Braggin’ on My Pets

I keep forgetting to put this up. One of the fun things about sitting down and sorting through papers is the little things you come across.

Back when I was around 25, lo so many moons ago, the story of the Chupacrabra crossed the border. This actually merited a little attention from the LA Times.

Now, at the time, my dog looked pretty much like this:


That’s Rutger at a little under a year. He has filled out, but he's still small. We went to the vet yesterday and he weighed in at a whopping 7lbs and that’s overweight. One of my friends once said of the R-Dawg, “You go to Jenny’s house and you see Rutger and you say “Wow, Jenny’s got a small dog.” and you go away and you tell people “Jenny’s got a small dog” and then you come back and you realize he’s even smaller than you thought he was.”

And he predates the “teacup” model.

Anyway, this is the pic the LA Times ran with the story of the Chupacabra.






Needless to say, the jokes about “Rutger’s night job” lasted for sometime.






Anyway, given I do not wear tons of make up and jewelry, nor am a diva, I am often asked “How did you end up with…” I’m not a toy dog person. I will never own another given the choice. My other dogs were Kuluk...









And Gerry (below)....

(Both of whom have passed on in old age, Lord and Lady keep their dear mischievous souls. Blessed be. Chihuahuas are notoriously long lived, so Rutger hanging out at age 15 (he’ll be 16 in August) isn’t that surprising.)

Rutger was Fate, Kismet. Instant Karma. I was working at a petshop and a batch of dogs came in (Not puppy mill dogs, but a consolidation from private breeders.) I pulled this tiny thing with these huge ears out of the kennel. He looked at me. I looked at him. He sneezed and fell over and I heart squelched out of my chest and down my arm into his little paw. (And I instantly knew his name, that's always a bad sign.*chuckle*) Rutger stayed at the shop for three months. He kept getting sick (pet shops are really not the best place to get dogs, honestly), and I would stay overnight and nurse him back to health. He would go back up for sale. One dog down at the other end of the kennels would sneeze and Rutger would sneeze and fall over again. He only came close to being sold once, but the look of incipient panic on my face pretty much squirreled that deal. He came home with me and, with Kuluk and Gerry, grew up like an honest to Gawd Dog.

Not an accessory.

Rutger is remarkably mellow for his breed. Always has been. Ask anyone. Even vet techs bring him back saying “Wow, I’ve never worked with a Chihuahua this cool.” Now I have bragged that was because I made sure Rutger was well socialized and used to people, other dogs and various situations…like grocery shopping or going to the movies (the trick is to hide them down a large jacket). But the truth is that a large part of his disposition is simply Rutger’s nature. He’s a mellow dog. I’ve seen 3 years old manhandle him at the dog park and he’s kickin’ back. “Whatever. I’m getting attention so it’s all good.” At this late stage, about the only thing he has a limited tolerance for is young hyper dogs that get in his face repeatedly. A couple times, “Yes. You can check me out. Yes, I know look like a cat, but I am in fact a dog.” But after while he’ll give ‘em what for. He’s more of a people dog anyway. I once watched him at the dog park being passed from hand to hand by cooing dog owners of various ilks. He didn’t touch ground for 45 minutes and that was just fine by him.


“Ah…me public.”


He has loved moving to the NC. Loves going out in the field behind my place and running around. He’s actually gotten more “doggy” since he got here.

Anyway, that’s my pal.




Saturday Evening

The weather is beautiful. Warm with a touch of wind to take the edge off the humidity off. Perfect BBQ weather. Hang out in the backyard talking in the dark. Spring is springing all over the place. Trees blooming in entire clouds of white, pink, purple and red. We had a run of daffodils all over town last month and this last week the purple wisteria sprays started to appear all over, sometimes in the most unusual of places, like where I cut over the train tracks and climb the hill to go to class. I had a dig last weekend, spent today transplanting all the flowers and shrubs on my balcony that I smuggled into the state from CA, and I have to go to the library to run a research blitz tomorrow, so I’m enjoying a quiet night in, listening to the crickets (I assume they are crickets) and reading a good book (again). I really need to pick up a biography of Teddy Roosevelt sometime. I confess that modern history is not usually my thing, too much red tape, but the more I learn about that particular president, the more remarkable he seems. If anyone has a good recommendation for a good biography, let me know!

Have a great evening all!