Precious

In the Spring of 2006, me and my newly-wed wife had just moved to Texas from Virginia after both serving in the U.S. Navy. Everything we owned at the time could fit in a mid-sized car and a Jeep Cherokee Sport. In the military, you learned to travel light. One thing was for sure, we was ready to start our family.

My wife was already pregnant with what would become our only daughter and we wanted at least one pet quickly, and more eventually.

Like most young couples, we had to settle for an apartment instead of buying a house. And most apartments have strict rules about the number of and the size of any pets you could have. That didn't bother me but it bothered her.

I had been born and raised in Texas so I knew what I was getting into moving back home after military service but my wife had been born in Oklahoma and raised in the mountains of Tennessee so most of the dogs she had grown up with was either large ranch dogs or hunting dogs, namely hounds.

We got settled into our small apartment and after a few months we was ready to start looking for a pet, as we both wanted one before the baby was born, but we couldn't agree on what pet to get. The apartment manager didn't like reptiles and was unlikely to approve one as a pet and my wife is allergic to feathers so a large bird was out, although she was still willing to try to make it work if we could afford one. I was forced to narrow down our options to a traditional dog or cat.

I wanted a cat or a chihuahua but she wanted a larger dog, like the cocker spaniel my mother had. Small enough for an apartment, barely, but larger than a normal toy-sized dog. The discussion lasted for weeks.

We finally had the pet deposit saved up and we only had to find our prefect pet when the cocker spaniel my mother was taking care of disappeared, without a trace, from her front yard. This was a pedigree dog with papers, meant as an investment for puppy breeding, so losing her was a bitter pill to swallow. There was always the chance that my mother was going to give us that dog as a wedding present, since my wife had experience breeding and raising hunting dogs in Tennessee.

My wife being an animal lover, decided that she had to help find my mother's dog. The police wouldn't do anything about it because a dognapping was considered a low priority. The dog's microchip was very limited and would only show up if it was ever taken to a vet. Fat chance of ever finding her but we still tried.

We drove for hours and went door to door in my mother's neighborhood asking if anyone had seen the dog or had seen anything or anyone suspicious in the area.

To our disappointment, no one had seen anything.

In the course of the search, we came across a dog breeder that had both pit bulls and chihuahuas. They answered the door and this little puppy, a half pound if it weighted anything, came bouncing out the house barking and wagging it's little tail.

I knew it was a chihuahua without having to ask and it was love at first sight for me. My wife, however, had never seen a chihuahua before, and she asked me how that mouse was barking.

The dog breeder laughed and told her it was a chihuahua, the only one that was born in his most recent litter. The breeder was a little upset at only having a single puppy to sale but admitted that both the parents were a little on the old side when the mother had gotten pregnant this time around, and he had almost lost the little one recently too.

My wife was intrigued by his statement and asked him to clarify.

The breeder then responded that the puppy had escaped the house and had managed to get to the pit bulls outside and then managed to survive a fight with one of them. This little rat-sized chihuahua puppy had been latched onto the lip of a pit bull, being shaken violently, giving as good as it got, when the breeder was able to rush forward and stop the fight and save the puppy. They openly admitted that while the puppy had no visible injuries, they were surprised that she survived the encounter with the pit bull.

This puppy had attitude.

I could see the respect my wife had for the puppy as well as respect for the breeder being willing to risk injury to save her. We exchanged contact information and went about our day to continue the search for my mother's dog.

To our great regret, we never did find my mother's cocker spaniel, but we did end up going back and paying one-hundred dollars for that little chihuahua puppy when it hit 8 weeks old.

We named her Precious, for she was such a little thing. Precious made herself at home without any problems, the only pet in the house at the time. I remembered being so worried about stepping on her. She was so small...

The very first week we had her, she literally climbed the couch with her bare claws to be able to lay in my lap. Her sheer determination further increased my wife's respect for the breed. I had owned three chihuahuas as a child and even I had never seen one do that. This puppies loyalty to both of us was unmatched.

Precious was a well loved dog that grew to be an enormous 15 pounds, far larger than either of her parents had been.

Precious had health problems that the vet's couldn't fix. She was diagnosed with a heart murmur at age 4 that prevented her from normal play and exercise and contributed to her size. And worse... seizures, that may have been genetic or could have been a side effect of having older parents or surviving being shaken by the pit bull as a puppy.

My wife even went through Veterinarian Assistant college courses, in part to find a job and in part to be better able to take even batter care of our pets at home. Her love for all our animals is on par with the love she has for me and our child. I couldn't be a luckier man.

As the years past, we ended up moving into a larger rent-to-own mobile home with fewer rules. We wasted no time rounding out our family.

We went all out and enjoyed owning a corn snake and a red-footed tortoise to round out our reptile experience.

A few small birds, namely Conure Parrots, which we found a way to own without bothering my wife's feather allergy.

A Guinea pig and a couple of rabbits, despite my wife never wanting rodent-like pets in the house.

And finally, a few cats and a grand total of five dogs, all within the last 15 or so years.

Sadly, our beloved first dog, Precious, passed away July 31st, 2017, one day before my 34th birthday, very unexpectedly from a stroke.

It's hard to call her a stray but I'd say we saved her, if for no other reason than the average person wouldn't have put up with her health problems. She had a rich and full life thanks to the tireless efforts of my wife.

Precious was my first pet as an adult and I'd say that she helped prepare me better for fatherhood. I truly missed not being able to have a pet while serving in the armed forces.

And all these years later, I still miss her and love her.

Go play on the Rainbow Bridge, my beloved Precious. Until we meet again in whatever lies beyond.

Written by Timothy Talbert, April 14, 2021