Pup of the Month Club – Fred Daldos

Congratulations to our newest member of the Human Society of West Michigan’s Pup of the Month Club, Fred Daldos! Fred is a black 3-year-old bowtie-wearing American Staffordshire Terrier, who always has a black Kong in his mouth and a wag in his tail. Fred found his forever home March of 2017 when Erin Saniga and Jared Daldos spotted him in the back of a kennel at the Humane Society of West Michigan. Fred was surrounded by many, many toys and looked to be a bit on the shy side, as he wouldn’t come to the front of the kennel while Erin and Jared were standing there. But somehow both Erin and Jared knew Fred was the one for them – it was that ‘knowing’ that people have continually described when they finally find the ‘right’ dog for their family.

They immediately filled out an application and had a meet and greet. As soon as they met Fred, they knew that one day soon they would take him home, but they had an important obstacle to take care of first. They were in the process of looking for a home to live in together, but so far they hadn’t found one. Erin wasn’t allowed a dog in her apartment and Jared needed permission to have a dog in his apartment. For the next few days they jumped through any and all hoops presented to them by Jared’s apartment complex and the HSWM to get the proper permissions and fill the needed requirements so that Fred could move in with Jared. Meanwhile Erin and Jared continued to look for a permanent home that would work for all three of them. Erin described it as a stressful, anxiety-filled few days in which they were constantly calling the HSWM to make sure he was still there and hadn’t been adopted. But in the end, everything worked out well and they took Fred home a few days later.

A month after Fred’s adoption, they all moved into a new home with a yard and plenty of room inside and out for Fred to play with his many toys and much beloved black Kong. Fred settled in pretty well with his new family – he especially loved the idea of being tucked into bed every night. If Fred misses his tucking in, he stands at the top of the bed by the pillows till Mom or Dad lifts up the covers and allows him to snuggle down in under the blankets.

It just puts a smile on your face thinking that 80-pound Fred won’t go to bed unless he is tucked in, doesn’t it?

Fred’s goofy personality slowly started to emerge after they moved into their new home. He always greets his Mom or Dad when they come home from work with a sock in his mouth. He holds just a tiny tip of the sock with his front teeth and then prances back and forth and around the house till everyone is settled in, back at home. He is also known for a post-pooping ritual – yup, you read that correctly…a post-pooping ritual. He darts around showing off his doggie play-moves here and there – a poop dance of sorts to show his family how pleased he is with himself and that he is done – mission accomplished!!!

Fred went to obedience classes to learn his basic commands, but the one command that he has a 100% success rate at is the Kiss Command! Erin says she can always count on Fred for a big smooch whenever she needs it. Fred has also helped Erin with some anxiety issues of her own. “He helps me with my anxiety because if I am having a stressful day he is always there by my side with lots of kisses or it just relaxes me when he rests his head on me to let me know he is there.” Erin also finds that Fred’s head is like a canine version of a stress ball – when she rubs his head it has a calming and relaxing affect on her. “I simply can’t be sad looking at him – he is just a goof ball with his funny faces and the funny things he does”.

When Fred was first adopted he suffered from separation anxiety whenever Erin and Jared left him at home alone. He ended up being medicated for it to help him along during workdays. But about a year after Fred was adopted, Erin and Jared decided to get Fred a friend to help him with his separation anxiety – that way he would never be home alone. They knew they wanted to adopt another one of the breeds that is considered to be a pit bull or a pit bull mix because they were both cognizant of the bad reputation pit bulls have in the media and our culture, but also knew all of the stereotypes were just falsehoods promoted by ignorance – after all, Fred is a pit bull. 

So they visited the Kent County Animal Shelter, the Human Society of West Michigan and Harbor Humane looking for a little sister for Fred. They found a white female pit bull mix curled up in the back of a kennel at Harbor Humane that absolutely stole their hearts – she looked so alone, scared and innocent that they decided to have a meet and greet with Fred and see if she was the one to join their little family. The meet and greet was pretty uneventful with a lot of sniffing and checking each other out, but no problems.  So, a few days later, Cleo, Fred’s soon-to-be new best friend and playmate, went to her new forever home and the Saniga/Daldos family grew by one!

Fred did experience some relief from his anxiety and has even become a little more active since his little sister moved in. He was just a little bit of a couch potato before Cleo joined the family. Apparently Cleo can be quite persistent and stubborn when she wants to play and doesn’t easily take no for an answer when she wants her big brother’s attention. She is his constant companion, playmate and cuddle buddy for naps.

Congratulations again to Fred and the entire Saniga/Daldos family! It is so much fun for us to hear everyone’s adoption story, meet their pups and of course hear all entertaining, insightful and touching stories. Pup of the Month Club is a partnership of Tailwagger Dog Photography and the Humane Society of West Michigan. It is a celebration of dogs, dog adoptions and the human/dog bond. If you have an adopted HSWM pup and would like to nominate him or her for the Pup of the Month Club, you can find more information and the entry form on Tailwagger Dog Photography’s website.