Hi, I am Bug-A-Boo the Scout Buggin’ Out McWyrde. Boy, is my name a mouthful or what? Momma tends to call me Boo for short. While she adores my name,she did not name me. The first part of my name was given to me by my four-legged daddy, Pip Squeak McWyrde. Pip Squeak sure is a funny name for a full grown German Shepherd Dog; especially one that weighs ninety pounds. But, evidently, he was nothing but a Pip Squeak when Momma and Daddy found him at a rest stop. How did I get my first name from my canine dad? Well, Momma’s nickname for Pip was Bug-A-Boo, until the day that he nosed me when she called him. That day, I got my name.
The rest was added after my first trip to the vet’s office. The lady behind the counter told Momma that Bug-A-Boo was not a real name. It made her angry enough to add to it. She sat down and thought about my antics over my short four week life. Soon, she added “the Scout” to my name because I was the first puppy to leave the puppy pen and later to climb the child gate. I was also the first of the litter to leave the whelping box. I did that at five days old and nobody knows how I managed it; that earned me the “Buggin’ Out” part of my name. Momma and Pappy are huge M*A*S*H fans and loved the bugging out episodes.
But my favorite part of my name is McWyrde, pronounced McWeird. I live in a makeshift family and that is our fictional surname. Momma is married to Daddy, but they live with a roommate who we consider family. In fact, my parents helped raise his children, the two legged variety, which grew up and moved out before I was born. This is our family and we love each other a lot. Pappy, the roommate, is a paramedic. When he joined the family, he was a single father to an eleven year oldboy and a twelve year old girl. It was hard on him. The kids stayed with Momma and Daddy when he was working and their house when he wasn’t. Momma says things were never where they needed to be; many trips where made to find school books and uniforms located at the other residence. So, when a six bedroom home was listed for rent, Momma said, “Let’s all move in together.” And my family was born.
Besides Momma, Daddy, and Pappy, I live with my canine relatives. There is Pip and Stella, my birth parents. My aunt, Mysical Jane, lives with us too. But, Momma says she is a foster dog. Oh, I can’t forget my brothers, Tuxedo Little Wolf and Fats Domino Little Bear. We even have feline family members. Pappy’s daughter’s cat, Scribbles, stayed behind when Jen left home. Paksenarrion, Momma’s search and rescue dog who died months before I was born,was survived by her two cats; LAF (Lost and Found) Cat and SAR (Search and Rescue) Cat. Because they nursed from bottles laid on Pak’s belly, they think they are dogs. Momma says it would be mean to tell them otherwise, because they don’t know they were adopted.
Now, that you have met my family, I guess I should share a little about myself. I was born on October 4, which makes me almost four months old. Momma says that I am a Service Dog in Training, also known as a SDiT. I hope that I can become a full Service Dog. I already know how to sit, down, stand, and touch. Also, I can walk on a loose leash and sometimes, I even manage to heel. Momma says that because I am going to do mobility work in addition to hearing work, I will wear a harness. This makes it less of a priority to be able to heel. But, I am going to learn it anyway.
As a SDiT, sometimes, I get to go to really neat places. Yesterday, I got to go to Disney World. We live about ninety minutes from there and Momma has a pass. To be truthful, I did not get to go into the park. But I rode the tram to the entrance and practiced on the monorail before riding the tram back to the car. I love the monorail. But, the tram bothered me. We sat facing the wrong way and moved BACKWARDS! The Disney people said that I did really well and invited me to come back. Even though Momma thought I was too young, they were going to let me enter the park, which sounded like a lot of fun. However, Momma said, “No, thank you. This was plenty for her first visit.”
Sometimes people forget that I am still a baby. Momma has worked a lotwith me, so I have better than average manners. I am getting big too. I weighed forty pounds at my last vet visit and have long legs. Sometimes, people mistakenly believe that I am a full-grown four-legged human. But, Momma says I am still a baby and need to reach my potential with being rushed.
It was nice talking to you, but I got to run. Little Wolf has the puppy crazies and needs a rabbit to chase. I love the days that it is my turn to be the rabbit. He can never keep up with me. Let’s go, Wolf, it’s time to eat my dust.
