We said goodbye to Lulu (formerly Za Za) on December 8th, 5 years and one month after we adopted her from Muttville. It wasn’t nearly enough time with her, but we are grateful to have had her in our lives for as long as we did.
Matt and I fostered a hospice chihuahua for another rescue. We had always had big dogs, but with that experience we discovered that we are also little dog people! After she died, I started casually browsing the Muttville website, admiring all of the lovely senior dogs. When I saw a tiny grey chihuahua with bright eyes and a pink tongue in a permanent Muttville salute, I sent the link to Matt with the message “I think we’re in trouble…”
When we met her and felt her rabbit-soft coat and saw her do handstands while peeing,the decision was clear. We snapped her up and brought her home. It took her a few months to adjust to being a member of our family. We would have big arguments with her about sleeping in her bed in the bedroom and not on the couch(we quickly compromised and she ended up sleeping snuggled up with her dad for years). She would stick close to buildings on walks and was not a fan of crossing the street (too exposed). But with time she relaxed and settled in.
Lulu’s extra soft and uniquely colored fur, funny little mouth, tiny size, and big personality got her compared to countless non-dog animals throughout the five years we had her, most notably when a child at the park declared “I want to pick up the mouse-dog!”(The mouse-dog hated children and did not oblige.) Despite her mouse/rabbit/chinchilla/cat/etc. labels, she was quite a dog and loved running up the hill to the park to then stop and sniff every single thing for what felt like hours at a time. She was the sassy boss of the big dogs and the humans in our house, deciding which bed and lap she would occupy when (frequently the ottoman in front of the space heater)and barking at us for her dinner, which earned her yet another nickname: tiny dictator. She was also the snuggliest little cuddle bug and everything she did was the cutest thing ever. We miss her so much. Thank you, Muttville, for bringing her into our lives.
Johanna and Matt
4/7/21
