Throwback Thursday - Pumpernickel

Throwback Thursday! This is Nase the dog with his first friend, Pumpernickel the guinea pig. Nase came to us from an animal shelter that received him from a hoarding situation, and he had not seen anything or been socialized at all. He was afraid of everything, until Pumpernickel arrived. Pumpernickel would play with Nase, chasing him around the kitchen and bathroom and Pumpernickel taught Nase to talk and ask for milkbones. If we humans didn't "get it" right away and distribute the milkbone, Nase would go into the office, talk to

 

Pumpernickel, and the guinea pig would squeal a little louder, encouraging Nase to ask again. Pumpernickel taught Nase to enjoy vegetables, they shared many carrots and lettuce leaves together, munching from their own sides and meeting in the middle. Sometimes Nase would put his snout under Pumpernickel's rotund belly and lift him up to reach any treats lying underneath the guinea pig. They shared vegetables, my lap, and a strong friendship.