Back in the early 1990’s, I worked as a Youth Director at our local “Y”.  This was a very demanding job.  I was responsible for programming for youth ages Pre-school through High School.  I also had some programming to do with the local school districts and the At Risk community through the court system.

I needed something to “Break the ice” so to speak.  Something that would appeal to all ages.  Something unique.

Enter, Puppy.

I purchased my Iguana through a pet store.  I had them order him.  I wanted to make sure he was healthy and not some poor lizard that had been handed down from pet store to pet store.  In other words, I was careful.

Puppy was adorable!

When I brought him to the “Y”, I had not named him yet.  I decided to let the youth in my programs submit names for him and then they could vote for their favorite name.  One of the little kids in the Pre-school program submitted the name, Puppy.

The youth loved the name!  All ages and even adults loved the name.  So, my Iguana was named, Puppy.

Puppy became a fixture at the”Y”.  No matter what age of youth that came through the doors, they all wanted to see Puppy.  Puppy began to spend his days riding on my shoulder, greeting people as they entered the “Y”.  He was a hit!

Puppy became famous in the community.  He went on visits to the local schools.  Some of the school integrated his visits into new curriculum they were developing.  He was on the local Television station.  He was everywhere!  He was spoiled.

Seeing as he was just newly hatched when I got him, we had a great time watching him grow.  He grew to be 5′ long.  He was big and he was a heavy load on my shoulders.  He started sitting on my head as we walked around the “Y”.  That felt better than walking around lopsided with a huge lizard on one shoulder.

The youth loved to feed Puppy.  He loved to be hand fed.  They fed him lettuce, grapes, tofu was one of his favorite foods, too.  Of course, he had to have special vitamins and lighting to make sure he got the things he needed for bone development and all that kind of thing.  Puppy was king!

He loved being petted.  He loved being scratched along the top of his head.  He would close his eyes and you could almost hear him saying, “Ahhhh, that feels great!”  He especially loved this when he was shedding.

Eventually we moved from the state where I worked at the “Y” and we had to stay in some temporary housing while we waited to get into our new home.  The temporary housing would not allow us to have Puppy there.  I was very, very sad.

I found a new home for Puppy.  A home with two young(ish) boys.  Before we moved, I took Puppy’s home, special lighting, vitamins, toys, everything, over to their house.  I tried to teach them about how special of an Iguana he was.  He was tame.  He was sweet.  He was cuddly (as far as Iguana’s go).

When we left him there, I cried.

To this day, I don’t know how Puppy did with his new family.  I don’t know if he is still alive.  Iguana’s live a long life if treated right.  I left him with his new family back in 1996.  That is a long time ago.

Every time I see an Iguana, I think of him.  I often wonder how he did and how they treated him.  I hope he had a good lizard life.  He was a very special pet.

*And yes, I know about how Iguana’s can carry Salmonella and was very careful about having the youth that touched Puppy wash their hands afterwards.  Me, too!