Mayhem!

For a year, I have been happy with my lovely Emma. However, a couple months ago I dog-sat for a friend and Emma was so much happier to have a companion with whom she could play all day while I was at work. When Milo had to go away, Emma clearly was not has happy, so I decided to get her a playmate to keep her company. I searched for several weeks to find the perfect playmate to keep her happy but with no luck. Finally I saw a post on Craigslist (check it out) for two Chihuahuas needing a new home. I wanted one dog, but they seemed nice enough and having been raised together, it was not right to separate them.

So, Rocco and Bruno joined our home six weeks ago and there have been a few changes. I soon discovered that they were not well housebroken, so we have been going through a crash course in housebreaking. They also have the mistaken assumption that the cypress mulch in my back flower bed should be transformed into slivers in my living room carpet. Thank goodness, next to my cooking appliances, my favorite housecleaning tool is a steam vacuum.

Emma, though, rules the roost. She has become the boss of all that the dogs do and does not hesitate a second in making both of them behave. She is a little bigger than the others - well, I guess a pound of weight is significant when you consider that the maximum weight of the three is nine pounds. Emma has a pound or more on each of the other two. I think it is because she has been raised on "good" food and the others were raised on discount department store brand. They are within two months of each other in age with Bruno being the oldest by a couple weeks.

All three of the dogs insist on sleeping in the bed with me and it takes about ten minutes for everyone to get groomed and settled. Emma has made two changes to her sleeping routine since the boys joined us. I sleep on my side cuddling a body pillow - since I don't have a person there to enjoy, I have adopted two body pillows. Emma has always slept against the back of my legs in the curve of my knees. She now sleeps on top of the body pillow against my stomach as the boys both sleep against me - Rocco in the bend of my legs and Bruno against my back. The biggest change though is that she won't get under the sheets. She burrows around until she is on top of the sheet and under the comforter. I guess she has decided it is a matter of character: there is no way she is getting all the way under the covers with three men.

The dogs are all as different as children. Emma is the obedient oldest child since she has lived with me for a year. Every time the boys get in trouble, she reacts as though it is her fault. Bruno, the long haired one knows he is beautiful. Whenever I pull out the camera, he is the first to find a position where he can pose and when something happens, he reacts as if there is no way he is responsible. Rocco, the black one, is the baby of the bunch. Most of the time he is responsible for the messes, but he reacts with a, "What? Who? Me? Is that wrong?" look everytime I catch him in something. Meanwhile, the other two dogs have already run out the doggy door in the back.

One thing most certain that I've learned: Chihuahuas are little dogs, but when you have three of them running around, you've got a whole lotta Chihuahua!