies to sniff and so many things to pee on…I didn’t even know where to start! I know my pack leaders were nervous about how I would act, but I was really good! I didn’t start any fights with anyone.
For me, it’s the unstable dogs around my neighborhood that make me nervous. We go out lots of times every day so I can get used to seeing them. Without Tyler, I do just fine. It’s when Tyler comes with us that I get nervous and start fights.
Savannah: Mouses, Dez, you have really done lots to get a hold of your protection urges…bark some more about how you and your pack leaders are making sure you can show more and more of your REAL SELF.
Dez: My pack leaders are working with me on my possessiveness with my big brother Tyler, correcting my actions when I act out. We hope by this coming summer I can be good enough to go to puppy school and take classes for my Canine Good Citizenship test!! That way I can be just like my big brother! I am so excited!!! School will be tough, but I am up for the challenge. Having patient pack leaders helps too.
Savannah: It is the bestest ever to have our pack leaders or Guardians be so supportive, huh? So my last question, can you offer any advice to our readers to help them support their adult rescue dog, or one they may be thinkin’ about brining into their home, through its recovery process so that dog can show more and more of its REAL SELF?
Dez: Cats and dogs are a lot more like people than the peeps really think! We’re very smart and very in tune to what our pack leaders are thinking and feeling.
From the way peeps react to us…from when we bring our favorite toy to them to us bothering them for a potty break…we know if they are excited to be with us or if they would rather be left alone. Sometimes it hurts our feelings when they don’t appreciate the messes we make or the trouble we go through to get our favorite toy on the couch for them.
We always do these things because we love them and are so happy they decided to share their life with us. We tell them with our voices, our barks, arwoo woos…and with our actions that we care about them very much. Without the peeps to take care of us, we would probably already be at the Rainbow Bridge. As nice as the Rainbow Bridge is, no puppy or kitty wants to get there before their time.
Savannah: MEOW! Dez, for such a young dog, you are very wise! You and your pack leaders have made a real furramily together!
We are at the end of our interview, but Dez, do you have any last thoughts or words of wisdom you want to share?
Dez: We’re not perfect and no matter how hard we, meaning us adult rescue dogs and our pack leaders, both try, accidents are going to happen. Together we can make each other’s lives a little less boring and a little more worth living. Hug your adopted pet every chance you get, because we love it just as much as you love doing it.
Savannah: Well, that’s a wrap on another great Real Rescue Dogs Are Talking: Life Changing Interview with Savannah. Hope you all luvluvluv’d Dez as much as me!
Now, Dez doesn’t blog, but just an FYI for readers, Dez and Tyler have their own FB page, Tyler Huskamute, so hop over and give them a “LIKE”…or send a Tweet to Tyler @Tyler_T_Dog and he will pass it along to Dez.
Paw Pats, Savannah
peeEss I am looking for rescue dogs and cats who want to pawticipate in my Life Changing Interview with Savannah series: I have openings for CATS: Feb and March 2013 and DOGS: Jan and Feb and March. I try to schedule one to three months out so my furriends have time cuz I know they are all very busy. Let me know if you want to pawticipate or you have a referral. Thank you, Savannah
Savannah's Paw Tracks 