I'm glad I never got a pug.*
*Disclaimer. I love all puppies...and they are all puppies, german shepards, rottweilers, saint bernards...I love them all and they are all adorable...but mine is the best.
As many of you are now aware, I recently got me a dog. Correction. My boyfriend Ty got me(us) a dog. Ask my parents and they will tell you, that is the best present I have ever gotten. From the time I was born, besides the one summer I was obsessed with ponies, I have begged for a puppy. Our family tried a couple of times. When I was very young we had a great dog named Rex. He was a cocker spaniel. When I was about 8ish, Rex got hit by a car and had to wear a cast on his back left leg.....which of course bonded us for the rest of his short life. (For those of you not in the know, I wear a brace on my left leg, which I have worn the majority of my life.) Very soon after, Rex was in so much pain he had to be put down. It took me awhile to forgive my parents and to this day, whenever I drive past the hospital where he was last seen, I say "That's where they killed my dog". Dramatic, yes, but if you have a pet...you know.
A few years later, friends of my parents offered us a pup they could not keep, they gave in after much whining from me...and you can bet your sweet bippy I know how to whine! Her name was Foxy Lady, she looked like a little black fox with no tail (a Schiperkee). Foxy picked me right away and we were inseperable. When anyone else would walk into the house she barked like she was the size of a grizzly bear....even though she was only slightly bigger than most chihuahuas. We often called her "psycho puppy" because she could hardly contain her excitement around us....unfortunately she also couldn't contain her bladder. Foxy was not housetrained and was not able to be. My parent gave her away to a farm, I believe, where she could run and pee freely.
Many years past. All of them I still yearned for a pup of my very own. "Mom, I promise I will walk it." "Dad, you would never have to clean up after it, I swear!" It never worked. I had to move all the way to Chicago, through 3 different apartments and countless unworthy boys to find one who would grant me my dream....a puppy.
February, 2006. Close up: me, daydreaming at the computer, again. I click on this new website called craigslist. Anything you need....apts, jobs, sex with no strings....you can find it on this site. My mouse lingers and finally clicks on it: PETS. I would often go to this site and see if there was anything right for us and our one bedroom apartment. There was always a mini pinscher here, a pug there but nothing that fit.
All of a sudden there it is...."Chihuahua mix...needs good home....email for picture". I know I shouldn't, Ty and I haven't really discussed it in a while...but...I ....just .....can't ....help .....myself. I email, explain that we are a loving couple living near Wrigley Field, very interested in getting a dog. Within minutes I hear it...."You've got mail"....and my life is forever changed.
I call Ty into the room. With little or no whining, I am on the phone with a woman who will bring me my dog within the week.
Tootsie is scruffy, lovable and sleeps at the end of our bed. I am protective mommy while Ty runs with her to help her tree another squirrel.
We have now had her for 4 1/2 months and I can't remember life without her. Very recently we had a minor emergency where I had to face that possibilty for the first...and I assume not the last...time. My little baby got a bacterial infection and was a shadow of her lively, wonderful, heart-melting self for two days. I am happy to say that after an overnight stint in the hospital, and our first taste of how expensive your best friend can actually be, Toots is back to being my lively little sweetheart....I missed her.
She is the best present I've ever recieved. As my sister in law said, she will be my baby until I have one. I can truly say, without a whole lot of cliche added, she has very much enriched our lives.
I would like to add one more thing to this post. One of my dearest friends is going through a really rough time with her own best friend right now. I have only had Toots for a fraction of the time Denise has had Reece but I can only imagine. They moved all over the country together. Went through numerous successes and failures and finally settled into a home...all the while right by each others side. They are family and I offer all of my love and support as I now understand that bond better that ever.
In conclusion, as I said at the beginning, I love all dogs. They truly add to one's life. Depsite the 6am walks, the occasional poop on the kitchen floor, and that one embarassing day when Tootsie barked at a little boy and made him cry, I couldn't imagine a better dog. That's why I'm glad I never got a pug
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