During the pandemic, my husband and I stayed with my mother. This was not a good idea for many reasons. We had our beloved Cairn terrier Bunny Love with us and then there was my mother’s dog, Pepper.
I had gone to the shelter to help my mother adopt Pepper. She got the call immediately following the death of her beloved Britney. Pepper is also the same breed, Foxy Doxy, as Britney was. While this is not an official breed it is basically a dachshund/fox terrier combination. So it would seem kind of miraculous as 1) they are not as common, 2) how often do you get a call to adopt a young healthy female puppy? At the time Pepper was about a year old.
Back then Pepper was friendly to everyone. As the girl who handled the adoption told us “ it only takes her five minutes to bond.” My heart sank when she also told us that Pepper loves her walks. My mother does not believe in walking dogs. I loved Pepper from the moment I saw her and felt bad that she would be going to my mother who spends 80% of her time on her bed. She’s older now so not judging but this was always the case. I felt Pepper deserved more but she did come through via my mother so it was her dog.
I think Pepper had been there almost two years when we got there. She basically got along with Bunny. They ate breakfast together and then would growl and walk over to check out the other’s bowl when they were done. It was clear that they both enjoyed being with us. It started out small but eventually Pepper seemed to be with us more and more. I couldn’t always walk them both at the same time but would try. Before I knew it Pepper was always with me. She would sit or lie down under my chair at the kitchen table and follow me around all day. She still went and slept with my mother but eventually she ditched her completely.
When we had to leave to save my life, I wanted to take Pepper but it was hard getting one dog into a Long Island apartment. Also Pepper was not as well behaved as Bunny. And Bunny was a very senior dog and I felt she needed all of our attention and not be pushed out of the way by Pepper’s demanding energy.
My mother asked me if we were taking her so I told her no regretfully. I am not sure she would have really given her to us anyway and it would have already complicated a complicated situation. So we left without Pepper. The first time we went back to visit/get more of our stuff, Pepper came down and let out a series of complaint barks. Even my mother said to her “You want to go with them?” Another time we were leaving and I was calling Bunny to come with us and Pepper ran out. I still feel so bad about leaving her there but there was nothing I could do at the time.
Bunny passed away two years later. I do believe that she needed both me and my husband fully and I was glad that we were able to give that to her. I knew we didn’t want another dog right away but it’s always in the cards for us. I would say that we were probably ready close to a year later but it didn’t feel right to go out and get a new dog as I felt I already had a dog. And Pepper really needed us. Her previous owner was a single mom with two children who had to move. It wasn’t her choice to give her up and I am sure they all loved each other. Besides so desperately needing love and attention, she needed proper care and grooming. Something that was hard for my 80 something year old mother to do as well as the fact that Pepper gets really vicious when you try to do these things.
Nails, grooming and a professional teeth cleaning were all in desperate need.
Pepper is in heaven here with us. She loves hanging out on the loveseat as well getting walked and let’s not forget car rides! When I take her back to my mothers, I can see the despondency register in her..
Pepper has chosen us. The right things always do. I never could make anyone love me this way. I will still share her to be fair but not as much.
