So Ugly She is Cute

So Ugly She is Cute

I got her about five or so years ago. I really don’t remember. She was so tiny that I could fit her in my coat pocket. My wife at the time had said she wanted a little lap dog to keep her company while I worked, so when a friend asked me if I wanted a free pugapoo (a pug toy poodle mix) puppy I quickly said yes. Patty and I were going through marital problems and I thought this might be a chance to get on her good side.  Apparently his two young sons were treating the poor animal like she was a stuffed toy by tossing her around the room. Worried about the safety of the small puppy he set out to find her a new home which took him about three hours. When he handed the little black ball of fur over to my wife the puppy just shivered with fear in her hands. Patty’s eyes lit up she was so excited about getting this puppy.

            As we were thinking up names for our new addition to the family during the drive home, the little dog crawled from her lap to mine then up my chest, like a fury black spider, to curl up on my shoulder in the crook of my neck. This became one of her favorite places to sleep when she was still that small. After seeing her climbing skills I decided to name her Bitsy, short for Itsy Bitsy Spider.

            I went to Wal-Mart and purchased Bitsy a little soft dog bed with a brown pillow sewn into it later that day. On the way back home I wondered how I was going to get her to realize that this bed was hers and for her to sleep in it. Well soon I would find out that I didn’t have anything to worry about because as soon as Bitsy saw the little bed she climbed into it and curled up to take a nap. I was so surprised about how easy that went. As she grew older she would drag that bed into whatever room we were in so that she could lay down near us.

Crocheting was Patty’s favorite hobby and she did it all the time, so when Bitsy got big enough to jump onto the couch by herself Patty was continually chasing her off her lap so that the dog wouldn’t get tangled up in what she was working on at the time. Because of that, I became the lap of choice for our little black dog. Petting her soft fur relaxed me after a hard day’s work and she loved the attention, so we were both happy. Patty came to resent the attention I received from “her” dog. So when she moved out she told me to keep Bitsy because she was more my dog than hers anyway.

I’m glad that Patty decided to give me bitsy because I don’t think I would have let her take my new little friend without a fight. Without Patty around to run her off the bed, she started sleeping beside me at night. I was fine with that since I was used to sleeping beside someone for the last twelve years. My buddy asked me the other day if I still had that little black dog, I said that I did. He went on to tell me it was a good thing I rescued her from his kids and that I probably saved the puppy's life. I think that is funny because I think I would have gone crazy during the months leading up to and during the split up if it weren’t for Bitsy.