Name/Age: Tito Villalba - 4.5-ish y/o
Family Members: Jennifer, David, Clara (21), Carlos (14), & Moose (cat, aged 5)
How long has Tito been in the family? Since October of 2019
Professions: Jennifer & David are both teachers.
Location: Decatur, GA.
Nicknames: Tito Bandito, Puppo, The CEO of Good Boys (my son’s nickname for him)
5 words/phrases that best describe Tito?
Enthusiastic
Wants-to-be-good-so-bad
Loyal
Protective
Spaz
What makes Tito unique? He yowls when one of us walks away - he wants his pack together. He is SUPER fast but exhausts himself very quickly. He wouldn’t let me rub his belly until just recently. I thought he just wasn’t a belly rub guy, but whenever he’s lying down and I walk by now, he raises his leg and rolls over for a rub. He is the most food motivated dog I’ve ever met, but to resist the temptation, as soon as my husband begins cooking dinner, Tito crates himself until we are done eating. He loves to pull my son on his skateboard!
Well into the exhausting himself process…
Rescue Story: We adopted Tito from Lifeline Animal Project. He was with a foster who was getting ready to graduate from Emory and move, so he needed to find a place for him quickly. Prior to that, Tito had been in the shelter for a year. He was caught running the streets twice - the first time, the owners were called and picked him up; the second time, they did not pick him up.
First day in his forever home!
What is your favorite pastime as a family? Snuggling together on a chair that’s too small for both of us. Just watching him run around the house and laughing. Watching him and the cat try to figure out how to get along.
What is life like since you rescued Tito? We can’t imagine what quarantine would have been like without him as he is a constant source of joy and entertainment. While I taught my classes over Zoom, he liked to fall asleep right behind me, and sometimes he snored so loudly, the kids could hear him.
We have a teen aged son who was never a big talker but has been especially quiet with us since the hormones hit - but we can always get him to talk about Tito.
Photographers Notes: I met up with Jennifer & Tito at a local baseball field in their neighborhood. One small benefit on things being shut down due to the pandemic are available fenced in spaces for dogs to run and for me to capture some good action shots. It really is humorous the facial expressions dogs make and you can capture with a camera when they are in full sprint, many of them not so flattering! Even with that, I was able to get a couple of him having a blast racing around the outfield.
Something I noticed about Tito after looking at all the photos I took of him, he has the most unusual eyes; they are almost cat like in their shape. It really gives him a very distinct look, especially when you pair it with his great smile!