I was whelped late winter 2009 from a Chihuahua bitch who was a bit careless in choice of a mate. Not unusual in Milpitas CA where small mixes rule. A nice family welcomed me home and helped me learn to be a nice family dog. But soon things got a little weird. A man in a suit and another in a uniform knocked on the door and made my family very angry. I hid in my carrier as I usually did when the family was angry, and tried not to be noticed. Soon after a big truck came and took everything out of the house and my family was looking at me with a strange feeling of love and unhappiness. They took me to my favorite park where I loved to chase squirrels. I didn't play much with the other dogs. I was a small puppy, and stayed close to my family when I was tired of chasing squirrels. When I got tired I came back to parking lot but they were not there. I made my way back to the house but they were not there either. I stayed in the neighborhood for a while hoping that one of the neighbors would take pity on me or at least leave a bit of food out for me, but it was not to be.
I hate to be wet, and when the storm came I went to the neighborhood shopping center and found a dry place to hide behind a breakfast place. I found a blanket nearby and dragged it to my refuge and fell asleep under it. By morning I was very hungry and ventured out of my hiding place. People have been nice to me so I was not afraid, and I saw a nice lady outside taking a break, and begged for some food. She went inside and brought out a dirty plate with some eggs and butter on it and left it for me. That was my food for a few days as she would always leave a plate out for me in the early morning.
But one morning a bunch of nasty men grabbed me and took me away and began using me as a soccer ball, kicking me and laughing at my cries of pain. I managed to escape when they took a break but I was in a strange neighborhood and couldn't find my way back to anyplace I knew. I don't know how long I wandered around trying to find some food but a nice lady in a little truck enticed me with some food and picked me up and took me to a big house with lots of dogs and cats in it. They fed me and stuck some needles in me, and put me in a nice open cage in a quiet part of the house.
The next day a nice lady wandered into my aisle which was marked Not For Adoption and when she saw me we bonded instantly. The rest of my new family was talking about adopting some other dog, and the nice lady went to them and told them "We will look at Peter." She was told that I was a stray that had not been evaluated yet, but the older man said he was a good trainer of dogs and could handle me. After some argument they brought me into the meeting room and I ran up to the woman and rolled over so she could rub my sore belly. That convinced the people at the Humane Society of Silicon Valley that I would be a good dog for the family and they let me go home with them the next day.
In my new home I had a brand new rug so I didn't have to worry about accidents, but I knew about inside so they did not have to worry. I used their nice back yard with lots of squirrels to tend to my needs and went back and crawled into my carrier for the night. It felt safe, but I missed my blanket so I scouted around a bit and saw a nice quilt hanging off the couch. I knew I wasn't allowed to be on the furniture so I gave it a little tug and another and it fell to the floor and I wrapped myself in it.
After breakfast training began, they were surprised that there were no piddles on the rug, then I barked at a squirrel on the fence, and they let me out to give him a run for his challenge and took care of the necessaries and went back in. I am really a house dog, and go outside only when it is necessary, and never when it rains. Not even to chase a squirrel.
When the man made breakfast the smell of eggs and butter was so nice I went over to the table to share. It turns out that the man didn't like that and sent me away. So the next day I didn't bother him and sat on my sleeping mat and told him I was waiting with my eyes and ears. He looked at me and told me I was a gooddog, and after a bit he put his not quite empty plate down for me to clean up. I learned quickly that "gooddog" eventually was followed by a treat, so training was easy for both of us. After breakfast the man was refilling the butter dish, and I remembered the lady at the breakfast place always left a few butter wrappers out for me, so I went back to my mat and waited expectantly, the man isn't dumb either so he brought me the butter wrapper to lick. That ended the table training for both of us. If I stayed away I always got a plate to lick, and he almost always remembered to put the plate down as soon as he was finished.
The nice lady wasn't as persnickety and kept a little dish on the floor beside her, and when she found some fat or gristle that she didn't want to eat she dropped it in the bowl. I told you we bonded instantly. I made sure that when I tested out the couch rules that the man was nowhere to be seen to object and found that none of the furnature was off limits. The man didn't fight the consensus and the orange quilt on the couch became my downstairs home.
When I was still a pup we went to San Francisco for an outing, I was good on a leash and knew all the usual cues, heel, sit, wait, come, etc. I still didn't like men including the trainer man, and didn't like him even touching me. But as we were walking in the city we approached a bus stop where a big bunch of men were standing around. I just couldn't be convinced to pass them even in a tight heel. I just sat down and let the man solve the problem. He finally picked me up and carried me past them. I didn't really like it but it did make me feel safe away from their feet. He felt me shivering and put me down as soon as we were past the trouble.
I quickly learned to announce anybody intruding on the property, and to park on cue if they were welcome. If they were women and children I eagerly joined the party but was reserved so I didn't frighten anybody. I had a much harder time accepting men even from a distance. I didn't even like the trainer man with all the treats to touch me. He could tell me what to do, and I would do it, but even in a heel I kept away from his feet for several years. I eventually learned with lots of help to tolerate men that had good smelling shoes. The nice lady is Chinese so everybody leaves their shoes in the foyer where I can get acquainted with them.
In the evening I get long walks to exercise my people and sniff my way around the neighborhood to make sure all is well. They tried to teach me off leash behavior, but I prefer to keep my new family on the other end of the leash. I don't even go to the door until they attach themselves to my harness.
Not much more to tell just the boring adventures of a happy house dog in a nice family home. I am sure you have heard them all. I am just a
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