Puppy Love
Puppy Love
September, 2010
Nanaimo Magazine
By Lesley Lorenz
She is a whirling dervish, a girl with no regrets. She bravely hurdles the lettuce in the garden, grazing her speckled belly on the tips of the leaves. Mango found her way to our house when the family she belonged to faced eviction if they didn’t find another home for her. Just ten weeks old and irresistible, we rushed in to save her. Feeling both heroic and at the whim of her super-cuteness, we bend over backwards to make our home her new kingdom.
Mango has two cushy beds, one which she drags around our bedroom, and fills with the various stuffies that are still kicking around from when the kids were toddlers. Her kitchen bed, for afternoon naps, is nestled under a couple of prints featuring bunnies and Weiner dogs (Mango is half Weiner, half Beagle; we call her a ‘Beaner’.) Tiny rawhide bones and drool-soaked squeaky toys complete the décor. Our three cats provide hours of entertainment, as do the chickens in the yard that haven’t laid a single egg since she arrived.
New babies disturb the balance – we knew this – but the scales dip sharply in her favour, as her tiny white-tipped tail thumps frantically on the floor every time we approach. She has that wonderful puppy smell that renders her irresistible, and makes all the accidental puddles instantly forgivable when paired with a doleful gaze from ankle height. As I ride my bike with her curled up in the front basket, drivers honk and smile, old ladies flag me down to rub her velvety ears and passers-by exhale in an audible ‘awwww’. And just so you have an idea of how small she is, in the standard size basket that graces the front of my bicycle, I can fit a loaf of bread, a bag of apples, a carton of milk and one Mango.
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