The puppy belonged to one of Steve's coworkers, and she had gotten the dog (Snickers is what they named him, but don't believe that should be his name*) only a couple of weeks before. They were planning on taking Snickers on vacation with them, but only realized when it was too late that the condo they'd rented had a no-pets policy. Steve offered to let him stay with us, which I was 100% on board with, and so she brought him to us the day before they left. Snickers is a 9 week old yorkie that is roughly the size of a large rat. He was the smallest dog I think I've ever held, and that includes both of my own dogs when they were puppies. We realized, only after getting him home, that Snickers could actually get lost in our house. He also doesn't know his own name yet, so if we did lose track of him, he wouldn't come when he was called, and panic would ensue. I lost him thrice. We tried (unsuccessfully) to barricade him in the living room, just so we'd know for sure where he was, but Snickers is apparently part Yorkie/part ninja, because he could get inside and over almost everything we put in his way, and disappear without a sound.
Y'all, that dog owned me from the second we brought it into the house. He required constant attention, which wasn't terrible because, you know, puppy. He hated when I didn't have him in my lap, or when I got out of his sight. I tried letting him run around while I was doing house things, but I found that when he did that, he was constantly under my feet or going potty in various spots in our house. That was the peeingest dog I've ever met in my life!! He. Peed. Everywhere. He was also very bitey. VERY BITEY. I kind of expected that, because that's what puppies do. They chew on everything, but man, he had tiny, sharp teeth and he chewed on me constantly. He chewed on my necklace, my neck, my hands, my arms, my pants, my hair...anything he could get into his mouth he chewed on. I finally had to find a thick pair of mittens that he couldn't bite through and wear them when I held him. He licked my face raw on one side and would suck on my earlobes. It was weird!
Now, having said all of that, it might sound kind of miserable, but it wasn't at all. I loved him! He was tiny, and he had that sweet puppy smell, and he let me hold him and carry him around. Early in the mornings, he would whine and bark and howl in his tiny puppy way, and I'd get up and hold him on my chest, and he'd go back to sleep and cuddle on me. It was so sweet! We would also sit together in my chair and I'd ask Alexa to play Queen songs, and I swear, the dog loved them. Every time I did that, he'd get really still and doze off when the music was on. Nothing else I played did that to him, just Queen. It seemed to be the only thing that would calm him down!
I sent daily photos to his owner so she'd know he was still alive, and he didn't like to be still long enough to take pictures. He especially didn't like that I would try and put props on him, but he didn't have a choice. See:
I don't care what anyone says, he was a tiny Wookie.
We finally had to let him go back to his family. I won't lie, as much as I loved him, he was a handful and I was glad to have my life back. However, I do miss him. My mom said that it sounded like what it was like to have grandkids. You love them and miss them when they aren't around, but you don't mind so much when they go back home!
Lots of people have asked me if keeping him made me want to get another dog. People are weirdly invested in my getting another dog for some reason. It didn't, at least not yet. I'm still too sad about our boys being gone. I know we will get another one someday, probably more, but my heart still isn't ready yet! For now, I'll just love as many of other people's pets as I can. I'll get there. :)
*Snickers didn't seem like his actual name. I don't know if it was because he wasn't my dog and I didn't name him, but the name didn't fit. I kept waiting for his "real name" to come to me, and it finally did. That dog's name (Snickers to his family though he may be) is Chewy. Not Chewbacca, regardless of the fact that he was a teacup wookie, but just Chewy. It might have been because of all the actual chewing that he did, but that was the name that I accidentally called him, so I know that's what his real name is.
No comments:
Post a Comment