Muffy

So in a fit of weakness, and because both Maggie and Gary were sending me daily puppy grams via email, we started looking for a puppy. Bella is now almost five and if we heard that older dogs help  train younger dogs. And Bells loves Gram's dogs and other small dogs around the 'hood so we thought she'd want a little buddy. The result was Muffy, an adorable Craigslist find, a 10 week old Shih Tzu. She had a sniffly nose and a crazy eye but boy was she cute.

 I had a Shih Tzu named Pepper growing up and LOVE the breed. They are terribly cute... but terribly hard to train. And no dog we've ever had would accept a crate (note to self - the next dog we get MUST be used to a crate before we bring her home!) Bella did NOT take to her either, and slowly disappeared as Muffy found her way into our hearts, which made my heart bleed. I love my big black girl. She did not like Muffy though. Ever.

 One of the few times we could get a picture of them together before Bella took off

 The poop, and the chewing, Bella's immense depression, the constant stress Muffy was doing something naughty...I wasn't ready for the more than full time job it presented, especially with all the other pressures (studio, Phd, oncoming seasonal depression). It was hard. SO hard. I cried every day. In the end we prayed about it really hard, got a difficult but clear answer, and found her a wonderful new home, the best she could possibly have, with a retired couple who had another Shih Tzu who immediately bonded with Muffy. They took her away, and Maggie and I cried daily for two months afterwards... but it was the right thing to do. I still get weepy about it though. We are DOG people and love our furry family members. We've seen her since and she is chubby and happy and very beloved. But there is a little corner of my and Maggie's hearts which will always love our little Muffy.