Tuesday, November 30, 2010

In the Beginning

My earliest days will remain a secret and can never be revealed. The most I can say is that I was born sometime in 2007. Probably early in the year.

In February 2008, I was wandering around a shopping center in the Shikun HaMizrach in Rishon le Zion, Israel. I was hungry and thirsty and a scruffy mess. I remember this lady walking by with a dog. Our eyes met, and for a moment I had this hopeful feeling that she could see what a great little doggie I was, but at the end she just kept going. Rats. But the next day, she came by again, and this time after asking around and hearing from the guard at the entrance that I had been here for over a week, she looped the end of the dog's leash over my head and I walked home with them.

First thing she gave me some food and water. You can imagine how hungry and thirsty I was. Then she put a leash on me again, and took me in her car to a vet. She asked the vet to look for a my-crow-chip or something, which he didn't find. I remember him looking at my ears and saying that they looked awfully swollen and maybe I would need treatment for hematoma! (That happens when a dog has itchy ears, and shakes his head so much that the blood collects in the ear flaps. Ewww!)


Did I mention that I was rather scruffy? Well, I was a real mess. I was just a mass of tangles and mats. Anyways, she takes me back home and gets out a pair of scissors to try to trim off the mats, but she couldn't even get the point of the scissors through my fur. That's how bad I was!


This is me when she just found me...what a mess!


She ended up calling a groomer to come over and give me a haircut. I didn't really like the buzz of the clippers, but it was a relief getting rid of all that itchy mass of hair. And guess what, my ears were fine. The fur had been so matted on them that the vet thought it was my actual ears and not fur.

This is what I looked like after the haircut:


I am here a very naked dog. (Blush)

As I said, it was February, and naked dogs are not very warm, so Linda (being the creative person she is) threw together a little jacket for me from a pair of old leg warmers.




I'm not really fond of the pink color, but it was nice and cozy.

The lady's name was Linda. She told her husband (who wasn't thrilled, I could tell, about having another dog) that she would look for someone to adopt me. I liked this house and didn't really want to end up anywhere else. So I knew I would have to do something. As you can see, I am still here. So my plotting worked. But more about that another time.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Hi! My name is Pepper

Hi.

My name is Pepper.

I am a miniature poodle (or so they think; there might be some other stuff mixed in).

My regal pose!


A couple of years ago, I was lost, and a nice woman (I call her Mom, now) found me and adopted me. One day I will tell you about that. 

Today I live with in a house in Israel, with my family (mom, pop, some older kids, another dog, and a really stupid cat). 

I love people, love life, love food and love to play. I love my Mom most of all. One day I think I will try to superglue myself to her.
Honey, Mom (Linda) and Me!

Since I've been at this house, there is one special day every week (well, most weeks) were we (Mom, the other dog, and I) hop in the car (I love cars!) and go to this huge field where there is all sorts of neat equipment to jump and climb on and in. This is called "Agility." Agility has got to be one of the most fun things a dog can do (other than rolling in a dead animal, I guess). I love it! Mom loves taking me to Agility, because she says I have a lot more "drive" for it than Honey. (Honey is the other dog. She is kind of wimpy, and doesn't like running around much.)

Mom also loves teaching me other things. I love learning lots of new tricks. My favorite one is where I bring her a tissue when she sneezes. I also know how to pick up my toys and put them in my toy basket, and I can pick up clothespins off the ground when she drops them when she is hanging wet clothes up on lines outside.

Here's the tissue trick:


Now mom wants to teach me "Canine Freestyle." This is where the dog and their human do moves together to music.

Here's a link to a really famous Freestyle team - Carolyn Scott and Rookie, the golden retriever, and here's one to  Kate and Gin (border collie) at he finals of Britain's Got Talent, 2008.

Canine Freestyle is really complicated. And I think it's really going to be a big adventure to learn it. So that is why I have started this dog blog. I hope you will enjoy my adventure with me.

Please stay tuned for more posts!

All my love,

Pepper