The Gift Part One

We haven't had an animal in the house for almost two years. The last pet we had was a dog that belonged to my Mother. She had two dogs and there was no way my Dad could deal with them after she died so my husband and I decided to take one of them to love as our own. Enter Lucy, a Shepherd-Lab mix, and while not the sharpest knife in the drawer, we came to love her dearly. We had her for a little over eight years before she became so debilitated that the kindest thing to do was to have her gently, peacefully put down. I couldn't handle arranging and carrying this out so my daughter came to my rescue and took care of everything. This was doubly difficult for me because not only had I grown to love the dog, she was my living legacy from my Mother. I regarded her as a very close, furry connection.

Before the advent of Lucy, my daughter brought home a miniscule, rat-like dog that she found sitting alongside a bridge one day. I suppose it was some kind of Chihuahua, a breed I find most unattractive. We're big dog people but my daughter worked on me long enough and I, in turn, on my husband to wear him down into agreeing this animal could stay. Big mistake! This little dog stank--even after a thorough bath--and crapped and peed all over the house. This was indeed the dog that refused to be housebroken despite all my efforts. When Lucy came on the scene, the two dogs were not compatible so we took the little dog to the animal shelter. I felt bad about this but apparently the timing was right. This occurred a few weeks before Christmas and someone adopted the little dog almost immediately.

The common thread between these two dogs was that we did not choose them; they were thrust upon us. My dear, patient husband stated that the next animal to share our home would be one that he chose, with my input as well.

Lucy looked something like this:

The little rat-dog looked something like this:

My daughter named this tiny animal "Siva" which we found quite amusing as this is the name of the Hindu god of destruction and reproduction.  Yeah, right!