His favorite things are snuggles, naps, and piles of laundry or pillows. He goes absolutely nuts for chicken jerky. He's even been known to chew through bags to get to it. Oh, he's also our little Houdini. He helped us find every loose or open space in our fence before Tim put our wooden fence up, and he even let us knew he lost weight by squeezing through the gate the backyard to go for a nice walk over to the neighbor's.
Flash back to 3 years ago. During my first year of teaching I realized I was letting myself become consumed by teaching. I was becoming restless and needed more in my life than my job. I needed a life. The apartments I lived in also had some interesting tenants, and I wanted to feel totally safe. I liked taking walks to relax, but they got lonely. Yup, I needed a dog.
When I first saw Squirt's info online, I admit I thought he was cute but bypassed him because he was tiny. I wanted a medium dog so I could feel safe but could also pick it up should the need ever arise (like if the dog got sick or hurt). Something kept bringing me back to his picture, though, so I set up a visit at the shelter.
Squirt had been in the shelter for just over a year. He was found wandering around, and they think someone may have kept him as a breeding dog for a while. I just don't think he was taken care of well wherever he once was because of how anxious he is now. He has major separation anxiety and is very easily spooked. Loud or strange noises send him running, and he freaks out during storms. He also gets scared when he doesn't know where I am in the house. He'll pace around until he finds me. Yup, he's a ferocious guard dog. If you're not careful while you're at our house, he'll lick you to pieces or take over your lap so you are forced to snuggle him.
Today is also Squirt's birthday! Well, I say it's his birthday. They think he was 6 when they found him, so he was 7 when I got him. That's technically a senior for a small dog. I decided his adoption day was his birthday just so I could remember it. Today he's 10! He's celebrating by taking a nap at my feet as I type, and he's gotten a few chunks of chicken jerky without having to work for them.
This quirky little guy was the start of my own little family. It was because of him that Danny came bounding over one afternoon to sniff us, and it was his barking all day that led to Tim dog-sitting and us getting to dog-sit Danny. It was that trade-off that sparked a much-needed friendship between two lonely people. That new friend became the love of my life, the man I am now blessed to call my husband. Our little family of us plus two furry boys has expanded to include an unstoppable force of a puppy.
And it all started with my little old man dog.
Happy birthday, Little Bit. I love you very, very much.
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