The Escape Artist

Theresa and I finally gave into our desire to complicate our lives a little when we decided to adopt our first pet. Our trip to Animal Care Services of San Antonio resulted in finding a medium sized chihuaha mutt named Buster, at least Buster was the name listed on the cage. We later found out that he had just been returned to the animal shelter the day before we saw him. And that his name was Pepper, at least at some point. Although we felt Buster was a very fitting name, the dog responded better to Pepper.

We also found out that Pepper's previous owner returned him because he kept escaping from their fenced in yard. Now I am no dog expert, eventhough I have thoroughly analyzed and painstakingly studied every episode of the Dog Whisperer down to the last nuance, I am sure Pepper's previous owner's would have found a simple solution to their problem. Nevertheless, because of their decision we now have a great dog.

I have to say a little about the adoption. It was a fairly simple process. After proving that our apartment complex cleared us for owning a dog, it was only a matter of providing ID, some personal information, and $81. In return, we got Pepper who had been given all his vaccinations, checked for worms, been neutered, and microchipped.

Now, I start working on teaching Pepper the ropes at the Reiff-Garcia house. He's not real big yet on responding when called or going into his kennel, but we just met. He is pretty good at using the bathroom outside and is very responsive to correction when other dogs or people pass by. He is also above average when walking with a leash. He is also very playful and very very silly. At the vet today he growled at a picture of a cat on the wall. After laughing for a moment I corrected him and he paid no further attention to that hapless antigonist.