Tippie's Story

I was born October 12, 1983 in Locust Grove, Oklahoma and ended up in a pet store in Hayward, California. I was only eight weeks old when my new Mom and Dad picked me to become a member of the family, that was on Christmas Eve. That was also when I met my Mom's parents who were visiting for Christmas from Oklahoma (what a coincidence!). They named me Tippie, but I have many nicknames including Tips, Tipper and my Dad's Mom's favorite Miss Tippie.

Our home was in Alameda, California. There I learned how to run up and down the stairs. I also thought I was an acrobat when I walked across the back of the sofa until one day I fell off, that was the end of that. One of my mischievous games was to jump up, grab the end of the toilet paper roll and run upstairs, what a triumph. I liked Alameda but there were just too many sand fleas!

When I was a year and a half old, we drove back to Oklahoma for my Mom's high school reunion. I am strictly a "grass dog" so finding grass to do my business in Arizona and New Mexico was a challenge. At one rest stop, because of my markings, a small child thought I was a skunk (what an insult!).

I was glad when we moved into our new home in San Ramon, lots more room to run. I like looking down from the upstairs hallway through the banister into the entryway. Our home backs up to an open space where there are lots of critters, deer, pheasant, foxes, etc. The only time I bark is when I see deer or cows on the hill behind us, they are not supposed to be there! We have to be careful at night when I go out so we don't run into the skunks, we've had several close calls.

I love to eat, especially bread. On one visit from my Mom's brother, he had a round loaf of sourdough bread he had bought to take back to Oklahoma. Lucky for me he had it where I could reach it, unfortunately, they caught me running down the hall with the whole loaf in my mouth, but I did manage to get a few good bites!!

Rain and thunder never bothered me until one day the burglar alarm was set off by a storm when Mom and Dad were gone, they found me in the bathtub shaking. Ever since then, when it rains I get scared. Speaking of scared, I used to sleep on Mom and Dad's bed until we had an earthquake one morning, it took me a long time just to come upstairs again.

My favorite time is Christmas. I get to open my own presents and help Mom and Dad open theirs. One year they got carried away and bought me some reindeer antlers to wear. I was good and let them have their fun, but I didn't like it. Halloween is not my favorite time, too scary! I would not allow Mom and Dad to dress me in any silly costume. So, while all the little "monsters" are doing their thing I am doing mine, hiding.

We go walking everyday in the park, rain or shine. I used to walk for an hour or so but as I've gotten older, I am moving slower and the walk is much shorter. I've also developed an eye problem, so Mom made me several visors, one for each holiday and season. People always stop to comment how cute I am but I can't be bothered, I just keep walking. I have had other problems. I've had many benign tumors removed but I also had surgery on both back knees. The last surgery when I was thirteen, but I'm fine now. As I get older, I don't like a lot of guests in the house. I usually run and hide up in Dad's closet or under the table, my favorite napping place. Another thing I don't like is going to the "Doggie Hotel" when Mom and Dad go out of town, luckily that doesn't happen very often.

Even though my eyes aren't so good and my hearing is failing, all in all I can say I've had a good life, I'm happy!