Dogs

At some point I suppose that many of us have a dog in our lives. Currently I'm on dog #3, a chihuahua named Chico.

Chico is a legacy in a roundabout way. He was obtained for my stepson by his father and stayed on at the place in Wilmer after the demise of the the elder Mr. Pendleton - Warren's siblings being in semi-charge of Chico until they suddenly decided to bail on the Wilmer house.

Chico had been literally cast aside - left to fend for himself with the departure of the humans. We came the day after everyone abandoned the house, not knowing if Chico was even there. I knew that there was a possibility that the dog would be there but was secretly hoping that somehow another tribe of humans would have felt sorry for him and had taken him in.

As it happened, the little one heard the lawnmower I had started to trim the overgrown yard. I caught him out of the corner of my eye high-tailing it to the front door of the house looking for his Warren. Being my mother's child, there was no way I was going to refuse the darn dog entrance to our cozy little family.

We drove the thing home the long way, stopping by a pet store to obtain a collar, a leash and a cage. In deference to Warren's preferences, both collar and leash were black, adorned with multiple skull and crossbones - a "goth" dog. The cage was a training tool. All indications were that the dog had not been toilet trained. The cage proved to be worth its weight in gold.

Of a sudden, Chico's lifestyle changed. Aside from a change in venue, the dog would have to learn to control his bodily functions until the appropriate time. In exchange, he was warm, he was dry and was living indoors. He adored Warren, tolerated Carol, didn't care for me. I was OK with that. Twice before I was adopted by a dog I really didn't care to have and I wasn't going to let it happen a third time.

Five months down the road, he's used to his new digs and knows when and where he needs to take care of his personal business. He is still warm, and he is still dry as the weather permits. He also has a new human in his collection. Yes, I have been adopted by another dog.

Dang.

This one isn't too bad and is, in fact, rather an amusing creature. Amusing in what he does and in what I want to project on him. For instance, he is about the same colour as a corny dog. I had this idea of spreading mustard down his back and presenting him as such at halloween. Didn't tell anyone about my plan until after the day came and went. At present I am considering renaming the dog "Peanut", again because of his colour and general shape. Bets that when Carol reads this she'll put a stop to that crazy plan, too.

Warren referred to the dog as being a stupid chihuahua. I've been discovering that the dog isn't quite as dumb as Warren claims it to be. He's relatively trainable despite being two and a half years of age. For that matter, I'm relatively trainable, too, despite being almost 56. Chico loves his "walks", knows what I am saying when I say the word "walk" and will literally jump me from behind, pushing my calf muscles, trying to push me to his leash, then the front door.

Once outside, Chico becomes the mighty hunter, lunging with all of his might to any hapless rabbit he might encounter along the way. He also tries to be a bit of a Casanova, preferring much larger dogs he might encounter on the way. There's a pit bull in the neighborhood who has been in heat lately... I'm discouraging walks in that direction for fear that the mighty Chico might be biting off more than he can chew.

All in all I am respectful of the little dog. He has a stump of a tail which was lost when he had an encounter with a door when he was a pup and every once in a while he shows a bit of a limp acquired when he had been at the business end of a bb gun. He hates sharp noises as a result. He is wary around strangers and he has a jealous streak, too. If he's around when I'm kissing Carol, he will try his darndest to get attention from either or both of us. He just doesn't like to be left out.

As was said a moment ago, nearly everyone has had a dog at one time or another. I wasn't looking for one when this one came along... now I'm wondering what to do about a dog when Warren takes this one away to college.

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