11-3-98: My husband, J, brought home a puppy in a cardboard box. This furball was given to us by a coworker of his, who said the puppy was half border collie, half Labrador. I didn't know what to make of him. He smelled funny because he had a flea/tick dip bath before he arrived. He also had on a Hartz flea/tick collar on which was way too big for him! J gave the puppy another bath; this time with strawberry shampoo. Taylor the military macaw looked on suspiciously, but Gumbo the halfmoon conure was fascinated by the little puppy. I had to go to Wal-Mart to buy some puppy food, a collar and a retractable leash. When it was time to go to sleep, the puppy (which we named Tiberius, or Ty for short) was locked in the kitchen, where he proceeded to whine and cry most of the night. I found out that he was born on September 2, 1998, so Ty was only 2 months old when he came to live with us.
11-4-98: I took Ty over to my parents' house because they have a large fenced yard. My dad was really happy to have a puppy to play with. I was able to make an appointment with our vet, Dr. P, to get Ty checked out on 11-6-98.
11-6-98: I decided that I like Tyler better, so his name is officially Tiberius Tyler. Dr. P pronounced Ty to be in great health. He weighs 8 lbs. We get him started on treatment for hookworms and fleas and ticks. YUCK!
November 1998: Ty spent most of the month at his grandparents' house, while staying with us on the weekends. He didn't seem affected by the joint custody. He loved being with both families. At my parents' house, Ty enjoyed digging in the garden, tipping over buckets and dragging his blankies everywhere! I tried to do research on border collies and how to raise a puppy. We really want to train him properly. Ty has a lot of potential to learn tricks.
11-27-98: Second vet visit for shots. Ty was a pro--no crying. He's now 12 lbs. and losing his baby face. Got started on heartworm medicine.
12-1-98: J has decided that he wanted Ty to live with us rather than at my parents' house. He wanted Ty to recognize us as his masters, which would be important once we start obedience classes and training. We've been working on "sit" and "come here" lately.
December 1998: Ty has been getting on my last nerve! He picked fights with the birds (dog saliva is toxic to parrots); tore up countless magazines; urinated all over my carpet; chewed holes in my clothes and shoes; demolished a fake ficus tree; learned how to escape from the barricaded kitchen; learned to jump onto the couch and the bed; and started barking! Bad boy! I honestly feel like hurting him at times. The bad part is that he won't leave me alone! I feel bad about punishing him by hitting, but people around me tell me that dogs don't feel pain like we do. They have a higher threshold of pain. I just don't want Ty to turn into a vicious or scared dog.
12-27-98: We returned from Ty's Grandma and Grandpa's house. Ty behaved pretty well, except for a few accidents. He wrestled with Brandy, the 100 lb. Lab, and he seemed to have a lot of fun chasing and being chased by the older dog. Brandy growled an awful lot at Ty, but we think she secretly liked him. Brandy totally dominated the puppy, and actually, she is teaching him how to be a dog. She kept taking his bones and eating his puppy chow.
12-30-98: I like taking Tyler with me whenever we go somewhere. I've been reading that it's good to introduce puppies to different situations and people. We had to go get the car fixed, so I brought him along in the truck. Ty loves to go riding! He sticks his head out the window like every other dog.
12-31-98: Tyler is such a pain at times, but then again, he can be so cute! J has noticed that Ty is a "mama's boy," but that's only because I spend more time with Ty. Like taking him for walks at midnight and 3AM will do it, ya know? This afternoon, a group of little kids saw Ty and wanted to pet him. I had to hold Ty still in order to calm him down before I would let them pet him. When Ty gets excited, he tends to dribble urine. Gross, huh?
February 1999: Tyler is growing so big, so fast! We tried to weigh him on a scale, but our guess is that he weighs between 25 and 30 lbs. now. And he's only 5 1/2 months old! I'm going through a lot of Purina Puppy Chow! In the last month or two, Ty has grown a lot of black hair all over his back, tail and face. My mother thinks Ty looks more like a German Shepherd each day. His hair is so long, and he needs to be brushed because he's shedding a lot. His baby teeth have all come out in the last couple of weeks. Dr. P said that when his permanent teeth come in, it'll be time to get Ty neutered. Ty has been a bad boy--when he's home while we're at work, he's chewed up our venetian blinds, papers, mail, and has learned to jump onto the bed and couch. On the good side, Tyler is almost completely house broken. He's had a few accidents lately, but they are few and far between. We will be enrolling Ty in some obedience classes soon, because he has a bad habit of jumping on people. At 30 lbs., he could really hurt a child. People have been scared of him being so hyper, so I have to remember to keep him on a leash whenever he goes outside. Ty has never bitten anyone, except us. He's turning into a good dog after all.
March 1999: Ty has hit a growth plateau--he's now around 36-40 lbs. He was neutered earlier this month and came through the operation perfectly fine. He likes to sleep most of the day away, but he is active in the evening when his daddy comes home from work. Lately Ty has been learning to be a watchdog. He likes to look outside the bedroom window ("his" window) and will growl and woof at anybody outside whom he doesn't recognize. We're trying to help him get over his fear of cats. Ty runs away whenever he sees a cat. Our parrots also like to try to bite him on the nose, but Ty is pretty patient with them. He is only interested in the food that they're eating. (The parrots are allowed to eat people food, whereas Ty isn't.) Ty is now housebroken! YAY! No accidents in the house since his operation on the 3rd of this month. Ty is a big boy now!
