TAZ THE GREAT

Taz is a dog. A big, slobbery, goofy pit bull with an identity crisis. See, Taz was bought as a tiny little puppy by my baby brother and his girlfriend. He was raised in the house with 3 Shih-Tzu divas. And 2 spoiled cats. From the start, he knew he was low man on the totem pole. He would wander to the food bowl only to be slapped at, hissed at, growled at or even snapped at. He learned to wait.

When Taz was almost a year old, he was deemed too big for the indoors, so a large fenced in yard was built. With a 4 foot chain link fence and a great big house with soft blankets and pillows. He had his very own food and water bowls that he did not have to share with anyone! And he could watch the horses and ducks and geese and try to figure out what that was all about. Finally, moving day came. His toys were gathered and off he went to the yard. This looked like an adventure! Outside, with lots of room to play and no one to bother him.

He went into his new home quite readily. He explored the house, tasted the food, sniffed the water bowl, tinkled in all the corners. Wow! what a cool place! To visit. As soon as the gate closed, he knew something was up. He decided that Shannon must have forgotten him. He barked once. No one came. He barked again. Still no one came. Hmmm. He'd just handle this himself. He jumped the fence and raced back to the house. He was so proud! Shannon, not so much. He took Taz back. Oh, this was a game!! Taz loved games. He beat Shannon back to the house at least a dozen times. He was good at this game, but strangely, Shannon did not like the game.

Well, the personal yard did not work out, but he had gotten a taste of the wide world outside and he liked it. There were strange critters out there that needed to be investigated. He loved the big horses. He could bark and they would run from him! Finally, something that he could boss around. And those loud, quacky things were pretty strange. They ran from him too. Well, except that one that sometimes chased him back!

One day, Taz realized that his favorite people lived right next door! The ones that gave him treats and wrestled with him and had that little black dog. He began to visit everyday. There were cats here and sometimes little birds in a box with a light inside it. And they had the best treats ever. He liked it there and stayed longer and longer every visit. Finally, he got to spend the night. Ah, heaven! Soon, he was staying more and more. When he went back "home", the other dogs still bossed him, but he knew they were jealous.

Eventually, it became obvious that he was never going back to where he came from. He settled into his place somewhere below the Chalupa, the queen dog, and the 5 cats, but a little bit above horses and geese. Well, except for that one.