I've alluded to Tige's past as a homeless dog, but have not yet recounted the story. Thanksgiving Weekend is an appropriate time to tell Tige's Story. It's a real Black Beauty tale.
Tige started out life in a wonderful place - at Sleeping Lady's Bouviers, a kennel owned by Judy McConnell here in Anchorage. Judy is one of the top bouvier breeders in the US and even better than that - she loves her dogs - and they love her. She is truly the best.
Anyhoo, Tige was born in January 2003 and his parents were Finn and Hailey - two fabulous dogs. From the start, Tige was a special guy - he was an adorable puppy and pick of the litter to boot. Tige was slated for a man who'd been waiting two years for a puppy from Judy. His adult son had one of Judy's puppies and the man decided he wanted one also. So, at 10 weeks, Tige was shipped off to California to his new family.
As far as anyone knows, things were going well until Tige was five months old when the man remarried. The new wife didn't like Tige - definitely an evil stepmother thing happening. But instead of shipping Tige back to Judy as was stipulated in the contract, the new wife gave Tige away to a homeless man living on their estate in New Hampshire. So, at age five months, while he was still a baby, Tige became homeless. That evil new wife should have been divorced and left on the scrap heap.
At this point in the story, Tige disappeared from sight. He didn't resurface until many many months later when he was hit by a car. He was badly injured - no broken bones, but really really smooshed up. He was taken to a vet hospital. Even though he was skin and bones (he weighed 45 pounds - he now weighs 100 pounds), the docs recognized that he was a bouvier, and called the New England bouvier rescue group. The rescue group had him transferred to a New York vet hospital and they also scanned him for a chip, found the chip and were able to trace him back to Judy. So, started Tige's very long stay in the hospital. Judy was on the phone every day with the rescue folks and the hospital. After countless thousands of dollars, impressive long distance phone bills, and two months, Tige was finally well enough to come home. Judy's husband Tim, flew down to pick him up and bring him back where he belonged. Tige has been home now for a little over a year and you would hardly recognize him. He's no longer a skin and bones scarred up guy - he's an incredibly healthy, happy, and totally adorable and lovable dog.
Judy's theory is that the homeless man must have really loved Tige - Tige is open, loving, and so very sweet. The man must have taken care of Tige as best he could. Unlike Tige's previous evil owners.
So, observations that shed a bit of light on Tige's past life:
- Tige's given name was Jocko. Ugh...Judy changed that immediately when Tige came home for good.
- Tige has been declawed. Can you believe that? Evidently, in California, people have dogs declawed because they don't want their dogs scratching their hard wood floors. That attitude is flippin' barbaric. The declawed dog thing takes a little getting used to. For example, you can't hear Tige when he walks up behind you. He's so quiet because he's walking on the pads of his feet. The no claws thing makes it tough for him to sit up straight on the tiled floor. His feet keep sliding out. Walking on ice is also a bit challenging.
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Tige is very frightened by thunder and heavy rain storms. All that time outside without any protection really scarred him. He also hates to be cold. Can you blame him?
- Tige doesn't play with toys. His evil people probably never played with him as a puppy. And the homeless man probably didn't have a plethora of toys. Peter and I are trying to teach Tige, but it's a bit tricky. Although Tige is showing interest in tennis balls. We'll get there - slowly but surely.
- Oh yeah - the food thing. Tige shows laser focus whenver food is around - much more so than your average house dog. You can tell food was an issue for him. He's not aggressive or mean - he's just there right with you whenever you're eating.
After all of this, Tige is the sweetest big guy around. He's just a total love sponge. This a testament to Judy's caring and Tige's indomitable spirit.
This picture was taken right after Tige returned to Anchorage.
Now, here's Tige, a little over a year later with Peter.
10:55:35 PM 
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