Ay Chihuahua!!!! Papi

On the Saturday before Christmas, we were expecting Chloe and Cooper to foster for the week. I pulled into the garage and called The Muscian from the house. 

Me: "Guess what I have in the car"

Musician: " Foster dogs?" 

Me: "Not exactly"

The first day when we posted to look for his owners

I was driving home and on a 4-lane street with a median and there was this tiny little dog running in and out from under and between the wheels of cars. My heart almost stopped. I think I screamed once because I couldn't bear to see what I thought I was seeing. There was a man and daughter walking a lab puppy and this little guy wanted to play with the puppy. The puppy was afraid of him even though he was twice the size. I stopped my car, they told me the little white dog wasn't theirs. I bent down and he leaped into my arms. He had a collar with a rabies tag, no phone number. The Musician sighed. It was going to be a full house. A stray, 2 fosters, and our 2 girls. He's a patient man. We took this little guy to the vet, no microchip. His vet was closed for the weekend. Monday morning we called the vet again. They called his "owners." They had given him away a month or so before and called his new owners. They called us and picked him up on Monday night about an hour after Chloe and Cooper. arrived. His name was Harley. I had been calling him Papi ... it morphed from Puppy, because I was all into baby-talk with him. 

His people came to pick him up and he reached out to me. The man said "I don't know what to do, he keeps getting out." I asked the little girl, "Did you miss him?" She said "No, he's my sister's dog." WHAT??? All little girls are supposed to love little cuddly wiggly worms like Harley. I worried about him and couldn't stop thinking about him. Poor little guy. A few weeks later, the people called and offered him to us or the shelter. I could barely wait to get home to pick him up. And we reached out to SA ROCKS to see if they would take him into their program. We would pay for his vetting and foster him until he was adopted. They said yes. 

The Musician was going out of town for 10-days, so it was just me and the girls and Papi. He got his neuter and I don't think he was very pleased with me. 

He cuddled with me and pestered Alley. Our fatty 10-year-old who wants to spend her days in the window was forced to play. And did she play. For hours, they would wrestle and run through the house. It was awesome to watch. He wiggled on the floor and slept in my bed. He didn't climb under the covers, but slept right next to me. A king size bed, one person, three dogs. I only had a sliver of the edge of the bed and he would push and push and I would get closer to the edge because he wanted to be closer to me. 

As promised, I took him to adoption events. He played with other dogs. They really had no choice because he wants to play. In the meantime, he learned about toys. He likes to shake and toss fluffy toys, but doesn't know how to interact with toys. He convinced blind Bunny to get in the action from time to time. Our girls who are normally bent out of shape with a foster, LIKE him. WHAT!?!?! 

At his third event, he fell in love with a little girl. But, he was trial adopted by another family. It lasted one night. Papi was meant to be the companion dog for an elderly invalid man. Papi was afraid of the equipment and he has lots of energy. He is an amazing cuddler, but also needs to play. He made their elderly fat little dog play. But, it wasn't the right match and he came back to us. Alley was sad when he was away. The Musician took Papi to the adoption event and Alley wouldn't look at him when he came home without Papi. 

He thinks he has found his furever home and loves us (me and Alley) very much. But, we have talked and I hope he understands. The only way we had room to save him was by helping other really great foster dogs find their furever homes. The perfect home is out there for him. It might break my heart (and Alley's), and I hope his new people will keep in touch and tell him how much I love him. He really is a special dog among the many special dogs who have passed through our home. 

If you might be the person to give Papi his perfect home (he needs a playmate), fill out an application at SA ROCKS ... or just call me. No one can resist this little face.