About two and half years ago our long-haired Chihuahua died. He was an incredibly sweet little guy. He defied the breed stereotype by being a mellow cuddler who loved belly rubs. I never cared for small dogs, until we got him. I wound up loving him more than any dog ever.
We are dog people. So, soon as we got back from an extended stay down south, we knew we needed a canine companion. Odie came from a kill shelter in Corbin, Kentucky. We found him at an organization in the Chicago burbs that cares for dogs until they get adopted; a doggie orphanage.
He was supposed to be mostly Chihuahua. It was hard to tell since he was only four months old. He had a bit of a scruffy, whiskery face, was a bit calmer than the other dogs, and was prone to giving little puppy nibbles. These traits immediately endeared him to us.
He won us over. He was our favorite.
It turns out, he is not a chihuahua, but a twenty-one-pound border terrier. His whiskers became more pronounced like a Scotty. He has more energy than any other living being on the planet. And he had a terrible biting problem for at least a year and half.
That was the “What have we done?” stage of our relationship with Odie. But he was family by then. We survived.
Odie is a graduate of Puppy School. He was stressed to be around other dogs and not be able to play but excelled at recess with all other dogs chasing him.
What he offers is a high entertainment value. He is amazingly fast and has more cagey moves that any NFL running back. He will play with the other dogs for hours until they are both exhausted. Then he sleeps well into the next day.
He wakes up with us but is in cuddle mode for two to three more hours. He usually takes an afternoon nap and falls asleep at eight o’clock in the evening. He plays with me every evening. He lets me know it’s time to play by sounding like a vicious Tasmanian Devil and play biting me. I have no choice. So, we chase each other around the house or the yard. He is nearly impossible to catch.
He loves his toys and gets them out every day. In the evening when we are watching a favorite TV program, he ever so often begins relentlessly squeaking them. If that does not get your attention he gets on the back of the couch, pushes the toy against you ear and squeaks it.
He has matured. He no longer bites so that it hurts. He is mostly quiet and very loving and cuddly at home if there are no new people or dogs around. Even when there is, he settles down soon.
He has superhero vision and hearing which makes him a reliable watch dog. I would, however, like him to turn down his sensitivity setting.
I have seen lists of ways a dog shows he loves you and he has every one of them.
Not unlike most people, he is a real character, but we love him.
As active as he is, he stops to pose for photos.
