Life at the Zoo!: Hairy Little Monster

I think that we are a bit crazy... I will start off by admitting that! No one with good sense has a puppy and a baby at the same time! :-) I grew up in a zoo... and I think Mason enjoys his little zoo too!

As most of you know we needed to give up our dog Sasha this past December due to biting issues. Basically the issue was she began snapping at Mason... for no reason at all! It could be that he had blue pants on that day, or that he dared to breathe in the same area code she was... point was she was not happy living in a house with a very active little boy. So off she went back to the Humane Association. (by the way we have heard that she has a new home... here's hoping that everything works out for her!!)

While I was happy with having one dog... Sophie, (also known as the worlds most perfect dog!) Dan was missing having a companion. The problem with our pets (all of them in fact!) is that they are all very needy... for me. Not one of them chooses to be Dan's. He is okay when there is an open spot on the couch that needs to be filled... but not if one is available next to mom. Dan was really wanting a dog he could call his own.

So the research began. As many of you know I am partial to German Shepard Dogs... as you know I have the worlds most perfect one! So Dan did his research and came up with a breeder for GSD puppies. In the back of his mind he had the idea of a Border Collie pup.

Before Mason was born Sophie and I did Flyball. Sophie was a superstar (not biased here... just speaking the truth!) and her buddy at Flyball was a Border Collie named Penny. Penny was a bit of a mouthy little thing. She was a rescue who didn't like other dogs... except Sophie, she didn't even like the other dogs she lived with!! She also didn't like people, other than her owner... but she liked Dan!! She had excelled in obedience and herding, but was not doing so hot in Flyball. Dan came to watch Sophie and ended up buddying up to Penny. Three years later and Dan still talks about Penny!!!

So one day Dan found an ad for Border Collie pups on Craigs List... and the light bulb went off in his head. So we went to look at these puppies. It was Valentines Day... and it was COLD!!! We knew that the parents were farm dogs, so we bundled Mason up in case we were going to be outside. Good thing we did... the pups had NEVER been in the house! They lived in the barn! So Mason played with the pups (all NINE of them!) until his cheeks got cold, and then we waited in the car. Dan chose a little male puppy... not the meekest and not the most outgoing, just somewhere in the middle.

Then came the problem of what to name him. The first thing that came to mind was Stinky... WHEW! Living in a barn your whole life doesn't give you a very nice aroma!! Then we had some inspiration... Mason's favorite movie. Monster's Inc.!!

The big hairy guy is Sully... the hero of Monster's Inc.! Now Mason could watch this movie eight times a day if we would let him... and he looooooooves Sully! So we thought it would be a good name for our hairy, stinky monster. We asked Mason and he agreed... so Sully it was!!!

Sully spent the next few days acclimating himself to life as an inside dog. That meant bathtime!!! Nothing that smells that bad may live in my house! So I think he had been in the door for *maybe* three minutes and in the tub he went. He cried the whole time... not sure if it was scary or he liked how he smelled... but he came out smelling 250% better than when he went in!! He also had to learn about not peeing in the house... this has been a hard one!! When you are (literally) born in a barn, you don't have a problem letting loose where ever you are!! Thank goodness we have hardwood floors and no carpet! (I keep saying no more puppies!! Next time we get a chimp... they wear diapers!!!)

He also learned the joys of being an inside dog... pillows and blankets!