Bonzai - It's a New Puppy!

He's Gonna Be a Big Dog...

My wife and I went to the North Shore Animal League shelter on Long Island two weeks ago, just to look. We had lost Sassy, our 13-year-old Sheltie, to kidney failure in March, so we thought maybe it was time to think about another dog. Not a puppy, we thought, they're too much trouble. Maybe a nice housebroken dog a few years old that needed a good home, and definitely not a large dog.

Well, nobody told us that you can't visit a shelter with hundreds of adorable dogs and "just look" at them. And we didn't realize the power of the Cute and Fuzzy Factor until it was too late. We looked at all the dogs and saw a few that might make a nice family pet. And then we saw the puppies. And one 3 month old puppy in particular got our attention.

Each dog is given a temporary name at the shelter, and Fuzzy Wuzzy was his name. The vet tech said he was a shepherd mix, and would probably grow to about 70 pounds. That's little bigger dog than we wanted, but he was unbearably cute, and had such a sweet disposition that we just had to take him home. I named him Bonzai, because he was born on Chinese New Year's day. My daughter reminded me that "Bonzai!" was a Japanese word, but I'm sticking with it.

So after a few days, we took him to our local vet for a checkup. After looking at his paws and his overall dimensions at 11 weeks, he said "He's gonna be a big dog, probably 100 pounds at least." So much for our hopes for a largish medium-sized pet. Bonzai will be a big dog.

But we're going to love him to pieces anyway. This dog really loves to please, and is quickly learning the rules of the house. He is amazingly calm for a puppy, but still loves to play. Our older dog Yeller, however, is not amused. She growled and snapped at him like an angry mother bear for almost two weeks, but a detente of sorts is developing between them.

Bonzai loves to chew, like all puppies. So to keep our sneakers and furniture safe from harm, we gave him a Squeaky Squirrel, a huge bone and some other toys that keep him busy when he's relaxing in his crate. I hope he still fits under my desk when he's full grown. There's nothing like a snoozing dog at your feet while you work.

We're still not sure just what he's made of. He's part German Shepherd, and we think he's got some Retriever and maybe Chow in the mix. Post a comment and tell me what you think.

Bonzai Bulletin - January 22, 2009

I promised last May that I would post an update on Bonzai, so here we go... Bonzai is almost a year old, and has grown to about 85 pounds. He'll probably end up closer to 100 pounds when he's full grown. But he's plenty big already!

Bonzai loves to play in the snow, and still has a very sweet disposition, except when he's teasing 13-year-old Yeller, who seems to have grudgingly accepted that the "puppy" isn't going to go away. Staying in the yard is the biggest problem for now. We have an electric fence, and Bonzai wears two "zappers" on his collar. But if he wants to escape into the road or the neighbor's yard, he'll take the hit. Hopefully he'll grow out of that habit.

Some dog training may be the next step for Bonzai. I'd really like him to come when I call...