We lost a Chihuahua to old age this year. Ellie had passed her prime so long ago that she was getting ready to circle back again; and so we were expecting that she would be leaving us any time. As we looked back on our time with Ellie, we realized that she has provided us with a lifetime of laughter and memories. What more could anyone ask of a pet? We poke fun at how dumb she was compared to most dogs, as well as her odd shape for a purebred, American Kennel Club-registered Chihuahua. She was about fifteen pounds -- a very large size for a small-breed dog. Chihuahuas have trachea problems, so they snort a lot (usually after age four); and so Ellie was often mistaken for a baby pot belly pig.
The funniest thing to us now -- though not so funny back when we had to clean up after her -- were the bowel problems that she had. No matter how many times we scolded her, spanked her, or threw her outside, she would still take a giant dump right in front of us when she was angry or just found it a convenient place to go.
Friends come over to our house to hang out a lot, and just about every one of them has experienced the sight of this football-shaped dog either pigging out on cat poop, taking a dump or piss in plain sight, or passing the type of gas that is one step away from burning one's eyes out of one's sockets. Ellie never held back, either, it seemed, as she would make a huge display of wanting to sit next to someone and then just let it rip the second that she got comfortable.
My friend Evan was hanging in our office once. Ellie waddled up and put her paws on the edge of the couch -- her signal that she'd like to be picked up. Due to her age and size, we had to pick her up onto high surfaces the last few years of her life. Without warning, while Evan was petting Ellie, she must have decided it was perfect timing to let one rip. Out came the fart -- and out came something extra! I don't know what she ate, but her poop was actually liquid. She had sharted!
In this particular case, there was a lot of shart-juice. It looked as though someone had shot Evan's jacket with a little brown paintball. It was funny, as she was snorting in and farting out at the same time; maybe that triggered some internal process to release liquid or something? In any event, Evan was a good sport and just asked for a napkin. It took a few minutes to realize what had happen, and that he was trying not to get the dog in trouble.
We miss Ellie and her antics; but gosh, she was a lot of work!