Land of Odds -
The South's Most Unusual
Shop
RETURN TO: Land
of Odds
.... Dottie is now 13 years old, a bit crankier and very set in her ways. We recently adopted Lily, a shiatsu/chihuahua mix. Dottie is not very happy. One of the first things she did was dig a secret hole in our yard, just waiting for the opportunity to push Lily into it and bury her....
We got Lily when she was only 2 weeks old. Her human parents raised and sold Chihuahua's. One of the Chihuahua's -- Lily's biological mother -- had an "accident" with a Shitsu. Her mother had 4 babies, and the human parents wanted to toss them into the garbage can. A friend of James' found each one a home.
We bottle fed Lily, and wiped her ass frequently with warm cloths, to imitate what her real mother would have been doing. We diapered her. We pampered her. And at 5 weeks, she began to thrive. At first she was very tiny, and we assumed she would stay small. She grew, however, and at 6 months is about 3 feet long. Chihuahuas must have very recessive genes, because she looks very much like a shitsu. Her other 3 siblings didn't make it.
Lily has a lot of personality and character. She is very expressive. She can wrap her soft hairy arms around you. Everyone that comes in the shop wants to take her home with them.
When it comes to Lily, there's a bit of a tension between James and I. James wants her to stay home with him. I want her to come to the store everyday. She's very much a store dog like Rosie. She usually gets to go to the store.
Rosie and Lily get along very well. They play together. When Lily barks at the UPS man, Rosie puts her jaws around Lily's neck to make her stop. The only time I've seen Rosie get mad and defensive with Lily is when Lily tried to get close to one of our customers -- Connie -- that Rosie adores. Rosie makes it very clear that Connie is her friend, not Lily's.
Then there's Dottie -- who is not a happy camper. She likes Lily to be no closer than 10 feet away. You know Dottie is always plotting and just waiting for her opportunity to get Lily alone. Lily thinks Dottie is just playing a game, but we know better.
LAND OF ODDS - The South's Most Unusual Shop