The Furry Friend Tag (Because You Need More Pictures of Scout in Your Life)

I was tagged ages ago to do this by Engie at "Musings From Neville's Navel," but, me being me, I'm only getting around to doing it now. I have hundreds of cute pictures of Scout and nowhere to put them, so this is the perfect excuse to spam all of you with my dog's adorable face. You're welcome.

        

What is your pet’s name?

Scout! She was given the name Kara originally, but she is not a Kara in the slightest. My mom came up with her name and decided to name her after Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird, because we're nerds like that. It totally fits her, too, because she's feisty and stubborn.

Scout does NOT like snow.

What kind of pet is it and what breed?

Gee, think someone needed a haircut?

She's a shih-chon, which is half shih tzu and half bichon. Shih tzus were originally bred as royal foot warmers to the emperor and bichons were bred to be sailor's companions, so Scout is all about being right next to her people, no matter what we're doing. She follows us around everywhere.

She also will lay on any of our possessions, making it impossible to get work done. Here she is on top of at least three notebooks.

And cuddling with one of my old stuffed animals.

How long have you had your pet?

My nine-year-old self with my new puppy.

It'll be nine years, in just a few weeks, which is crazy to think about. I don't really remember a time when we didn't have Scout. I mean, I do have memories before then, but they don't seem quite right because Scout isn't in them.

How did you get your pet?

Heh. Funny story . . . I was the only one in my family who really, really wanted a dog, but of course, I was allergic. My mom and I both have terrible allergies when it comes to cats, so cats were always a no go, but dogs were a bit milder. When I was younger, my parents would trade off with my brother and me to have parent-kid dates, so when it was my turn to pick what we'd do, a lot of the time I picked going to this puppy store in town, because it was the only one that let patrons play with the puppies, even if they weren't considering buying a dog.

Best store policy ever.

Eventually, Scout was the puppy I picked to play with, and she was the sweetest thing. She was tinier than all the other puppies and just wanted to sit in our laps. We fell in love with her instantly, and when we left the store, she cried as she watched us go. Scout became the only topic of conversation for a while, because I couldn't stop thinking about her and fantasizing about taking her home with us. We decided to bring my dad and my brother back the next day to visit her, my mom secretly hoping that my dad would say he didn't see what we saw and there was no way we should buy a dog. But, because Scout is Scout, she won all of our hearts. Even my younger brother, who at the time was terrified of dogs, was smitten with her.

We decided to go home and think about it, and I had a mini meltdown that night because I was so scared someone else was going to buy her first. My parents called the store the next day to let them know we were coming to get her, and it was just in time, too. As we were walking in the store, there was another family by her crate, as if they were considering taking her home.

Curled up in my lap.

For the first several weeks we had her, all she wanted to do was curl up in our laps, no matter what we were doing. When somebody left the room and came back, her tail would wag like crazy and she'd run over to them on her teeny tiny legs. I'm pretty sure she was nervous we were going to leave her again, since the first time we left at the store she whimpered pathetically. But some of my earliest memories with her is having her curled into a little ball in my lap while I wrote at the computer for my first year of NaNoWriMo.

So yeah, we didn't plan to get a dog. It just kind of happened. We joke that Scout is like a wizard's wand: we didn't choose her, she chose us.

For some reason she can't stand our Christmas stockings. We have to hide them from her every year, or else she'll eat them.

How old is your pet?

Eating her birthday "cake."

She just turned nine! We celebrate each of her birthdays like we would with one of ours. She gets presents, a cake, a nice long walk, the whole nine yards.

Out for a bike ride!

What is your favorite memory with your pet?

Attempting to lick my face.

How can I choose? I don't think I have very specific moments in time where I remember doing something with Scout. She's always just been a constant in my life. One of the things I love about her is she can instantly sense when something is wrong. If I'm upset or stressed, she's the first one there to investigate why I'm sad. She also loves to lick our tears, which always makes me laugh, so she always makes me feel better.

She was fascinated by my homecoming makeup.

And, as much as she doesn't cooperate, it's tons of fun trying to get cute selfies with her. I have so many selfies of us.

What are some quirky things about your pet’s personality?

Still not sure why I found her sitting like this . . .

Oh, where to begin . . .

Scout is nothing if not quirky. And manipulative. And insanely clever.

One of the weirdest things she's done is somehow turned into one of Pavlov's dogs. We have no idea how this habit started, but anytime someone in my family turns the TV on, Scout leaps up from wherever she's lying and marches in front of us to demand a treat. She could be dead asleep two rooms over, but she'll still hear the click of the TV being turned on, and she'll race over to beg for a treat, usually by climbing on top of the coffee table. She won't stop crying until we've given her one, then we can watch our show in peace.

On top of the coffee table.

She also loves to lay in laundry. This often prevents us from ever folding our laundry.

In the laundry . . .

Bundled up in a blanket . . .

And curled up on top of our Santa hats.

And when she's not lying in the laundry, she's lying on top of any surface she can climb onto. Chairs, tables, the tops of couches, beds, etc. She's like a cat or a bird. She perches on top of high surfaces.

Picnic table

Coffee table

Basket of blankets

The piano (???)

A chair outside.

What does your relationship with your pet mean to you?

I am so insanely protective of Scout, it's not even funny. I am completely attached to her. I don't tend to have many nightmares, but whenever I do, it's almost always about something happening to her. She makes me so happy every day. Whenever I get up in the morning, she's there to greet me with a wagging tail, and she's the last one I say goodnight to before bed. I don't know what I'd do without her.

Getting a tummy rub.

What are some of your favorite pastimes with your pet?

Cuddling while my brother and I read a Guinness World Records book.

She is the perfect cuddle buddy whenever we're reading or watching TV. She can usually be persuaded to lie right next to us if we have a blanket for her to curl up on. But she also has a couple times during the day where she has a ton of energy and wants me to chase her while she plays with a toy. And, for some reason none of us can figure out, she loves to lick my hands all over. Not anyone else's hands, just mine. She seriously treats them like her own personal ice cream cones. It's very bizarre.

She loves her toys.

What nicknames have you given your pet?

I don't think we have that many nicknames for her, but you can usually catch one of us saying these things to her throughout the day:


-"You're so cute"
-"Why are you so weird"
-"Hey, crazy"
-"What are you doing"
-"Hey, come back here, where are you going, we still need to dry off your paws!"
-"Hi, my doggie"
-"Puppyyyyy"

So that's Scout. Tell me all about your furry friends! Leave a comment and/or steal this tag for yourself.