The center of my family’s world is our sweet dog Cocoa. In our household, she is definitely the center of attention. She can do no wrong in any of our eye’s and is spoiled by all of us.

The shelter

We got Cocoa in the spring of 2014. We decided to look for a puppy and started to search our local shelters. When we saw her precious face online, we knew we had to have her. She was rescued from another shelter along with her two sisters. Their names were Tandy (all black), Sandy (all tan), and Linda (black/tan). Linda is now Cocoa. 😉 I immediately called the shelter to see if she was available and she was. We moved fast at that point because they will not hold animals. It’s first come, first served.

The next morning we were there waiting at the door 30 minutes before they opened. We didn’t want any opportunity of someone else getting her. In our minds, there were other people that had seen her online and wanted her, too. As soon as they opened their doors, we went straight to the counter and gave them her information. They had a worker take us to her kennel to see her. Can I just say love at first sight? There was no way we were leaving without her. They took her out and let me hold her. Boy, was she a wiggle worm. Wiggling in my arms and licking me like crazy. I remember asking them if she would settle down as she got older and they said yes. Hah! Six years later and she’s still a wiggle worm.

Bringing her home

On the car ride home, I held her while she trembled and whined. She was so scared. She didn’t know who we were or where she was going. All of these new voices and scents and people touching her. She adjusted quickly to her new home and all the love that came with it. She was only two months old so she would play for a few minutes and then crash and nap. Precious!

She is a sweetheart! She comes across as loud and outgoing but she’s a real baby. Really, she is. On super windy days, she hides. She’s also afraid (terrified) of fireworks, thunder, rain, and yes, air. If I open a window she runs and hides. It’s the funniest thing. Not funny but interesting. I can’t seem to figure out what scares her so much about the window being opened. Maybe it’s just the outside world coming into her inside world that she doesn’t like.

She is definitely devoted to us (her pack). We tried to board her once and go away for a weekend and that didn’t work out at all. They called us the next day and asked us to come get her because she was lunging at their staff. Oops! Poor baby was scared and missed us. So when we went away for a week’s vacation, we had to have someone come to our house to take care of her. That went a little better but it was still rough. She is simply a one family dog.

We were looking for a smaller dog. Looking back at photos when she was little, I should have known by the large paws that she wasn’t going to be tiny. She’s part Chihuahua and part Terrier. We decided to do a DNA test for fun and it came back 50% Chihuahua and then the other 50% was Yorkie, Papillion, and another small breed. She is 30 lbs so I’m not sure where those tiny breeds are hiding.

I am so happy and grateful that she is in our lives. The only regret I have looking back is not taking her sister, too. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would have taken both of them.

Do you have a special, warm, fuzzy critter in your life? I would love to hear about them and why they are special to you.