Lucy is a seven year old Chihuahua with refined climbing and scrambling abilities. She’s agile and quick. Maggie is a miniature dachshund of indeterminate age possessing all the coordination and grace for which the breed is famous. Maggie runs at the couch, takes a mighty leap and gains purchase on the seat cushion with her front paws, then slides slowly to the floor. Lucy is taller than Maggie but masses about one-third of a tiny wiener dog’s bulk. Both have marble sized clear brown eyes, but Lucy’s are protuberant. In a tussle it’s Maggie’s strategy to squash her opponent, raising that mass of mini-dog flesh above the agile Chihuahua and flopping down in a move reminiscent of the best of WWF.
I have always enjoyed the company of larger dogs, those weighing up around fifty pounds. My impression of the smaller breeds is colored by a bad relationship with my mother’s old and curmudgeonly miniature poodle, a mutt whose passing I did not grieve. Last night, in the company of canine midgets, I was pleased to discover that they are every bit as doggy as their larger cousins. They yap when a big dog would yap. They eat things that disagree with them and lie about under the dinner table passing gas. They’re cuddlesome to a fault.
Small dog benefits I can imagine for the urban dog owner include a miniature stool to match a miniature appetite requiring only a sandwich bag for disposal. Whatever…
I love Lucy.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Winston 11.26.06 at 7:19
Like you, I have always preferred the company of larger dogs. Our last one was a golden retriever named, as I have mentioned to you before, Molly. Now we are owned by a cocker spaniel named Chaeli (pr. KAY-Lee) who was featured in a post:
http://www.nobodyasked.com/2006/05/27/paulas-pet-peeves/
After a golden and a cocker, my only requirement next time is SHORT HAIR. The floppy ears just won’t stay clean or dry when Roomie dares to let Chaeli be a dog. But, oh so cuddly and loveable…
Frank Paynter 11.26.06 at 9:06
Our Molly has long hair, but except for the occasional brush with burdock or sticktights, it’s remarkably easy to maintain. The drifts of hair she sheds around the house come up easily enough with the vacuum. I remember a cocker spaniel whose fur was always matted. I was a bad pet owner, and didn’t brush her enough. Molly doesn’t need much grooming.
Ben and Katie… 11.27.06 at 2:33
Katie just laughed out loud. Great reference to Maggie’s WWF moves. Thanks for a great trip!!
Love
-Ben and KT.