Good Girl!

It was December of 1996, and Hector and I had just moved from Irving to Dallas. We moved into a duplex, and finally had a backyard. So a few months later, knowing how much I wanted a dog, Hector decided that he would get me one for my 25th birthday. We decided to go to the local Humane Society to look for a small dog. I found a Shih Tzu that I thought looked sweet, right up until it snapped at me when I tried to pet it. And since no other dogs were catching my eye, we decided to leave. But as we were leaving, I saw her... the cutest little black puppy I'd ever laid eyes on! She was 8 weeks old, and weighed only a few pounds, abandoned by her mother, all alone, there she was... When the employee opened her kennel, I picked her up, and she started licking my face. It was love at first sight!!! And as we signed the adoption papers, the employee laughed and told us "That little dog's a handful. She might be small, but she gives the big dogs in the yard a run for their money. I bet she's going to give you a run for your money too." You know how they say love is blind? Well, sometimes Hector and I wish we would have been able to look beyond her cute little face and taken those words a bit more seriously... We named her in the car on the way home. We started calling out dog names, and she never once responded, until I called out the name Molly. She looked up at me and started wagging her tail. Molly was the name we gave her. Actually, her full name is Miss Ta'Molly Polly Pockets Acevedo, but we just call her Molly!

And yes indeed, Molly did give us a run for our money. Any time we needed to catch Molly to put her in her kennel, she would start running at full speed all over the duplex. She could not be caught, she was way too fast! Hector and I would literally corral her into the kennel, using baby gates. She ate more pairs of socks, shoes, hats, CD cases, books, magazines, VHS tapes, hair pony tale holders, blankets, dog beds, and dog toys than I care to recall. She also did a good amount of damage to the duplex we lived in. We replaced the linoleum flooring in the kitchen 3 times because she liked to dig and dig and dig until it came up, and then she would eat it. Crazy dog! She also liked to dig holes in the carpet. And for some odd reason, she would eat the walls. Yes, she would eat the walls! Then there was the time she decided to jump from the top of the outside staircase to the concrete floor below her. Or the time that I had just finished cooking dinner, sat my plate and Hector's plate on the table, and went back into the kitchen to grab something. But when I got back to the table, my pork chop was gone, and Molly was hiding under the table. Oh, the memories!

So, you can understand why we decided to get a 2nd dog... Actually, my mom called me one day in April of 1999, and told me that there was the sweetest little dog that had been abandoned in the park that she was staying at. She was leaving, and wondered if I could come get the dog and at least put the word out to see if anyone wanted her. She hated to leave the dog there alone. And I agreed with her. So, Hector and I made the hour long drive and picked her up. We immediately drove to our vet, who told us that she thought it would be a good idea to welcome another dog into our home. It might make Molly calm down and give her a friend to play with to help release some of her energy. And because Hector and I were at a particularly low point, having just suffered a great loss in our marriage, we decided to "adopt" this dog too. The dog was covered in fleas and ticks. She had mud crusted in her ears. She was filthy. She had an eye infection, and urinary tract infection. She also had a mass in between her front legs that would need to be surgically removed and biopsied. And while the vet was at it, she also needed to be spayed. When it was all said and done, that adorable little "free" mutt cost us well over $1000 in medical bills. Ah, the good old days when we could actually afford to spend $1000 on a dog's medical bills and not even think twice about it! :-)

There was a relatively new Dr. Seuss book out at the time that I absolutely loved reading to the children in my day care. And so, the dog's name became Maisy, after the book Daisy Head Maisy. Later, we started calling her Crazy Maisy because she tends to be a little neurotic about things like eating her food directly out of the bowl. Maisy prefers to take several pieces of food in her mouth, go somewhere and hide, spit the food out onto the floor, and eat it one piece at a time. Quite an endearing little trait that Maisy still exhibits to this day. She's also a little crazy about walking around corners - she just can't do it! And whenever it rains, she becomes a total and complete mess. She also loves digging holes in the backyard, which earned her another nickname... Miss Piggy. She also has separation anxiety, which our big city vet diagnosed. Seriously, only in Dallas would a vet diagnose a dog with separation anxiety! :-) None the less, we grew to love Maisy, and our 2 dogs became known as The M&M Sisters...

Come to find out, Maisy was good for Molly. And you know what, Maisy was really good for me too! She gave me the unconditional love and attention that I was craving at that time in my life... the type of love that only a dog can give it's owner. She would rest her head on my lap, and would just lay there as long as I needed her to stay with me. She would not move until I made her get up. There were some pretty lonely days for me around that time. Hector was traveling all the time, and I was trying to come to terms with the fact that Hector and I might never have children. The kids in my day care would all be napping, and there I would sit with Maisy, thankful that even though she was just a dog, at least I had her there to keep me company. My sweet Crazy Daisy Head Maisy...

Well, I think you all know how things have turned out since then. Three kids and a new house later, there are some days when I simply wish I did not have 2 dogs to take care of. I'm busy, and some days I don't even say a single word to the dogs. I have felt many times that Molly and Maisy might be better off in a different home, with owners who can devote more time and attention to them - the time and attention they deserve. And Maisy continues to have serious health issues - expensive health issues! Things changed when we had children, and there have been many times when I've had to put off getting medical care for the dogs because the kids needed something more important, and we simply could not afford to do both at the time. Over the past 2 years, I've seen Maisy's health rapidly deteriorate. Maisy's 2 1/2 years younger than Molly, but I honestly don't know if she'll outlive Molly. And just yesterday, I was on the phone with a family member (who shall remain nameless), and she was complaining about her pet, and I just couldn't help but complain about Maisy, and how her vet bills keep adding up, and how much easier things might be around here without Maisy. Horrible, I know! Especially when I tell you this...

It's been raining here for 2 days straight, so our dogs (that normally stay outside during the day) have been inside the house the entire time. This morning at around 10:30, the rain stopped, and I opened the back door to let the dogs outside without really paying attention to the backyard. With the back door wide open, and with me in my nightgown, I turned around towards the kitchen to grab the dog bowls from off the floor. And as I proceeded to pick up their bowls, I realized that Maisy was still inside the house, standing in the doorway in a defensive stance, growling, teeth exposed. I swung around and saw him... a man was in my backyard. And as I stood there motionless, Maisy started barking in the most fierce bark I've ever heard come out of her. She started running towards the man, and the man yelled out "Meter reader. Call off your dog!"

"Maisy, no. Stop! Sit! Stay! GOOOOOOOOOD GIRL, Maisy! Good girl!"

There I stood in my nightgown, dog bowls in hand, feeling completely surprised by what had just happened. The man said that he was glad my dog listened to me (I was too!), and that I was probably glad to have her around. I told him that I am glad to have her around, and that I was also glad that he was the meter reader! I'm still crying, over 2 hours later, at the thought of my sweet Maisy coming to my defense the way she did. She was willing to do whatever she thought she needed to do, in order to protect and save me. I think it's safe to say that in the days, months and hopefully even years to come that Maisy still has life left in her, that I will be coming to her defense as well, doing whatever I need to do in order to protect and save her. Good girl, Maisy! Good girl!