Let me tell you about my very first, loveable, furry chihuahua friend, Pee Wee. I will never forget the day that I got my first chihuahua.
I was 8 or 9 years old, I believe I was in the third grade. I remember that my asthma was really bad at that time and my dad had heard that there was some legend that a chihuahua can actually take asthma away from an asthmatic child, thus the reason they are often called "Asthma Hounds." I had just been officially diagnosed with asthma after years of struggling with shortness of breath, nighttime attacks, lack of energy, no interest in food, my growth being stunted and being a fairly permanent shade of blue. My dad must've figured "What the heck, I'll try anything." and he got me a Chihuahua puppy.
I remember going to get him. There was a breeder not very far away from the steel mill where my dad worked. She had this little bitty red house, which is torn down now, and I remember my mom and I being there but not my dad. He may have had to go to work, I don't know. We met the breeder lady who I think was of Mexican origin. I know that she had very long black hair. My mom chatted with the breeder for a few minutes, and we got to see Pee Wee's parents. I remember the father because he was very furry and gray and reminded me of my cousins Scottish Terrier dog, Bozo. I think the breeder lady had Pee Wee in a back bedroom or something because I don't remember seeing him when we first came in. I think the breeder or my mom said something along the lines of "Are you ready to see your new puppy?" and I said "YES!", and I finally got to meet MY dog! Talk about adorable! Talk about beautiful! Talk about tiny! Talk about hyper-active!
He was the cutest thing I had ever laid eyes on! He coat was mostly brown, except he had white hair starting from his little doggy chin, and running all the way under him. All of his belly hair was white. His tail was brown except for the very tip. He looked like he had sat near a paint can and dipped the end of his tail in white paint. His legs were brown, except for all four of his paws. Guess what color they were? You guess it, white again. Only his paws were unique because although they were mostly white, if you looked closely, you could see that he had very small brown spots speckled all over them, almost like freckles. I remember his ears made him look like a bat because they stuck straight up and were so big in proportion to his little head. The fur on his rear-end had a funny feature to it too. His fur there had these little swirls on it. They both started towards the center and the one on the right had a swirl of fur that went clock wise, but the one on the left had a swirl that went counter-clock wise.
The breeder picked him up and handed him to me and he wriggled and strained against her to get to me. His little front legs went all stiff from him trying to push himself against her. His ears folded back and he started to shake and shiver like chihuahuas do and when he got to me, all he wanted to do was lick my face. He probably could've licked my freckles off had I let him do it much longer than he did! We got in the car and my mom asked me what I wanted to name him. I had no idea because I had never named a dog. My mom said that his name could wait a couple of days. I could just get to know him and see if I found a name that suited him. We took him home and at first he ran around the strip of grass between the sidewalk and the street and peed. Then he sniffed all around our front yard...and peed. Then we took him inside and he must have taken an hour or two sniffing everyone and everything that he could get his little black nose close to. Then I got to take him for a walk.
I got his little leash on took him outside, down the steps to the porch, down the path through the front yard and then down the steps to the sidewalk; and then he took ME for a walk. For a little dog, he sure could pull! This dog dug his claws in and strained away from the leash to the point that he was huffing and puffing and coughing and straining. It was like he thought he was afraid that if he didn't get to where he was going fast enough, he'd miss something. I took him around the block that day and was amazed that he managed to pee on every single tree, shrub, fence post and telephone pole that we passed by. It wasn't long before we came up with a name. My mom helped me with this one. She had to start offering suggestions to me otherwise he would be "No-Name." She offered the name Pee Wee, "because he pees so much!" and it stuck.
From that day on, my best friend's name was Pee Wee. Although later, he got more attached to my mother than he did me, but that's a story for another blog. Pee wee and I created many, many memories in the 18 years we had together! Other dogs came and other dogs went, and I have loved them all. I adore my current chihuahua, Tia, very much, but I have never loved another dog more than I have loved Pee Wee. I was the one hunting for him everytime he ran away from home for another doggie adventure, I was there for him when he had gotten hit by a car and had to have surgery on his leg and had his leg in a cast for at least two weeks. (We've actually got video footage of him in the cast at my mom's house! What a riot watching him hobble around in the back yard!) And it broke my heart when mom told me that we had to put him down.
His little life ended on a warm and sunny spring day in 2003. A couple of weeks prior, he had choked on some food we think that some of it had gotten into his lungs because he developed an infection, some form of doggie pnuemonia. There was nothing we could do for him and mom called and made an appointment to have him put to sleep. She said it was at 3:30 p.m. a couple of days from now. I knew I had to work then and I couldn't call off or trade days or get out early and I worried if I'd be able to see him before he went to the vet. I got off of work that day and tore through the gas-station parking lot to my car, got in, turned it on and hit the gas and did my best not to let up on it until I got to my mom's house. When I got in I said "Where's Pee Wee?" my mom told me he was in the back yard. And sure enough, there he was just laying in the sunshine like he always did. (Chihuahua's LOVE to lay in the sunshine!) I scooped him up in my arms and sat on the sidewalk cross-legged and held him. I petted his little head with his big bat ears and told him how much I loved him. I rocked him back and forth like he was my baby and kissed him. I thanked him for being a part of my life and asked him to come back to me someday. He wearily licked my tears away as if to tell me "It's okay, I won't hurt anymore."
My mom kept telling me as gently as she could that it was time for her take him. They had an appointment after all. I said that I didn't want him to go. She said "I know honey, but there's nothing we can do for him now and we don't want him to suffer any more than he already has." I said "I know, but I'm sure gonna miss him!" She asked me if I wanted to go with her and I told her that I just couldn't do it. I sat and rocked him for about a minute longer and I said "Goodbye Pee Wee, I love you!" And mom took him. I sat with my back to the driveway as I heard her go out the front door and heard the door to her van shut as she put Pee Wee in one side. I heard the other door to the van shut as she got inside and I listened as she started the van and drove away and down the street. She came back about a half an hour later with a box and she asked me if I wanted to see him. I silently told her 'no.'
Mom buried Pee Wee in her back yard over by the alley close to where we buried Muppet, a dog that had died much, much, earlier. She tried to pick a spot that was in the sunshine, like he would've wanted because he loved basking in the sunshine so much. Later, mom treated me and my then boyfriend, Phillip, and my son, Brandon to a meal at Denny's to try and get our minds off of it for a while. She kept Pee Wee's collar, which I have right now, hanging up on the corner of a picture frame in my living room. Pee Wee was my very first Chihuahua. There have been several other chihuahuas in my life since the breed was introduced to me. But Pee Wee was the whole reason for my life-long adoration of the tiny doggies. Everything about him was funny, darling, adorable and fun. Except for his anger streak, but again, another story for another blog. (He was a little neurotic). I owe a lot of my happiness to Pee Wee and there are sometimes when I think "I can't wait 'till I die because I would love to see him again!" But I think I can wait a little more. I have many other Chihuahua's to befriend for now.
