About two weeks ago, Melissa and I dropped by the Petsmart store in Sterling, Virginia, to see what dogs the Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation had available for adoption. We met a seven month old chihuahua/terrier mix named Sophia, and she seemed like a good fit, but Melissa wimped out and we went home to think about it.
Within a couple of days, Melissa and decided that she really did want to make Sophia part of the family . . . so she contacted the foundation and asked them to bring Sophia to the Friday adoption event at the Petsmart in Fair Lakes. We met up with her again there, filled out some paperwork, paid a fee, and went home with a dog.
Over the last week we’ve been getting to know her (and letting her get to know us). We decided to change her name to Nena, which is a Spanish term of endearment that roughly means ‘little girl.’ This reflects her heritage as a rescue from Puerto Rico, where there are apparently tons of semi-wild chihuahua/terrier mixes running around.
She is a fast learner, and she’s already got house-training down (with only a couple of accidents at the beginning). She is great on walks around the neighborhood, friendly with the neighbors (both human and canine), and she even gets along pretty well with the cats. Nena and Mei Mei have pretty much worked out an arrangement.
Vincent is still coming around, which is being complicated by the fact that he injured some of his front toes with (I think) an extra-high jump down from the top of the kitchen cabinets. We took him to the emergency vet (on the Fourth of July) and are treating him with pain medication and lots of love. In another week or so we are hoping he will be good as new.
