Sunday, November 1, 2009

dogs

So, I've always thought that I was a dog person. A person who loves dogs. Someone who knows how to take care of dogs. One whom dogs respect and listen to. Solomon, the first dog I ever trained, is the most well mannered dog I have ever seen. Everybody loves him. He's very well tempered and listens too. He always does what I say. You all know that I now have Tivo. He too is a very good dog. He's a bit of a whiner, but he has a cool temper and is very gentle. He's a great listener. I have been around a lot of different dogs in my time-LOL. I've never had a problem with any of them-until I met Mia.
Mia is Maggie's little sister. Those of you who don't know, Maggie is Tivo's best friend in Vegas. She is similar in color and size and they get along famously. Like I said, Mia is Maggie's LITTLE sister. Mia is like a little rat. Literally. She's a mutt to the fullest. They claim she's a terrier mix; however, I believe Splinter is her father (think giant ooze affected rat from TMNT)!! Mia is actually so ugly, she's kind of cute. Her hair is coarse and black, mostly. It has strands of brown and red mixed in. I must interject my own description here and give Mia some redeeming qualities: she's not nearly as hideous as her chemo patient sister, Abby.
Abby forgets to eat or knows she's so disgusting she doesn't deserve to eat. I'm not sure which it is. Abby is more of a sewer rat than Mia. Scary really!!
Now that you have somewhat of an image in your head, I can precede with my story. After spending time with Mia, I quickly realized that little dogs are no way similar to big dogs. I have spent my life around big dogs. I was used to big dogs and how they act and how we interact. Little Mia has proven to be a bit of a challenge for me.
One afternoon, I decided to take the dogs out for a walk. They had been couped up in the apartment all day and were getting restless. As we were about to cross the parking lot, two cars came pulling in to the complex. The dogs weren't on leashes and we had been getting in a bit of trouble lately for it. I started calling the dogs over because I could hear one of the ladies start to freak out. Naturally, Maggie and Tivo came running over. I was yelling for Mia, but she was no where in site. I made a quick decision to take to dogs back to the apartment and run back for Mia. This didn't work out quite as well as I had anticipated. I ran out to look for Mia, but she was not in sight. I started to panic because Mia can fit through the bars that lead directly to the really busy street next to us. I went back to the apartment to tell my friend I may have lost Mia. If I was looking for any sympathy, it was not there. She told me to get back out there and find her dog!! So I did. I walked over to the area where the cars had parked. As I started walking around the corner of the building, something told me to look to my left. I did. What did I see? I saw little Mia's head, tongue hanging out, through the glass of a car window. A car window!! Mia was inside this car. It was freaking hot. It had been about ten minutes and she was looking for me to save her. Naturally, I tried all four doors. Of course, they were locked. Mia just stared as I looked helplessly at her. What was I going to do? Sit down and cry-that's what I wanted to do. Instead, I went to every door and asked if they were the ones that drove the Camry. I finally found the right people. They were quite upset. The lady had no idea how it happened. I told her Mia jumped in when she opened the door. Mia is safe, but it is said that I'm trying to get rid of the little rat. Simply not true, even though she did escape a few weeks later, after we moved, under my watch. She was only gone a few hours and we found her strolling the street. I can't help the fact that this little terror is a free spirit and I embrace this fact.
All in all, little dogs are indeed a different breed. She's ugly, but very cute. She's dependent, yet very self sufficient. She loves roaming around and at the same time, she is the best snuggler in the world!! It's love hate, with a little more love :-)