Exactly 4 months ago, on a hot September 3rd morning, I was at the end of my block finishing a quick run before some UNT tailgating when a little doggy sprinted across the street and proceeded to run up behind me. Stopping at the corner, I turned around to greet the little thing and to see what I could do about finding where he came from. No one was outside, he didn't have a collar on, and he was too cute to ignore. As I caught my breath and tried to figure out what to do next, he was perfectly fine with just stretching out next to me and relaxing.
my first rescue attempt // the moment we first met
Fortunately, he was small enough where I could hold onto him and go house to house down the entire street to see if anyone had been missing him. Sadly no one seemed to be missing a clearly taken care of puppy who was already house/potty trained and already had a couple of tricks up his sleeve. He wasn't chipped (we went to Petsmart right after), no one responded to the flyers I put up right away nor the number of Facebook pages I posted about him, and again, I couldn't just leave him outside in the heat-right? So I stuffed him in the laundry room, set up several chairs and boxes and various objects to keep him from getting out, and went on my merry way to tailgating. Oh, and Robert was already gone so...surprise?!
....we named him Rico that night and by the next day he "knew" his name....and we all lived happily ever after!! <3
Just kidding. But several sleepless nights and an official vet visit later, he was ours! Our very own first pet, fur baby, child. Oh yea, and he was only about 8 months at the time, so he's a BABY and boy does he sure act like one. Based on the vet's assessment, his birthday would have been in February so we picked February 3rd, which corresponds with us me finding him on the 3rd!
He loves hands, socks, pant legs when you're trying to put them on, playing chase, and eating greenies. He jumps up and down whenever we get home like he's on a trampoline and it's friggin hilarious. Especially when you're laying flat on the bed and all you see is his head popping in and out of your eye line as he jumps up and down. He loves to "talk" and will let you know if we are disagreeing about something (mainly over no bites vs giving kisses). He's also part cat and "meows" at us.
his new gap toothed smile after he got 7 baby teeth pulled
He has FOMO so bad it's ridiculous. That's Fear Of Missing Out for you oldies that had to google (as I did) to look up what that meant. He can't stand being left out of anything even if it's 2am, and has really bad separation anxiety when we leave. He doesn't like other dogs (except Kiefer) and has raging blackouts when he sees another dog while walking. He prefers drinking out of the bird bath instead of his water bowl, and he bounds like a fox when he runs after a thrown toy.
Ready to go on a 'W' Kiefer?
He's still unsure curious about the vacuum, and loves biting the air and running back and forth trying to snap at it when I'm blow drying my hair. He's the perfect snuggler and my heart just melts when he lays on my lap and makes his little content noises. He's got the softest fur on a doggy and I love to twirl it with my fingers like I frequently do with my own hair (okay I'm still a little girl who plays with her hair at heart).
We had always talked about getting a dog, but I've never pictured myself with a little yappy dog. But he came into our lives at the perfect time and now I can't imagine life without him. It's really hard to not smile or talk to him when you see him, and for as much as he hates the car ride in the carrier, he loves the end result when we get out at our parents' house.
So Happy Birthday Rico 'Pablo Escobar'* Rivera-we love you!
*the original name that Robert suggested. Um, no.
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