Mr. Mouse

Talk about a success story! Read about Mr. Mouse (a.k.a. Sprite) written by his loving parents, Danielle & Cooper:

In October 2007, my ornery yet beloved cat, Lucia “CheeChee”, passed away. I was very sad and wasn’t sure I when I’d be emotionally ready to have another pet. Thankfully, Danielle is a Pomeranian-obsessive and had her own furry Pomeranian child, Frances, to help heal my heart. I was a die-hard cat person, but Danielle and Frances were quickly and persuasively changing my mind.

A friend of ours who was on Muttville’s board at the time told us about Muttville and suggested that fostering a dog might be a good way for me to share my love with an animal before I was ready to fully commit. Danielle and I were nervous but excited by the idea of being able to help rescue a dog and Muttville seemed like such an amazing organization. For months, I visited Muttville’s website and looked at each and every dog, looking for my future friend. I wanted every dog I saw and I emailed about a couple of them only to find out they had been adopted or already had a foster family. (Don’t worry. There are plenty of pooches to go around. Muttville has grown since then and are always looking for new folks willing to foster and/or adopt!) Then, one day in the late summer of 2008, I saw this little Pomeranian named Sprite (who would go on to become Mr. Edward Mouse) and immediately emailed Muttville. One look at Sprite’s photo of his somewhat crazed little face and I was smitten!

Sprite had an amazing volunteer and temporary foster parent, Rachel. She understood that while we were interested in eventually adopting a dog, and quite possibly Sprite, we wanted to start as foster parents while Frances the Queen Pomeranian sniffed around and decided if she could “tolerate” his ragamuffin self in her home. You see, Miss Frances is a perfect little princess and well, Sprite, had lived a harder life and was a bit scruffy around the edges.

Sprite came for a couple of visits to meet Frances and her BFF, Calvin. Ever protective of Frannie, Calvin insisted on being there to check him out. Well, for us, it was love at first sight. Who were we kidding with this whole “fostering” thing? At least for Danielle, who know from the get-go that we’d give this pooch his forever home, Sprite fit perfectly into our equation. I was a bit more nervous wanting to be sure Frances and he would get along. There was this initial “humping episode” that spooked me but when the ladies of the house want something, they tend to get it! So, I opened my heart and let the little guy trot his way into our home and hearts.

We renamed him Mr. Mouse because he both looks like a mouse and has a bit of a formal, “old-man” air about him. Believe it or not, it’s our 4 year anniversary with Mouse this September! Frankly, none of us has a clue how old he is. The vets have been saying “14?” for years but aside from a practically toothless smile, enalpril for his heart, and the occasional back spasm, Mr. Mouse is still going strong! In fact, he outpaces all of us on our walks. Take him to the beach and he will just run and run…The guy LOVES his walks.T

Muttville has brought such joy into our lives. They rescue the dogs who need to find a loving home, but they also rescue us humans along the way.

Thanks to Sarah Jo Neubauer, Sherri Franklin, and all of Muttville for doing so much good.

PS. Since 2008, we’ve also adopted an old lady Pom who we adored named Gigi (may she rest in peace) and successfully fostered and adopted out two other lady Poms named Miss Em and Olivia, both of whom are currently living the good life in Napa and Benicia, respectively.

https://muttville.org/story/20120502-mr-mouse

Are you the proud parent of a Muttville dog? Send us your story! Include three of your favorite photos and send it to success_stories@muttville.org with the subject line 'Success Story'.