Meet Iggy, the half-Yorkie, half-Pug. We got him from Somewhere-In-The-Middle-Of-Nowhere. His family was a pack of Yorkies and Pugs, with a miniature pig and a French Bulldog, plus some cats thrown in for good measure. His brother, Walter, was there too.
His original name was Igel, German for hedgehog. The breeder (who breeds pugs but loves Yorkies) said as long as we put an 'ee' noise in his name, he should listen.
We spent a long time being overrun by the pack of dogs, being bombarded with toys, a blanket, dog food, paperwork and a collar. Iggy's collar got bling. He's the flashiest mutt in town.
He has no idea what happening to him, and he's never worn a collar or a leash. His collar, we put on at once. You can't have a puppy running around with nothing to grab him by.
On the way home, we learned that Iggy is mistrustful of treats and water offered by strangers. He didn't want doggy treats, he barely sniffed a piece of offered kebab meat and in some nice cool ice cream he had no interest whatsoever. In the end, we were so worried about him not drinking in what is the hottest day of the hottest weekend of the year so far (40 centigrade, whoo!) that we splashed him with water droplets, so he'd lick at least some moisture off his nose.
Once we were home, he did a little pee outside (good boy, Iggy!) and then promptly hid in a corner and refused to come inside. He weighs less than a kilo, so he was picked up and carried. Inside, he crawled under the sofa and didn't come out for fifteen minutes. Then he explored a bit, until I had to go to the toilet. Then it was straight back under the sofa.
Boyfriend is very confused when I get annoyed at him for rewarding Iggy's scared behavior with petting.
I wanted Iggy to get used to the leash, so I flushed him out from his hiding place and put it on. Iggy threw a very quiet fit where he didn't move and just shivered. Boyfriend promptly petted him, wondering out loud how I could be so cruel to such a small, furry creature.
Then he went to the toilet, or possibly the bedroom. Iggy stayed where he was, first shivering and standing stock-still. Then he stopped shivering. Then he moved a little. Then he found a corner next to the sofa, where he shortly afterwards went to sleep. He's currently lying there with his eyes open, looking around and either sulking or being very lazy.
We've seen he can be playful, with other dogs and people he knows, but he's come from a farm in a village with lots of dogs to an apartment in the city with just Boyfriend and me. He has toys, he has a basket, he has treats, food, water, cuddles... We're not abusing him. He's just very, very confused about it all. But he's not a loudmouth. He sees there's people, he sees there's things, some of which look and smell familiar even... But he has no idea what's going on. As long as he's not howling the whole building together, he can stumble around in confusion for a few hours, even a few days as far as I'm concerned. But the leash is staying on and I'm not pitying him. He's fine.
As soon as it cools down a bit, we can go for a small walk with him. Provided he wants to move when someone's holding the leash.
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