When I wanted to get a dog recently my brother was advocating against it saying that he would end up taking care of it. He would go to my sister's house and tell her that he didn't want me to get a dog and my sister asked him, "Since when do you take care of anything Marissa does and why do you think she will listen to you?" It makes me laugh because it's true.
In March of '07 I had called Mexico to talk to my Uncle and Aunt to see how they were doing and to check when they'd be back. My Aunt proceeds to tell me how the dog down the street had puppies and that they wanted to bring one home with them since my brother's dog Erin had recently died. I told my aunt that there were plenty of dogs in need of homes here and that we didn't need to import one from Mexico. The Mexican dog would have been perfect in theory though because I had always wanted to name my dog Frijolito ("Little Bean" in Spanish). My family came home in April but we didn't talk about it again. I did happen to mention to my brother though that I still wanted a dog and my aunt wanted one too so it was inevitable. He just said, "I don't want anymore dogs."
I had asked a friend advice on what kind of dog I should get and he suggested a terrier because it would be the smartest dog I could own and it would keep all the other dogs in check. So I started researching different types of terrier dogs to figure out which would be best for me.
In May of '07 I went to a baptism and ended up coming home with a bunny. I felt bad that it didn't have a home so I figured that I would have a bunny instead of a dog and I named it Chatita because her fur color looked like Horchata. While I was driving home my brother calls me to ask if I still wanted a dog. I told him I did and he said that he had a dog for me. So I asked him what the dog looked like. He said, "Who cares what it looks like, it's small and you said you wanted a small dog." So I told him, "Yes but I had a specific type of dog in mind." He then proceeds to tell me the story of this little dog that was being used as bait for Pitbull fights and that the little dog kept escaping from a yard somewhere in Rialto and that it was going to be taken to a pound because it wouldn't stay... So I said, "okay let's save this dog." I now had to figure out what to do with the bunny...
My brothers brought the dog home and when I looked at him I just fell in love with him. He was extremely hyper but loveable. He didn't look like a Frijolito. He was black and white and seemed to be some kind of a Spaniel mix. I thought what we could name him and so we started saying names out loud. My brother said hey what about Onyx and it clicked.
I had been studying gemstones for work and I remembered that Onyx is a gemstone that was naturally mainly black with some white veins. Some believe that gemstones have healing properties and Onyx is believed to foster inner truth, understanding, confidence and friendship. It's supposed to help relieve stress and give balance. What a great name for a little dog that has brought me more joy than I could have imagined and has helped in relieving some of the stressors that I had in my life.
It's taken some time to get Onyx to not jump over the fence in hopes of escaping. At his small stature (he weighs 17 lbs) he can still jump about 5 feet or so.
After a few months of having Onyx I was getting busier with work and I was trying to decide to move closer to work or not. If I moved, I would have to give up my dog to live in an apartment and I couldn't see myself without my little dog. So I decided to stay where I was and not move.
In February of this year my co-worker had mentioned that she had a little doxie that she needed to find a home for. I wanted to help so I asked around and when I mentioned it to my brother he suggested that maybe I should keep the dog. I went to visit my friend first to see how this dog would behave and I fell in love with her forceful personality immediatelyl so I had to bring her home. She's a long haired full-bred miniature dachshund and her name is Zoe.
Now Zoe has a very determined personality. She needs a lot attention and has a one track mind of playing 24/7. She is crate trained and house trained too so that made the addition all the easier.
At first Onyx was jealous. He wouldn't let Zoe near me and he wouldn't let her play with her toys. Zoe would bring the ball and want to play and Onyx would steal it and run away.
Since then they've made their peace and get along just fine. They are absolutely the best dogs ever and they appeal to my personality in different ways. Onyx is loving and cuddly and loves to just sit next to me while Zoe is active and wants to play all the time. She will bring her toy and put it next to you and sit while you throw it. If you take too long she'll nudge you with her nose. If you don't pay attention to her she'll nudge you again. I've been training her lately to put her own toys away and she does it most of the time. Meanwhile Onyx has now learned to leave his toys for you to throw.
The best part has been that I can see my Uncle and Aunt play with them as well. None of the dogs that we've had other than Angus have been allowed inside their house. My two pups are there usually with my uncle while he watches TV and when I ask him about it he'll tell me that they looked bored so he brought them in or my aunt will say that they wanted to play so she opened the gate for them to come next door. My Uncle will come over to cut the lawn in my yard and he'll complain that Zoe kept putting her toys on the lawnmower. Onyx will go to my aunt and race around inside the house before running outside again. He'll then jump on my brother's Bullmastiff Simon and then run back for safety inside my yard.
Onyx stealing toys from Zoe:
Zoe when I smuggled her into the office:
