Born:  May 24, 2009

We'd been thinking about adopting a puppy for some time, but when the Dane County Humane Society had an influx of dogs from a bad shelter in Richland County, we decided to take the plunge. Well, DCHS didn't work out, so the WGH went to PetFinder.com and found a cute little guy near Oxford, WI. We picked him up on a Saturday. Appropriately, he was eating dirt when we arrived. He fits right in in our messy house.

Our first stop before going home was to PetSmart (PS). Mercifully the staff at PS are adept at dealing with people who walk in with a dog and say, "We just adopted him today; now what do we need?" We spent about an hour and $175 at PS, but we came home with a crate with padding, food dish and food, collar, harness, leash, treats, etc. The whole starter kit. He has a cute bone-shaped tag with the "Motion W" Badgers logo on it that includes his name and phone number.

Prince Nibbler slept a lot at first. He spent virtually all of the first full day home with us sleeping on Brian's belly. He went for a couple of walks, and in the evening we bathed him. We discovered that even though Nibbler has a high tolerance for a lot of things, like taking his medicine and being fitted for his harness, bathing him is a two-person operation. He smelled so much better after his bath; his fur was even whiter; and he feels like a big, soft, fluffy cottonball.

We had virtually no experience with dogs, so we went with Nibbler to Puppy Training at PS.  He's a good dog, and now he's a well-trained dog, too.

Nibbler growls at the cats, and they hiss back.  He terrorizes them a little with his barking, but no real fighting.  He and Gleep play together a lot, and she taught him how to jump the baby gate we used to keep him in his bedroom.  Now we have to use two baby gates.

Nicknames:  Fuzzy Butt, Sir Nibs, Goofus, White Shadow, Mama's Shadow, Ceiling Dog.
Dwarf Nickname:  Dopey

Click here for more photos of Nibbler.