My Peanut

I am the proud momma of a two year old Chihuahua/Jack Russel Terrier. Her name is Peanut. We rescued her from the local animal control shelter. Had we not adopted her, she would have been euthanized. I can not imagine my life without her. Although, I do seem to remember life was much more quiet before she became the fourth member of our family.

You see, Peanut believes she must be the protector of the household. She is the smallest and therefore must compensate by being the loudest. She barks at everything. And I mean everything. She barks when I vacuum. She barks when my husband cuts the grass. She barks at the mailman. She barks at the people walking down the street. She barks at the neighbor's dogs. She barks at the spiders on the ceiling. She is constantly letting us know something is happening somewhere. When she is quiet...she's causing trouble.

After work one day I walked into the house to find that there had been a re-enactment of the Boston Tea Party in my kitchen. Somehow Peanut managed to get up onto the kitchen counter and open my tea canister. Five hundred tea bags were ripped to shreds. As I stood gaping at the mess, Peanut ran circles around me. Of course she did. She was high on caffeine.

I've made many emergency phone calls to the vet. Peanut has consumed multi-vitamins, birth control pills, anti-depressants, diabetic and kidney medication. Not once did she ever have any kind of reaction. Her vet is dumb-struck as am I. Of course, now we keep the medication in a locked cabinet so Peanut can't get into it.

Not too long ago, I walked into the house and found that it had snowed. It was 86 degrees outside, but it had snowed in my living room. Peanut had found her way into the bathroom and discovered my package of maxi pads. That's right, I said maxi pads. Do you know how incredibly hard it is to vacuum maxi pad cotton?

Ah, but she is a snuggler. If you're having a bad day, she'll snuggle right up to you. She's so eager to be loved on and give love back. She'll crawl right up onto your chest and wrap her head around your neck. It's like she's giving you her version of a hug. I wouldn't trade those moments for anything. I'll take cleaning up tea bags and vacuuming maxi pads anytime when I know my reward is the unconditional love I get from my Peanut.