Congratulations to TOAH’s May 2020 Pet of the Month, Pepper Redfield!! Read her bio below:)
“Pepper has been a beloved member of our family since the fall of 2009 when she was adopted from the Dane County Humane Society in Madison, Wisconsin. Having been pet parents of smaller “apartment friendly” critters (cats, ferrets, gerbils, and fish), we decided it was finally time to add a dog to the mix.
We originally were looking to adopt an older dog that needed a good home. As a volunteer at the Humane Society, I knew that puppies find homes faster than older dogs, so we purposely tried to not fall in love with an attractive puppy with ears comically too large for her head and instead turned our attention to an older Husky named Shelby. We tried to spend some time with Shelby, but she did not seem too interested in us and mostly stood by the door to the meet-and-greet room, waiting to be excused. We went home that evening to think it over and when we returned the next day, we found Shelby was being adopted by another family that had Huskies in the past and had fallen in love with her.
To our surprise, the puppy was still available, and we decided to spend a couple minutes with her “just for fun.” In the meet-and-greet room, my inexperience with dogs prevailed as I attempted to pet this puppy while my husband laughed at my clueless attempts at interactions with the little dog the facility had named “Petals.” Petals then took a deep yawn, went over to my husband’s lap, curled-up with her belly high, and promptly fell asleep. She clearly knew who the dog person was between the two of us. I looked at my husband and knew he had already fallen in love.
We adopted “Petals” changed her name to Pepper, a name that was much more appropriate for her spunk and energy, and finally brought her home to join our family. Training and socialization were important to us so we enrolled her in puppy classes early and spent many afternoons and weekends at dog parks and around as many people as we could. As a puppy, her potty training was perfectly timed with the melting snow of winter leaving her to desperately search for a patch of snow to do her business as the warmer Wisconsin weather set in. To this day, she still uses a Staples Easy Button to let us know when she needs to go outside.
Pepper has brought us years of fun as we’ve watched her learn and grow. In 2010, she made the long trip with us to Florida where she has enjoyed the last 10 years playing fetch, hiking in the conservation, going for walks, bike rides, and car rides, swimming in the pool, and protecting our yard from squirrels, birds, and the occasional delivery driver. Pepper has been a wonderful big sister to her feline siblings and in 2017 helped us welcome our son, Benjamin. Every night Pepper puts Ben to sleep, not leaving his room, until he drifts off to sleep.
Pepper is now 10 years young. She still has the spirit of a puppy with a body that isn’t quite as fast, but she still does impressively well. Pepper is lovingly cared for by the great team at the Tuscawilla Oaks Animal Hospital. Although she is starting to slow down in her older age, she still enjoys daily walks and swimming in the summer. She is adored by her family and we are so grateful for the joy she has brought to our life!”
