Tigger Club News
By Animals - For Animals
news@tigger.club

 


My Story
The Beginning

It was a sunny afternoon and I was being taken for one of my several walks for the day.

As I got outside there were two new humans standing there. They seemed happy to see  me but I wasn't sure. I tried to show I wasn't frightened by bouncing around.

They took me for a walk and gave me some treats. When we got back to my current human they started talking to each other. I was then put into the new humans car and driven away. I was scared but one of the new humans sat in the back with me. Unknown to me my current human had visited the new humans house for a 'home check' to see if it was safe for me. They were also asked what would happen to me when they were at work. Apparently I will be going to work with the human that sat in the back of the car with me.

We got to the humans house and saw they had a cage for me so I went into it. Then a strange thing happened they did not shut the cage door. I could go in and out as much as I wanted. They then opened the kitchen door and I went through it to find I was outside. I looked around and saw there was a big fence all around so I would be safe.

I wasn't sure of these new humans although when I went up to them they seemed kind enough, although when they tried to come over to me I moved away as I wasn't sure. They gave me food to eat so I ate great mouthfuls as fast as I could. The new humans seemed concerned at the speed I ate and discussed about reducing my meals.

I spent the rest of the day going outside in my secure area and sitting at the other side of the room from the humans. It was then 'bed time'. One of the humans took me outside, is this where I sleep? No wait, they let me back in and got a treat. They put the treat into the cage and said 'bed time'. I got in because I wanted the treat. They shut the door of the cage and went out of the hallway door we first came in when we arrived. I was very frightened as it was dark, quiet and did not have any familiar smells, so I cried. The door the humans went out of opened and one of the humans walked in. Was I going to get told off for crying? They took me outside, am I being put outside because I was crying? I stood and looked at them. No they let me outside in case I needed to go outside. They put me back in the cage and locked the door. Instead of going out of the hallway door the human sat on the sofa and stayed there all night with me.

The next morning I was let outside and the kitchen door was left open so I could go in and out as much as I wanted. I was feeling hungry and the human must have been thinking the same thing as they put food in my bowl. I went to grab as much as possible but there was only a little bit in there. Why? I need to find more food as this will not do me. I moved around the kitchen to look for food and the human stepped forward to my bowl and put more food in. I rushed toward the bowl but the human was still in the way. We stood staring at each other for what seemed to be ages then they said 'good boy' and moved to one side. I saw there was still a small amount of food and grabbed it just as quickly as before. I looked at the human but they said that was enough for now.

A short time later the human got my collar and lead and put it on me. Where are they taking me? What did I do wrong? I went with them resigned that I was being taken away. I was put in the car and we travelled for a short while. I was taken out of the car and saw I was outside properly with fields and smells all around. Where were we going? We walked for what felt like ages and I was allowed to stop and smell all of the wonderful smells along the way. Soon we ended up beside the car and I was put in. We travelled again and I realised we were back at the humans house. We went inside where once again I was allowed the cage door and the kitchen door open so I could explore and wander inside and outside within the secure fence.

The human then gently called 'Tigger' and I went to see what the sound was for. The human was stood by my bowl. I waited until the human said 'good boy' and rushed forward to see if there was food.  Yes! I ate quickly but a bit slower than I had been, I wanted to enjoy this food. This continued for a week. The human always trying to leave me at night and returning because I was crying. I began to learn that food was being supplied loads of times a day, so I could stop my grabbing and rushing as I knew it would not be long before more food would be available. Daily Walks were still scary as I was not sure where I would end up and indeed if I would be coming back to their house.

The humans saw that I was underweight and my skin was in a bad way too. They bought dog food that would be good for me to get me healthy. I was introduced to the vet who checked my weight and overall health. The humans were told that I was still very underweight and needed to regain that weight gradually. Exercise would rebuild my muscles up again, which would help to make me feel a lot better too.

I went on another visit to the nice vets again today. I don't know why everyone says I need to be wary of them as they are nice and patient with me and give me treats.
Oh I am being left here with them, where are the humans going? I am being taken through to a room with indoor kennels. I get put into one and everyone seems nice.
The vets come back over to me and take me out of the kennel, I am a bit scared but let them.
They stab me in the leg but give me a big cuddle at the same time so I don't think they are trying to hurt me. I am getting very tired.
They wake me up and put a lead on me. I am so very tired still. I get let through a door where I can see the humans. I want to run up to them but I just want to sleep. When I wake up again I realise I am at the humans house. What happened to me? I still feel a bit weird.
I lick my leg where I got stabbed and lie there wondering what happened to me. I have been robbed by the vet. My bits have been taken while I slept. How could they do this ? More importantly who do I complain to? I had to return to the vet after a few days to get a check up and my stitches out. I definately know to be wary of vets now and I made sure the humans never left me there.

It was strange getting used to these new humans. I was very wary of everyone and everything. These humans were very patient and seemed to not notice when I did things wrong. They also kept away from me and did not crowd me or make me feel trapped.  Perhaps I should start allowing them near me. It is scary trusting them as I trusted humans before and that didn't end well. Night times were still scarey but I could not believe that the human sat with me every night, all night to make sure I did not get frightened. I was gradually feeling less frightened and realised the humans were not abandoning me at night. By the third week the humans were able to leave me for a few hours at night to start with and by the end of the third week they were able to leave me all night.

I was taken out somewhere new today. I did not recognise where we were going. When I jumped out off the car there were loads of new smells. Other dogs and other animals I did not recognise. There was smells of other humans. What was this place? What was going on? I was scared but excited at the new smells. The humans led me through a gate and closed it behind us. It was a long small area with tall fencing. One of the humans walked me up and down. They then reached down and unclipped my lead. I stood there frightened. What were they doing? Why were they unclipping my lead? They did not leave me, they just stood there. I started to explore around at the smells. It was new and it was exciting. I started to run around and the humans laughed.

