Woman's Best Friends

My testimony wouldn't be complete if I didn't share about two of the most wonderful little creatures that God provided to me as lifelong companions. Throughout my childhood I always had furry friends. In my early years, my parents owned cats. I don't know how that was possible, since I later developed a horrible allergy to them. After we moved from Lomita, my family mostly owned just dogs as companions.

However, I remember one cat in particular that we had for years. Nero was a black cat who wandered on our doorstep one day and stayed with us for years when we lived in Lomita, CA. He was the greatest lap friend. He always was around and loved to rub up against our legs whenever we were home. When we moved from Lomita, my parents couldn't find him and when they did, the found out that he actually was a pet to two families for all the years and we thought he was only ours. So it was a good thing, we didn't take him with us, because the other family would have been devastated not knowing where he went.

My first recollection of dog ownership was when my parents brought home two German Shepherd puppies. We named them Flower and Sleepy. Flower was a black, white and brown colored puppy and Sleepy was a mostly blonde, white with a little black mixed in her fur. They were both amazing pets. Sleepy had the horrible habit of laying in the middle of an Avenue in the front of our house. People knew her and would try and avoid her as she just let them drive around her. One day, she would meet her fate from someone who wasn't familiar with her daily routine of laying in the street. I used to tell my parents one day someone is going to run her over and they did. Flower we had for years and added a little black Cockapoo named Petey. He was an adorable little guy. When we moved from Lomita, my parents had thought they had arranged a place where we could stay until we settled into a home once we moved. Unfortunately that was not the case and my Dad took our forever dogs to a shelter. He mentioned to them that they were wonderful pets and hopefully they were rehomed. The devastation of losing those pets was heart breaking.

After those two pets, there were several after that my parents owned and then when I moved out on my own, there always seemed to be family pets. Unfortunately, several of them met their death's prematurely by escaping and being run over by cars. One of my favorite dogs name was Polwalski, he was a long hair calico dachshund mix and my first husband hated him for some reason and he convinced me that our place was too small and he took him to a shelter as well. Another amazing dog we had in another relationship was Champ, who was a sheltie. He was beautiful. He looked like a black Lassie. He was actually my oldest son's first dog. When his father and I divorced, my ex-husband took custody of Champ. Unfortunately, he lived on a very busy road and one day he wondered off and met his doom on the road. That was such a dangerous road for pet owners. There were several neighbors on that road who had lost their dogs the same way. One of the problems with pet ownership is sometimes, the pets just find a way to escape even after years of keeping them in a safe fenced yard.

So my most favorite pets in the whole wide world are the two I will be sharing with you. The first one is my beautiful red dachshund named Queenie. I got her when she was just eight weeks old and kept her until she was 17 years and 9 months old. Queenie was a bred puppy and would have had her papers (the breeder had named her Dip Stick because she had a black tip on her tail) had I not had her spayed. Queenie was my best friend for all those years. Where ever I was, there she was following me around or laying under my feet. My beautiful girl was by me all through my last marriage. Oh the heartache she witnessed and the tears that drenched her fur during that relationship. She was such a wonderful companion. When she was a pup, she used to be able to jump so high. She would jump high into the air and catch birds. I disliked that part of her that she loved to kill fowl -- mainly finches and chickens. One time we lived in a rural part of the country and she would sneak out under the fence and kill my poor neighbors chickens. I would block her in and she would still manage to get over there and steal and kill her chickens. I offered to pay my neighbor for the two chickens she killed. She said no, that she knew I tried keeping her in, but once Queenie found her way, she was determined to terrorize her chickens twice. I felt horrible. One of the cutest things my Queenie did when she was begging is stand up on her long back and hold her little short paws up and beg food from me. She was always getting treats. But like all amazing furry friends, she aged and got sick. She ended up getting a form of cancer that went to her brain. She had three seizures in one day and I could tell she was in pain, so I took her to the vet and I held her as they put her down. I felt like I was killing my child, but she was at that point miserable. I had tried saving her by spending $1600 a week before her seizures, but it was not successful. That September 2021 was the saddest month for me. I cried for months and still do when I think of her precious little personality. I look forward to the day when I get to heaven and see her again.

