Lively Lovable Spotazz…

  It was just after the Christmas of 1993 when “Lively Lovable Spotazz” entered our lives.  The Disney movie 101 Dalmatians had been remade and Dalmatians were popular.  I decided that I’d really like to have one.  My husband told me that he’d heard that Dalmatians are hyper and didn’t always make good pets. 

It was the first Saturday following Christmas when we drove to Keller’s Flea Market.  At the time, we enjoyed visiting the flea market regularly, just to see what was there.  They always had a variety of pets for sale, too. 

On that particular day, there was one dalmatian puppy for sale.  He was about 3 months old, and the last of his litter.  The puppy was sitting in his crate just as calm as he could be, while most of the other puppies in crates around him were in a frenzy of activity!  Due to his size and being the last of the litter, he was marked down from two-hundred dollars to one hundred and fifty dollars. 

We’d never bought an animal of any kind, other than a parakeet or a guinea pig.  The thought of paying for a dog–much less a one hundred and fifty dollar dog was almost unthinkable!  Almost, but not quite!  After watching me admire the puppy, leave, got back and admire him some more, Ed told me that he would buy the puppy for me if I really wanted him….and just like that, the puppy found a new home!

We paid for the puppy, and I asked Ed to take  him to the car while I stopped and bought an old blanket for him becauset was very cold that day.  I bought the blanket,  and stopped on the way to look at a couple of other things…By the time I reached our suburban, I couldn’t believe my eyes!  That dalmatian had “come alive” and was about to tear up the back-end of our new suburban!  Ed just looked at me.

I rode in the back-end of the suburban with the puppy– all the way home, which takes about an hour.  My arms are still scarred today from the claw and teeth marks.  That was the most hyper puppy I’ve ever seen!  I believe they must’ve had him drugged while he was in that crate, and the drugs wore off in the car!!!  He pawed, clawed, nipped, and chewed on me all the way home.  I was beginning to hear Ed’s words ringing in my ears…”Dalmatians are hyper, and don’t always make good pets.”

The dog came with a pedigree, so we named him and had him registered.  We ended up naming him Lively Loveable, Spotazz, but called him” Tazz” for short.  His name fit him perfectly.  He was lively, but lovable, and he was a whirlwind of activity just like the Tasmanian Devil on The Bugs Bunny Show.

Tazz was hyper, but he was very good with our children.  He never hurt any of us in any way, but we were always respectful to him.  He was very protective of us though, and didn’t like strangers.  Nobody ever came to our house unannounced.  If Tazz gbecame too aggressive to our visitors, we’d shake the BB gun at him and he’d run.  For some reason he was terribly afraid of guns.  We’d have to watch Tazz when our visitors were leaving–sometimes he’d try to nip them as they were leaving–as if to say “…and don’t come back”.  Tazz could’ve used a few lessons from The Dog Whisperer.

We always bought Tazz toys every Christmas.  He loved those obnoxious squeaky toys that make loud noise!  I’d wrap them up in paper and ribbon.  He’d grab a toy from my hand and take off with it.  He’d shake that toy in his mouth until the paper flew one way and the toy went the other.  It was hilarious to watch.  He’s throw the toy up in the air, then stomp on it with his paws.  Tazz enjoyed his toys at Christmas as much as any of our children did.

Tazz’s  favorite toys were squeaky balls of any kind.  He even knew what we said when we’d tell him to “go get the ball.”  He’d always return with a ball in his mouth.  It was amazing.  He was such a funny dog!

We’d had Tazz for ten years when he passed away in 2004.   He was a good and faithful pet, and we’ll never forget our Lively Lovable Spotazz–especially when we hear one of the obnoxious squeaky toys!