Zoe!!!

When is it too soon to get another dog? A year? A month? Right away? Hubby and I waited 7 months. We have had our beloved new furry, 4-legged daughter Zoe the Shih Tzu for 3 days, 2 nights now and it’s been good. Really good. Interesting. We named her Zoe after having her for a few hrs. I wrote Miya, Alex (short for Alexandria of course), Zoey and Sophie on a piece of paper and read them to my husband. He listened and then said “Eh” and that was it. No commitment at all and still no name. The day we got her we sat playing with her in the living room and he simply said, “I guess Zoe would be cool.” Okay, I thought. “Zoe it is,” I said and swept her up in the air while introducing her to her new name. Little did I know how hard it would be to get her name straight. Fail!

So let me give you a little history. Our first pup together was beautiful Sydney. My husband’s aunt and cousin mated (is that a word?) their Shih Tzu dogs and had a nice litter. They offered one of the pups and we greedily accepted. Even though I was so not a lap dog kind of girl. I was all about the sturdy dog, the kind of dog my plus sized self could lean on and watch reality TV. A Shih Tzu? Okay, hell, a dog is a dog and I love them. I was about to graduate and the time was right for a furry addition to our coupledom. We had the marriage, the house, the backyard…let’s do it. We poured over names and decided on Chloe that changed to Sydney once we met her. She was so perfect.

Shortly after we got her my husband James went to work overseas and Syd became my companion, my partner in crime, my boo boo. I loved the shit out of that dog and she loved the shit out of me. She was my shadow. She would chill when I chilled, she would play when I played…she loved my parents. It was perfection.

But.she.was.stubborn. She loved to run out in the street and didn’t give a dam how loud and rough you yelled, she was going to get to the other side. But not that terrible day in Feb. I will never EVER forget. She ran out in the street and got hit by my neighbor’s friend’s car. How fast are you going that you can hit a dog and kill her when you’re parking right next door? I need to let that go for once. Syd was hit and died about 10 min. later in my husband’s arms. It was awful. Absolutely awful.

So here we are 7 mos. later with a new, precious 7-week-old Shih Tzu we named Zoe. I dropped the “y” and kept on steppin’. I sometimes slip and call her Sydney, it’s hard not to. Why the hell did we choose Zoe? Zoe, Syd…that dam sssssss. But, she is so different. She’s not as independent as Syd. She wants to touch all the time. She whimpers. She’s a little more hyper. It’s crazy. Crazy good because she is ours.  Our little girl. Our Zoe. I love her already and she loves me. She’s my shadow and I feel a wicked protection for her that is part natural and part fueled by the fact that our first baby girl was killed on our watch. Not good. But there is no time like the present. We will love and protect this dog with all we have and get paid in puppy breath and scratches. Love it.