Cooties, Our Playful Chihuahua

by Lorena
(San Bernardino, CA, U.S.)

Seven months ago my sister's boyfriend gave us a three month old chihuahua that my sister named Cooties. He was really tiny and he was black and brown. My parents didn't want a dog, but after they saw his big dark brown eyes, they quickly fell in love with him like we did.

He didn't cry when we would have him sleep in the laundry room because we didn't have a dog house for him yet. I remember when he got stuck under the dog house at least twice. With a blink of an eye, he had grown and he didn't get stuck under the dog house anymore.

I remember him chewing up all the balls that we had in the back yard, and running around as if he was hyper from eating sugar. He loved it when I used to mix his dry dog food with his wet dog food. I remember seeing him jumping the moment he knew I was going to give him his favorite food.

He didn't like to be held; he used to try to jump out of my arms. He used to love it when my sisters and I played catch with him. He would bring back the ball, but we would have to literally pull it out of his mouth. I remember all of those times he ran off with the clothes when I used to hang them on the clothes line. I miss petting him and I also miss when he tried untying my shoe laces. I also miss hearing him bark.

I used to call him Papeesh. I can still hear my sister calling to him "come here fat boy." This last Thursday, the guy who lives in the back house didn't close the gate right, causing the puppy to get out of the back yard.

My sister and my dad went after him, when a car hit him. He was in shock and he wasn't able to move. I still can see my father holding him like a baby wrapped in a white blanket. My sister and father quickly took him to the animal clinic where the vet informed us that he had a 1:9 chance of survival and that the best thing to do was to put him to sleep. Our puppy was in shock, he had a high fever, he was vomiting, bleeding from his pelvis, and was suffering from internal bleeding.

As soon as my dad signed the consent form, he and my sister were crying. When they came home, we all started to cry. On Friday, my dad built a shrine in his dog house containing all of his belongings. We all broke down and cried as soon as we saw it. Our backyard feels empty without him. We all miss him dearly and we haven't been able to stop grieving over his death. hH was only 11 months old.

R.I.P. Cooties. We love you and miss you. :(