On Nov. 13, Nate and I adopted a 1-year-old puppy, which we named Tigger, from the Socorro Animal Shelter. We aren’t sure what exact mix she is, but looks like a combination of a pitbull and a chocolate lab.

Tigger is a very fitting name for her. I was gone for the day last Saturday so Nate was on puppy duty. He left the house to go get some lunch and came back to one very apologetic dog. During the 30 minutes he was gone, she ate who-knows how much trash (which was up on the counter), a six-ounce bag of Beggin’ Strips and tried to get into a pigs ear that was wrapped in plastic.

The next day, I was throwing her stuffed animal into the kitchen. She decided to continue running and leaped out the back door. She went spread-eagle in the air and then landed on all four paws. With her tail wagging, she ran back into the house and gave me her toy.

This continued until I decided to have some fun and put her in a doggy stegosaurus costume. She was very confused at first. She ran to Nate and was trying to bite the costume off. I took that off and put her in a doggy t-shirt that says “Tree Rex” and has a dinosaur wrapped in Christmas lights on it. She liked that one a lot better.

Tigger needs to get used to wearing clothing though, as she will not go outside at night if it is cold. I have since ordered her a jacket so we will see how she does with that. After taking the t-shirt off of her, I grabbed a tennis ball and took Tigger out to the backyard. I think I threw the tennis ball around for at least an hour.

That puppy does not get tired. She does not understand the concept of jumping up in the air to catch it. Tigger will wait for the ball to bounce and then she will go after it. She finally relaxed for a little while after that. Each night, we’ve been taking her for at least a two-mile walk.

We didn’t take her on Monday, Nov. 16 because she was getting spayed the next morning. We also didn’t go that Tuesday because she was still tired from the surgery. The vet said she would be out-of-it for a couple days.

By Wednesday morning, she was back to fullenergy. I had to work in the morning and I promised Nate that I would be on puppy duty once I was done since he’s been watching her by himself all day everyday. She was good for a little while and then her energy kicked in and she was literally bouncing off the walls.

I left the kitchen for a minute and came back to her two front paws on the counter. She then stared at me and got down.

She tried to eat my shoe, one of Nate’s slippers and his shorts and the bathmat.

Later, I took her on a mile-and-ahalf walk. She was calm for an hour after that. I was able to eat dinner. I put my pizza away so she couldn’t get into that (she ate Nate’s avacado bacon cheeseburger a few nights prior) and then got her back into the car.

We walked almost three miles. My legs couldn’t do any more.

On Thursday, she wasn’t thrilled when the airtight sealed containers came for her treats and food. Tigger also got a Colorado Avalanche jersey, a Green Bay Packers jersey and a Miami Dolphins jersey. She will be fully outfitted for any and all games.

The past week, she loves playing with her “puppermint bark” toy which is as long as she is. At least this one will take her a while to destroy. The animal shelter gave Tigger a small stuffed animal and that was destroyed within a half-an-hour of bringing her home. There is not a single piece of stuffing left in it.

I have a lot of Christmas themed stuffed animals for her, but I don’t want all of them to get destroyed. One is a shark wrapped in Christmas lights to go with her shark-themed Ugly Christmas Sweater.

Yes, I am having way too much fun with her.

Here’s to hoping she calms down at least for a few days.

Caitie Ihrig