Mack the Chihuahua

Warning: This post is sad and completely unrelated to quilting.Fifteen years ago today, I walked into a Petsmart adoption fair. As I stood next to a pen talking about how I wanted a twenty-ish pound dog who would love to run and play, I felt two little paws on my leg. I looked down and saw the face of Mack the Chihuahua for the first time. He was the opposite of everything I was saying that I wanted in a pup. Obviously I scooped him up immediately. The folks from Cold Nose, Warm Heart and a Furrever Home told me how he was part of a "pack of wild chihuahuas" found roaming the hills of West Virginia.There was really never anything wild about the little guy I brought home that day. While he did love a good run around the dog park, he also certainly loved to curl up in a blanket within another blanket on a pillow on the chair. Or the bed. Ot the couch. Or any other soft surface available. Even a pile of clean laundry was fair game.I adopted Mack just after I finished design school and moved to DC. I was living in a spacious 317 square foot apartment, so obviously adding a dog seemed like a plan. When I rode my bike all over the city and along the Capital Crescent trail, he sat in the front basket sporting doggles and a cute, albeit impractical, pup helmet I found from Japan on Ebay.Mack went everywhere with me. He loved the tidal basin at night after the tourists had left and the streets of Georgetown even when the tourists still filled them. His little face conned more than one cabbie into a ride despite a no pets sign. He slept at cafes after a serving of doggie ice cream and loved dog happy hour at the neighborhood bar.Mack loved the move to North Carolina. We lived beach front briefly and he ran miles along the beach rolling in the sand and chasing birds. He avoided the surf after a rogue wave got him the first week, but the rest of the beach was his playground. And full of admirers to pet him and tell him he was cute before he raced off to roll in something new. We moved downtown where he discovered walking along the riverwalk and continued to seek out admirers. There was a water taxi which offered shade on a hot day and more potential belly rubbers. He was always looking for an admiring crowd.He had a brief stint in agility which led to a SuperMack cape and very few victories. But he approached it as he did all things, with a spirited tail wag and zest for life. He loved hiking and seeing new things, but most of all, he wanted to be with his people. Nothing made him happier than when my brother and parents were all together. Or when the SURMA sewing gals all gathered to stitch and he could bask in their attention. He assumed each visitor to my home was there to see and feed him.When we moved to my little cottage, he discovered a neighborhood full of sidewalks and endless walking opportunities. He was his happiest when out and about. My mother never came over that he didn't want to take her for a walk.He also had a love of cheese and egg that any sane cholesterol fearing being would not participate in. Somehow he could tell when I was opening a cheese package versus any other package without snack potential and come running. Scrambled eggs were his favorite go to meal and he knew an egg carton was something special.He loved people and people loved him. I wish I could take all the credit for how smart and well behaved he was, but he just was. He was a pleaser and wanted all of the attention. He could con a snack out of anyone passing by the treat bowl and a belly rub out of anyone sitting nearby. He was known by many names from Mackopottamus to MTD to little buddy and he came running whenever you called.After a very full life, Mack died last week. I could go on forever about what an amazing dog he was, but I can't see my keyboard through the tears. I'm glad he chose me and spent his life with me. Thank you to all of my friends and family for the flowers, dinners, lunches, visits, books, donuts, hugs, chocolate and drawings of Mack. They are very appreciated and made my day a bit easier. I will be okay even if I'll never be the same. He was an extraordinary dog and will be extraordinarily missed.xx LC