                

My other favorite forever friend is a little blonde Dachshund Terrier mix that had been abandoned along with his siblings in a cardboard box at one our schools in the district where I worked. Our maintenance supervisor had actually found him along with his siblings. He took him home for a short while. I had asked my oldest son if he was ready to own another puppy and he originally said yes, so my friend offered me his little puppy that his family had named Axel. But when he became our family dog, I renamed him Chorizo -- the reason why is because he was supposed to be dachshund/chihuahua. My son's Dad had told him that with him going to school and all,  it wasn't a good time for him to own a dog, but Chorizo had already become a pet to us and he learned his name right away. We got him just a little over two months old. I had found out from my friend that all his other siblings had died from Parvo -- he was a survivor and never exhibited any illnesses. I also had him neutered (it didn't help his youthful urges and he was so embarrassing at times with his antics). I remember I had a major surgery and when I came home, both he and Queenie were my companions when I was in recovery. He was such a little tiny guy. One day when he was outside romping around in the yard, unbeknownst to my ex-husband, Chorizo was being hunted by a hawk. As the hawk dove down to retrieve him, my husband reached down and rescued him at the last moment. Again, he survived his doom. Now Chorizo was an escape artist. No matter what we did or how we blocked him in, he always managed to escape. When he escaped he would just run and run. Right when we were about to catch him, he would give an evil stare and then dart off. One time when I ran after him, I injured myself. Another time he got out again and I started running after him and then told him, if you want out that bad, you are free and went into the house and didn't chase him. About two hours later, my kids heard him barking at the front door. They opened it and in he ran. Chorizo ran away from us up until 2018,  then he started getting old and settling down. Now he is so old, he doesn't even attempt to run anymore. He is now 17 years old. My boys and I decided when I traveled to the Bay Area that Chorizo should stay in his Los Banos house rather than breaking his stability. So when I go home to Los Banos, he is back at my side and under my feet, but now he is primarily hanging out with one of my twin sons now. Because of his age, he has developed a benign tumor inside his thigh. It doesn't seem to keep him grounded. He can still easily jump on furniture with no problem when he wants. The boys have pillows throughout the house where he lays. When he was a little puppy he was a little terror, but as he aged, he's become quite a wonderful little guy and calmed down a lot. I dread the day my boys call to tell me he is sick and that I need to go home to put him down. That will be a hard day and I'm not looking forward to the time. Once that happens, my days of dog ownership are over. I'm 65 years old now and I don't want to leave a pet behind that might not be taken in by one of my children. My joy is that I am now a grandmother to several puppies -- three Frenchies and one little chocolate chihuahua. Plus, I have my neighbors' dogs to love on as well.

                  

I am forever grateful to our Lord and Savior for letting me be stewards to these two amazing little companions and all my little furry friends before them. I'm so glad that dogs are domesticated creatures. I couldn't have imagined my life without these little confidantes. I remember after a hard day at work, these two happy little friends would greet me like I was the most amazing human on earth.  I'm also looking forward to heaven, because we will get to pet lions there!!!

I would be remiss if I didn't mention my 18 year old parakeet Tweety. He was a green and yellow variety. He used to wolf whistle and call out by saying, "Come here Chewy!" --  Chewy was a dog that ran away from our home when he was eight years old and I called out to come back for weeks after. and we were never able to find him. But I had the memory of him years after, because Tweety continued to call out for him. The heartache I felt when my little Tweety bird got sick and died at 18 years old. It was a very sad day for the entire family. Our house was so quiet after he left this world. I made him a silk little coffin and buried him under a pepper tree.

Isaiah 11:6 -- "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them.