I'm a dogmom in the truest sense. In fact, I'd like nothing more than to put my dogs in sweaters and shoes, except that the husband doesn't believe in putting them in clothes. It's the same argument we've had for 20 some-odd years. We're both intractable at this point.
Over the course of my life, I've had a LOT of dogs. Starting with Abdul (a golden) and Zapper (schnoodle well before it was trendy), to Barnaby, Barkley (a PETA rescue), to Jadzia Dax, Col. Kyra Nerys (hunting pack rescue who was gunshy), Lwoxanna "Roxie" Troi (apparently bite risk from the pound who never opened her mouth to anyone a day in her life), and Miles O'Brien (found wandering a parking lot with no collar, no chip, and no hope). All beagles are named after Star Trek characters because I'm that nerd. I live to spoil my babies completely rotten.
Fast forward to now. Lupita 'Pita Chips' is a rescue baby from the local chihuahua rescue group. We got her as a puppy, the runt of the litter. You have to appreciate, when I met her the first time, she was being bullied by her much bigger sisters. She ran over to me and climbed into my lap. She put her little baby paws (like somewhere between dime and nickel-sized) on my face and bit my chin and I was goner. She's now monstrously tall and it's clear that while her mother was most definitely a chihuahua, she'd likely had to use a ladder to get with her children's father, likely a black mouth cur. Picture a pocket-size Old Yeller, and that's what Pita is.
Next up is Ezri Peach, the latest addition to my family. Another beagle, another Star Trek name. She's little and delicate like Ezri Dax and full of fire, too. She's had a hard life until she got found by her foster family. She'd been hit by a car and had a broken leg as a result. She's gone from being a street dog to living the little puppy high life, though. She's doing amazing now and I'm loving spoiling her rotten.
You know that saying about how saving one dog won't change the world but for that dog, the world changes forever? My dogs aren't my whole world, but damn close, and I could not be happier for it.
