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We had promised the kids that they could have dogs when we got a house and 3 years or so ago we became proud homeowners. That of coarse meant that the kids instantly wanted dogs It's amazing that they can remember a promise made years ago about getting a puppy but can't seem to remember to clean their rooms or make their beds!.
The moving boxes where not even unpacked when we adopted 2 tan mixed breed (yeah they're mutts) from our local Wal-Mart parking lot. The puppy's (Toes and Princess) came home and immediately decided that they needed to mark their territory and pee on half the unopened moving boxes as well as chewing any shoes they found laying around. Needless to say the puppy's became outdoor dogs and were set loose in the backyard to fend for themselves. They looked so cute romping around the backyard and no longer able attack my poor defenseless shoes.We went about the business of opening the soggy boxes and making piles of "stuff" that needed to be distributed around our newly purchased home.
We got most of the stuff out of the living room and got the furniture all set up so we could sit down and take a break. After a couple minutes we hear a thump at the side door near the garage. Thinking something fell over in the garage I grabbed my trusty bat (in case it was a critter) and headed out into the murky garage. 
I made it 3 steps and I was assaulted by 2 dirty, furry puppies jumping all over me. After disarming me of the bat they literally drown me in puppy slobber. My wife walks out and sees me on the ground rolling around with 2 bundles of joy.One thing you need to know about me is that I'm a cat person. I don't dislike dogs I just enjoy the company of cats more.
We had in fact already adopted 2 cats named "Zipper" and "Cally" and the addition of 2 new puppies had left them hiding under the couch for a day or so in terror for their lives. Anyway, the sight of me rolling around on the ground with the puppies was too much for my wife it seemed, and she was laffing so hard she was in tears. After getting back to my feet and looking for what was left of my dignity I took the dogs into the backyard and tried to figure out how they let themselves out.Ten cement blocks later I thought I had figured out how they had got out and plugged the holes in the fence. I congratulated myself and went back inside to continue to unpack. I can't remember where we got all our stuff but when it comes to unpacking it always seems to me that it grew from when we packed it all.
I swear the boxes where reproducing at a rapid rate in the garage. No sooner had we unpacked a box and put the stuff away when it was time to get another box from the garage. The pile in the garage didn't seem to be getting any smaller at all and the pile of empty boxes in the driveway was getting bigger. If I didn't know any better I would say that the empty boxes where filling themselves back up and making their way back into the garage.After getting to the point where the pile in the driveway and the pile in the garage were about equal I hear another thump in the garage. I head back into the garage and low and behold there's 2 puppies looking at me. I've seen this look before on my children and it has that "aren't you happy to see me" edge to it mixed with a little bit of "we're proud and we have been up to no good" look (although my kids don't wag their tails at me when giving me the LOOK).
Well its now 3 years later and we almost have all the boxes unpacked and the "puppies" are now bigger. When I say bigger I mean that Toes weighs around 110 lbs and Princes around 80lbs. The small holes in the fence no longer let them escape and they are house broken (the boxes that are left are very happy about this). The dog's sleep in the house in the kids bedrooms at night and spend most of their time outside chasing birds and squirrels.
It's funny watching Toes lumber across the yard after a bird only to stop about 10 feet later and sit down. He now often gets the LOOK that says the heck with it let the smaller more agile dog get the bird and bring it me. I know this look as I get it often myself.The one thing about all this is that I now have the Jeep and the dogs are to big to take with us when we take off for the weekends to go off-roading. With that in mind I started looking around for a dog of my own (yes I'm hooked) that I could take with us when we go camping and off-roading. As you can tell I'm now a dog person and don't feel complete unless there is at least one dog around.
I still have a fond place in my heart for cats (we now have 4) but taking a cat off-roading could be interesting and I'm sure my fellow Jeepers would never let me live it down. My favorite cat hangs out in the Jeep when she's let outside, either on the hood or in the passenger seat so if your allergic to cats stay out of my Jeep!I finally found a puppy that seemed to fit the bill for me from a club member. Nice and small and kinda cute in a manly sort of way. I brought him home and gave him a bath and put a collar on him (black leather with metal studs) with his tags.
We were at a loss as to what to call him though. We feel that a dogs name should match the dog (kinda like kids names) and have an impact when you yell it out the front door. I just couldn't see myself yelling "muffin" out loud in public. We had a friend of ours over and he said he looks like a "Roscoe" to me and the name stuck - Zilla Rocks).Roscoe stands about a foot tall and looks like he is on caffeine all the time.
. He jumps at least 3 feet in the air and when he jumps off the couch he looks like super dog (Yes I'm looking for a small cape as we speak) I have fallen in love with this small yippee dog (something I said I would never own) and there is no doubt that he has taken me as his. He loves to ride in the Jeep (well OK maybe not loves but he has no choice as he's so small I just pick him up and put him in) and can be seen hanging on for dear life in the backseat. He gets along great with the other 2 BIG dogs and will keep up with them (not to hard to do with Toes). He also chases squirrels but I'm not sure what he will do if he ever catches one as they look bigger than him. Since we redid the living room we decided (OK, I decided) it was time for a fish tank (it's not big enough to be called an aquarium) and we got a Beta fish. 
He's RED to match the Jeep just in case I ever take him wheelin, OK the walls are RED and Bethany picked him so it has nothing to do with Jeeping. Back to Roscoe, he sleeps on the bed with us (Roscoe not the fish), between me and Annette and looks so darned cute (in a manly way) that he gets a lot of attention everywhere we take him. Look for Roscoe on the trails and stop by and "ooh and ahh" over him!A short slide show
