It’s no secret that we love our dog Chia. We got her seven years ago after a year of sad goodbyes of parents dying, our kids moving out of the house and several states away and the last straw was when our 14 year old dog had to be euthanized as much as it broke our hearts.
About a month after that I had to fill in the dog shaped hole in my heart and Chia has done that perfectly. I had always heard that poodles were not only very smart, but eager to please. Even though Dean was not keen on the idea of having what he called a foo foo dog, I was completely sold on our next dog being a poodle. And I thought the fact that they don’t shed was a big plus.
For some reason my beloved little Chia pet took a very long time to house train. I would take her out, but she was always leaving little puddles when I wasn’t looking. For a while I thought, what was I thinking getting a puppy, but eventually she got the idea. She has an endearing and gentle personality and I often find myself calling her sweetie. Early on I was sewing toys for her and I would fill them with unshrunk shrink wrap. She loved to chew on them and make that crinkly noise. Now every time she hears my sewing machine I find her looking up at me in excited anticipation, thinking I am making her a new toy. Actually anytime anything comes in the house that vaguely resembles something that could be a dog toy she wants to check it out. I think that’s what happens when you get a dog when your kids move out. They get the idea they are the center of the universe.
I had read that dogs can learn up to 300 words and I tried to get her to connect to lots of words. I didn’t know how much she listened to our conversations until one day a friend was telling me about her daughters pet rabbit when Chia came in a set her toy rabbit on the table in front of her. We just looked at each other in amazement! She seems to like to think she is helping so we have taught her to close doors, bring notes to each other as well as put her toys away, which she promptly spreads out all over the room again.  Even Dean is quite taken with her. I clip her myself and give her what Dean calls a farm clip, basically a crew cut. She doesn’t look foo foo and it helps with burrs and ticks. She is smart a wonderful companion and puts up with all our nonsense.