When Caden was eleven, his parents discussed adopting a dog, but tragedy struck with his father's unexpected passing.
A family dog was put on hold until his mother, Catherine, could catch her breath. Six months later, she began earnestly looking for a dog. She looked and
looked; but all the dogs were too big or were not good with cats or children. Their rescue cat, Evie, also voted for a dog that liked cats.
A year after her husband passed, she finally found "the dog", Tiny Tim, at a pet shelter on the Gulf of Mexico. It was his second shelter, the first was going to euthanize him, but then a no kill group rescued him. (PawHuggers.org) He was a starving nine pounds when he was found and now he's 17
pounds."
"Tiny Tim had something special about him," said Catherine. "His eyes are soulful, he has an adorable face, and tall elf-like ears. He is a 2 ½ year old, Italian greyhound and Deer Head Chihuahua mix. I can't believe he was that far away! I kept telling my son, ‘Wait for the right dog, the right dog will find us, and it definitely did'."
"At midnight, my mum and I drove to the airport," said Caden. "I was so happy to have my
own dog! After dad died I wanted a dog to love and I love Timmy. He is so beautiful and was he glad to see us! He had flown for six hours and 4,450 miles to the pacific coast and needed to go potty!"
Caden sleeps with his new dog and it has only once pushed him out of bed! "He takes up the whole bed," laughs Caden. "When I roll over, his face is in mine! Of course, I have to wake up and kiss and hug him. He loves cuddling.
After a walk in the
rain, I dry Timmy off with a towel," said Caden. "He does not like the rain and paw-furs to walk under store awnings. He is so smart and holds a treat with his two front paws, like a raccoon, to put in his mouth. He likes dried sardines and dried beef liver, but if we buy the "wrong" kind he won't eat them. He makes me laugh when he plays with other dogs. If they run at him, he does a barrel-roll and the other dog has to jump over him."
"Honestly, we have found
nothing wrong with Timmy, he is so well behaved and arrived leash trained," said Catherine. "He is so calm that even strangers comment on his behavior. The day he arrived, we took him to see my mother in a care home. He took to the residents and staff as if he had truly arrived home.
When Caden or I are petting another dog, Timmy gets jealous! His facial expressions and body language tell us that he does not like ‘our' behavior! He tries getting in between us and
the other dog. He goes everywhere with us, so we bought him a car harness that clips to a seat belt and a bike basket for family rides. We are also going to take him camping and kayaking with us, and teach him to swim. But just in case he does not catch on like Mary Ellen's famous swimming cats, we bought him a life jacket."
"We love our dog and our cat, Evie, does too," admits Caden. "He's brought our family together and helped heal the grief of my father. I feel
that I am in the final stages of grieving because of this dog. I love him so much! I don't know what I would do without him."
