When we bought Kelly, our “middle” dog, she fit in the palm of my hand and her eyes had not yet opened. We had discovered her via a newspaper ad out on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington State. The ad read, “Lab-Shar-Pei mix for sale: $75 or negotiable.” The “or negotiable” part was baffling, and we wondered what could possibly inspire such language in an ad for a cute little puppus. When her owners arrived, everything became clear as new glass: Kelly was only four or five weeks old and had no business whatsoever being outside of box as it were.
Apparently a rogue white lab jumped the fence when their prize Shar-Pei was in heat and…voila – our little Kelly happened. When the erstwhile owners declared that the husband was out of work and all they had was their dogs; that the breeding was sustaining them, we took Kelly on the spot. After all, people do still mange les chiens (eat dogs) you know.
A potential culinary horror story narrowly-avoided, we brought Kelly inside and mothered her to adulthood. To say she was unique looking would be an understatement. Many people said she was the ugliest thing…but in a cute way. To us, she was our punxatawny pinks. She looks like a white Labrador retriever but with Shar-Pei legs, tail, and – as a puppy – wrinkles. Ok, ok, so it was really weird at first. We used to “poochie poochie” her face causing the soft horse-nose skin to make neat little waves. Ah we love Kelly. Her beautiful brown eyes give away her every thought…including the infamous “F-you” look so familiar to dog owners who have displeased their favorite canines by some unforgivable action such as substituting biscuits or forgetting the night treats.
And as she ages, when someone asserts she is the ugliest dog they ever saw, I genuinely get offended and tell them, “She is SO not.” And now I have proof: Sam, a Chinese hairless wonder that seriously looks like a wart, passed today and his picture was plastered all over the web. I watched the clip after my paralegal noted the animal looked as if it had been in a fire followed by my law clerk’s assertion that it had to be a horror movie prop. It had not and it was not.
Actually, Sam was quite lovely in an…ugly sort of way. He was bigger than expected and was definitely a Chinese hairless crested maupuassante synthroidus the fifth breed. In short, I could see why one would fall for the critter. Apparently the woman’s boyfriend actually BROKE UP with her because the dog was ugly (?) yeah, ok, I buy that one guy. What a loser….
Ok, well as poor Sam had breathed his last, another family received wonderful but baffling news: their lost Kitty, Emily, had been found. ..in France. They live in Wisconsin and Emily is now a nouvelle citoyenne (new citizen) of Nancy, France. Apparently she had gone missing about a month ago; somehow wandering onto a cargo container. The container’s destination: a laminating factory in Nancy. She had been enclosed for three weeks. Authorities surmise there were enough mice to sustain the chipper kitter, and so the tale and tail had a happy ending…except the mice.
It just goes to show you, you can love any living creature unconditionally; and you never know from whence their love will be returned.
I really had to laugh over these words - I get that look very often from my four pooches! And I am so glad that kitty cat made it.