After a while the humans walked towards another gate at the other end of this area. They opened the gate and they went through. I could still see them but I wanted to run around and did not follow them. Eventually I decided to explore through the gate and I was amazed to see a huge field with the same high fencing around. I rushed through the gate and ran around at top speed. I ignored the humans as they stood there watching me. I was happy. I was running and it felt good. They shouted out my name a few times but I ignored them and they did not seem angry about that. After running around the field for what felt like ages I was really tired and wandered towards the humans. One of them had a treat in their hand so I went closer and got the treat. I ate the treat and ran around the field again. The humans laughed. When I went back to the humans again for another treat my lead was clipped back onto my collar. I did not argue as I was tired from running around. I was given another treat then we got back into the car and went back to the humans house.

While out on my walk this morning I found loads of kibble, well it looked like kibble, all over the fields. It tasted so good but the human said not to eat it. They have to keep taking me to the doggy supermarket to buy more kibble, why? There is loads of the stuff growing in the fields for free.

Every day I was taken out for walks and went to work with one of the humans, so I was never left alone, apart from at night but I knew they were in the humans house somewhere. I was still wondering if I should trust them. Did they deserve my trust? Were they safe to trust? I have been here for four months, perhaps I need to see if I can trust them. 

I woke early today, and as soon as I cried out one of the humans appeared to let me out of the cage and opened the kitchen door. They put food in my bowl as usual and went to sit on the sofa, leaving me running in and out of the kitchen door and letting me eat when I wanted to. I Have decided that today is the day, I will see if i can trust the humans. Instead of eating my food I stood in the kitchen and stared at the human on the sofa. I slowly walked up to the human with my heart beating loudly in my chest. Be brave I told myself, I must push forward despite my fear. The human saw me and smiled but did not move. I realised I must do it now or I would never do it. I took a deep breath and walked upto the human and put my head on their leg. I was scared but it felt good. The human looked down at me and smiled. They did not move or push me away. I stood there for ages and enjoyed the feeling. The humans had touched and stroked me before but I had always moved away. Today I was touching a human and they did not hurt me or try to push me away. Life felt wonderful.

Over the next few days I spent more time getting closer to the human, the one that had spent weeks downstairs with me, the other human was kind to me too but I just needed more time to give my trust to them too. When I put my head on the human's leg they started to get me used to them stroking me while I stood there.

Now that I have been here a while and the humans do not appear to want to hurt me I will try to have a bit of a play. I picked up one of the toys that the humans had put on the floor. I carried it around, watching the human to see what they would do. They did not do anything except watch me back. I put down the toy and went outside. When I came back in I tried picking up the ball again. This time I carried it outside to see what happened. The human never came out to take it off me so I started to play with it outside. This game was good and I was enjoying it. For a moment I forgot about my fears and I ran at top speed into the sitting room with the toy in my mouth. Then it happened, oh no, I had caught my side on the table that the human was using their laptop on. The table collapsed and crashed to the floor and the human quickly grabbed the laptop, but not fast enough. It half bumped on the floor as it was caught. I froze in fear. What would the human do now?

The human saw me standing in the corner of the room and I braced myself for whatever was coming. Then the human did the strangest thing. The table and laptop was still on the floor but the human went into the kitchen. They came back with a treat and sat on the floor. They called me over but I wasn’t going to fall for a trap. So the human snapped a piece of treat and threw it gently towards me. I slowly stretched myself to take the treat and eat it. The human then threw a few more pieces, one at a time and closer to them, until I was beside them. Then the human stroked me and told me it was ok and checked I was not injured. The human then stroked me and told me to play again and gave me the toy back. They then went to tidy up the table and laptop. This was all very strange to me as humans are known to shout and attack when something gets broken, yet this human was different.

I played more with the toys over the next few days but tried very hard to make sure I did not have any more accidents. I even through the ball in the sitting room and it landed next to the human. They picked it up and gently threw it towards me. I played more and wanted to see if the human would do it again. So I lay down in front of the human and used my nose to push the ball towards them. They pushed it back. Wow this was great if I can train the humans this easily then they must not be all that bad.

Today I was rudely pushed off the sofa. By what I can only describe as a sofa fairy, an invisible being that causes mischief. I was happily dozing on the sofa with my head hung over the front and the next thing you know I was on the floor. I looked around in surprise and all I saw were the humans sitting on the other sofa laughing and looking at me. I never quite saw the sofa fairy but over the next few days they kept pushing me off the sofa as I slept so I will keep an eye out for them.

We went for our daily adventure as usual and as always I was eager to see where we were going. I always lie down in the car while it is moving so I don’t get to see where we are travelling to. When the car stopped I jumped up to see where we were. I was surprised to see we were at the place with the big field surrounded by the tall fence again. Yeah I get to run about again. I started jumping about in the back of the car. The human got me out but instead of letting me run about the big field we went into the big building. There were other dogs there with their humans. I tried to excitedly meet the other dogs but the human stopped me and gently said I had to behave. I was told this is school where I will learn to meet other dogs without bouncing them and learn how to deal with dogs that frighten me so I don’t bark or snap at them. I was excited to be here but it is looking like it is not going to be so much fun at all.

Sit, wait, stay, here, sit...... really? what do you want of me? There is no way I am.... oooh what's that? yellow squares of something, mmmm they taste nice. Yes ok I will play your game as long as you keep up with those yellow squares of heaven. Perhaps this is not such a bad place to be. Although the constant demands of repetitive tasks are a bit boring.