No More Dogs!

"No more dogs!" Felicia told her children after Paco died. "We have too many dogs. When another one passes away, maybe we'll get another Yorkie, but not until then."

It was hard having so many dogs. Even though all of Felicia's dogs were small, they were still a handful. Every time Felicia wanted to take a dog for a walk, she had to leash up all four dogs. She had to take three or four dogs to the kennel when the family went on trips, and that got expensive.


Felicia often regretted taking in so many dogs. Right around the birth of her older daughter Zara, there was Louis, a Lhasa Apso. When he died, they got Louis II, another Lhasa, and when Louis II died, Bijoux came, the sweetest dog ever. He was also a Lhasa. Felicia was very sad for a long time after Bijoux died, maybe because Bijoux never demanded attention. He always just sat in a corner, looking at her, so it was easy to overlook Bijoux.

Max is a ShihTzu. He's fourteen now. Max is big and clumsy and bow-legged and loves to eat: dog food, dirt, baby Cardinals, you name it. He isn't the smartest dog in the world, but smart enough to be the Alpha Dog and everybody loves him. He's the Amiable One. Nothing phases Max.

Peaches, an apricot Toy Poodle, the smartest dog ever, came next. He's twelve.


And when they went to their summer cottage, four dogs had to fit into the car. Not to mention messes and accidents, multiplied by four.

He is tiny but fierce and once when we were taking a walk, an Irish Wolfhound rolled on his back when Peaches barked at him. Felicia called him Peaches when he was a tiny puppy, because of his color. She thought he was a girl. When she picked up his registration papers, she realized he was a boy, but by then everyone called him Peaches. When Felicia's younger daughter India was little, she liked to put pink nail polish on his nails. He didn't seem to mind. Good old Peaches. He's the Wise Old Man of the crew.