He's a Winner! Tiger Triumphs in First Round of Pet Tournament

Facing tough competion from the many, many hairy legs of spider Plato, my dog Tiger emerges victorious from the first round of the Tournament of Pets!  Thanks to all who voted for him, and a sloppy slurp to you from Tiger, too.  I am now proudly bearing Tiger as my icon, so you can see him on all my articles. 

 Here's a reprise of Tiger's first entry into the contest.  Good luck to all the contestants, and may the best pet win!

My marriage is a mixed marriage -- I'm a cat person, and my husband is

a dog person.  My husband grew up in a military family, and their frequent 

moves (often to danger zones) kept him from ever adopting the dog of his

dreams.  When he finally was out on his own after college, it was rental

apartments that kept him dog-less.  Finally, when we moved into a house of our

very own, he wanted to realize his lifelong dream of adopting a dog.  He had

picked out the name for the dog decades before -- Tiger.  He dreamed of

a purebred German shepherd romping by his side, curling up at his feet on

a cold evening, and being his steadfast companion.

The trouble was, purebred German shepherds often have health problems

due to inbreeding among dogs, and finding a reputable breeder was a daunting

task.  So many puppies in shelters were looking for good homes, too, so how

could we turn our backs on them because we sniffed at their pedigrees?

So, we rejected the breeder approach, and turned instead to

petfinder.org.  After a few days of fruitlessly browsing, my husband spotted a new

posting.  A litter of six puppies was coming up for adoption, and the tag on the

posting said the magic words -- possible Shepherd mix.  We opened up

the listing, and there was a photo of six of the cutest puppies we had

seen, all racing down the hallway and looking like they were just made for fun.

We had to go see those puppies right away.  They puppies were being

cared for in a foster home, by the family that had taken in the pregnant

momma dog.  We arranged to meet the two male puppies at a local vet, and

arrived there bright and early to see them.

First, we met the momma dog.  She was a beautiful, reddish pit bull. 

Pit bull?  Not a shepherd?  No, the foster family explained, they thought

the puppies' father was a shepherd, based on their coloring.  My husband

was a little disappointed, but the charming mother soon won his heart.  She

was so gentle and friendly and calm -- we hoped the puppies would take after

her.

The puppies were all roly- poly, tumble-bumble, running pell-mell and

head over heels (like the fast puppies in my son's favorite book, The Poky

Little Puppy).   The expression "more fun than a barrel of monkeys" should

really be changed to "a pile of puppies".  After much playing and laughing, we

picked our Tiger.

Did the puppy turn into a carbon copy of his suspected German shepherd

father?  Not at all.  If Tiger is a German shepherd, he is the world's

smallest shepherd.  No, he has the heart of a Staffordshire bull

terrier (which is what we discovered his mom really was).  He is loyal,

friendly, eager to please, and very protective of our toddler.  Does my husband

regret not adopting his dream dog?  Well, sometimes he mentions his fondness

for a German shepherd's looks, but he would never give up his big baby dog

(pictured here on my husband's lap).  This fall, Tiger will have been

with our family for 8 years, and he still is that roly poly, tumble bumble,

pell mell, head over heels puppy that we fell in love with at the vet's

office.

And am I still a cat person?  Of course I am, but a Tiger is a cat,

too, right?