Tiffy
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With us since May 30th, 2015
Tiffy's Story
As Twix and Jackson were getting older, they were not able to run as far as they used too (despite Jackson's continual insistence that he could), so the wife had hoped to get a dog that she could run with. I had been in love with huskies ever since we got Twix and I was hoping for another husky, and a husky would (theoretically) make a perfect running companion. So we looked around at rescues and we came across a local husky rescue called Arctic Rescue that specializes in all sorts of arctic breeds like huskies and malamutes. We started talking with them and found out they had a pretty strict adoption policy because huskies can be escape artists. We ended up having one of their volunteers come check out our house to make sure were were adoption appropriate and then we started looking at the huskies on the site. Through the site we looked at quite a few dogs and none of them seemed terribly compatible with us. We even visited with a locally fostered husky but he didn't seem a good fit.
Here are Panda (left) and Tiffany (right).
Eventually we found two dogs that we really liked and they had been rescued together, Tiffany and Panda (pictured right). Upon meeting them we soon discovered that Panda was a big goofball and Tiffany was a bit of a shy one. Here's the description of Tiffany on their website:
"Tiffany is friendly three year old girl. She loves to go for walks and hikes and with her athletic build, may even be interested in pulling a sled, bike or scooter. As with any Siberian Husky, Tiffany needs to be monitored around smaller animals as well as have a securely fenced in yard. Tiffany does enjoy the company of other dogs, but needs time to adjust to new surroundings and new doggie friends. Proper introductions and making sure she has the space and time to feel comfortable will help ensure a smooth transition for Tiffany into a new home. Tiffany would make a wonderful hiking companion for an active family and her sweet personality is a winner!"
Tiffany's story was that she and Panda arrived at the shelter together. She were getting loose and chasing livestock and killing some of the neighbor's chickens. Her age was a complete estimate and she was deemed "unadoptable" by the shelter and was "rescue only", which is the reason Arctic Rescue intervened to save her life.
We went to check Tiffany and Panda out (about an hour+ drive away) and we absolutely fell in love with both of them. Unfortunately we could only take one home and since Panda clearly did not act like a runner, we took Tiffany home with us, quickly rechristening her "Tiffy". Once she was home we learned something quickly about her, she was not 3 years old. A 3 year old dog would not tear stuff up and bounce around like Tiffy did. She was clearly still a puppy but we had no way of telling for certain. Upon taking her to the vet, the vet agreed with us that she couldn't be more than 18 months old. So alas, despite trying to get a bit of an older dog to adopt, we end up with a puppy.
We also learned something else about Tiffy, she absolutely hated to run. Every time we would take her out on a run she would last maybe a few blocks, and then firmly plant her feet in the ground refusing to go. Nothing could get her to run. I think we finally figured out that she has issues breathing, but she's generally not an athletic dog. She gained weight VERY quickly at our house despite all efforts at exercise and food control. She ended up on a diet food that increased her metabolism, finally allowing her to eat enough and not continually gain weight. But we never really had trouble with her trying to escape. We have a fairly short fence, maybe 4 feet tall, and Tiffy never tried to jump it. In general, she's a lazy husky.
She has this face though, where she always looks pissed. In the picture to the right, she is trying to wake me up to feed her (one of her favorite hobbies) and she always has this annoyed look about her, no matter how good a mood she is in. It is rare that I can get a picture of her looking "happy", although she generally is a very happy dog.
She got along with Twix and Jackson very well but shortly after getting her we lost Twix. And shortly after that in comes Oreo, whom you can read about on her own page, but Tiffy then found the sister I'm sure she never knew she needed. From the day that Oreo came into this house Tiffy and Oreo would wrestle all of the time. They would chase each other around the backyard and pin each other to the floor. Initially, Tiffy would always win, since Oreo was just a little puppy, but eventually Oreo grew up to match Tiffy's weight and size. Now they are equal competition for each other. And unfortunately, they love to go on adventures together.
When we first got Tiffy, we were able to train her fairly quickly. She actually listened really well and would follow us around outside without an issue. But after Oreo and Tiffy started to play together, Tiffy stopped listening and would bolt for it every time we let her out of the front door. This all started when we went camping in the middle of a national forest. We were having issues with our new trailer and were trying to get it set to go home, so the dogs were left unsupervised for a couple of minutes. Well, Jackson was not able to move fast so he made it to the end of the driveway, meanwhile Tiffy and Oreo were just gone. In the middle of a National Forest. Searching for hours we couldn't find them. Eventually a park ranger drove up wondering if anyone lost any dogs! Turns out they made it a couple of miles down the road to another campsite within the national forest. After that, Tiffy had bolted anytime that she and Oreo had been out front until I was able to reinstill training into her that listening to me is the best method. She has yet to run away since then but we are always on the lookout now.
Tiffy has become my cuddlebug. She likes to relax around the house during the day but will constantly "boop" me or the wife with her nose if she wants something (usually food but sometimes attention). She will also just jump up on me looking for attention. She loves neck scratches and sometimes she just wants to give hugs. When the deck was under construction she refused to walk outside so I would need to carry her across the working area so she could go to the bathroom. Carrying her like a baby with her head over my shoulder. She really is just a pampered princess.
