Lilian – The One Who Changed My Opinion.

Besides a brief period when I was 17 and talked my mom into letting me take my brother’s friend’s minpin, I have been a big dog person. I grew up in a home with lab mixes and golden retrievers. Dogs, in my opinion are to be run with , played fetch with and have wrestling matches with. The minpin we had, bit me all the time too, so I was not sad at all when my mom gave her to our neighbor who had another one, after I went to college. I was over my “little dog phase” and swore off of them for life. Even at the rescue, I was way more inclined to sit in the cages and snuggle with the giants pittbull types than spend extra moments holding the Chihuahuas. Until Lilian. Lilly came to the rescue in July with all sorts of skin issues. She was missing patches of hair all over her body and had to wear a cone. I distinctly remember the Friday I was out at the rescue for a shift when I met her. Staring up at my with her coned head, looking all sorts of pathetic. I texted Craig and said hey, I know I said I don’t like small dogs, but I am bringing home this lamp of a dog. He laughed and said okay.

In all fairness, I still think Lil, as she was affectionately called at our house was the exception to the yappy, snippy small dogs I normally encounter. She was quiet and never once did she even attempt to snap at me. She wanted nothing more than to curl up on a blanket and sleep. She snuggled next to any of the animals or people we had at the house. No one was off limits. After coming home and switching to grain free food, getting daily baths and supplements for her skin condition, her hair started to grow back and she got to be cone free. We only had her about two weeks before her family came along to adopt her, but we both said numerous times, she could never leave and we wouldn’t even notice. She was such a natural fit into our lives and home that she made me vow to always give the smalls we got at the rescue some love and a chance to show me just how sweet they are really are.