BL&T No. 081: Meet Gizmo, Our New Pup

This post originally appeared in my weekly newsletter, BL&T (Borrowed, Learned, & Thought). Subscribe

Borrowed

“Animals don’t follow unstable pack leaders; only humans promote, follow, and praise instability. Only humans have leaders who can lie and get away with it. Around the world, most of the pack leaders we follow today are not stable. Their followers may not know it, but Mother Nature is far too honest to be fooled by angry, frustrated, jealous, competitive, stubborn, or other negative energy—even if it is masked by a politician’s smile.”

From “Be the Pack Leader: Use Cesar's Way to Transform Your Dog . . . and Your Life” by Cesar Millan [Book]

Learned

It's Saturday evening, I'm writing earlier than I typically do because tomorrow is a big day. Dana and I are getting a 12-week old puppy! We've affectionately named him Gizmo after the sweet friendly gremlin and the word my Pop-Pop once used to describe the statues at South of the Border while on a family road trip to Florida that I'll never forget.

We know little Gizmo will mix up our routine, so I thought it would be better to get ahead with writing. He's a Shih Tzu/Toy Fox Terrier mix with a possible hint of Chihuahua. We're adopting him from Southern Paws Rescue in NJ. A non-profit that rescues pups from down South who would otherwise be euthanized due to overpopulation.

Here's the one and only pic we had for the last couple of months.

Beyond growing up with fish (a pair notably named Lincoln and Washington), the closest pet I've had to a tiny animal running around the house is a guinea pig. Dana and I have done our fair share of research, but other than that, it's hard to imagine what it'll be like to have a pup. Regardless, I can tell you I never thought I'd be this excited. Dana didn't either, and she loves it. Note: I still don't consider myself a "dog person," but am happy to be a guy with a dog. There's a difference!

I'm looking forward to the change in routine with Gizmo. More time outside with morning and lunchtime walks. Although, warm weather can't come soon enough.

We were supposed to adopt Gizmo a month ago, but he was infected with parvovirus before transport and had to stay down South at the vet. We weren't sure he would make it. For those who have been following, that was the week we had to make some tough decisions at Barrel. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nearly in tears when I heard the news.

All that matters is the little dude is healthy now and coming home (spoiler: more photos below). Give me a few months to get him a pair of leather goggles and a seat on the back of my motorcycle. You're picturing that, right? Priceless.

Let's dive into last week's thoughts, ideas, and progress.

Monday Pup-date (yes, I just did that): Gizmo is home with us and doing well. So far, he has a cool, chill temperament that we love. I think he's still trying to figure out where he is (and how to be a dog), but he's catching on fine.

We found out on Saturday evening that he has an ear infection and a couple of sores from the parvovirus treatment. "Calm confident" energy has made helping him much easier to handle than one might think. Oh yeah, he's also a whopping 3 pounds!

Here's a pic of Mr. Giz on his way home. Of course, the weather is freezing again, so we had to put him in this hoodie to stop shivering. The others are from the rest of the day getting him settled.