Mauled By Mia

She had her tongue on my mouth almost as soon as we got there. I had sat down on the floor to meet her sister, but she came up instead, literally climbing onto my face, licking until I moved her away to breath. 

We did meet her sister, a very cute, grey shitzu-schnauzer mix we adopted that day and named Zoey.  As my wife was finalizing the paperwork, I was on the floor once again with the dog I met first that day, Zoey’s sister. I was excited to take Zoey home but the sister had left quite an impression on me. It was like meeting somebody new but feeling like you’ve known them all your life. There was something special about this pup. 

My wife knew what I was thinking, but we went home with Zoey only and left her sister behind. A few hours later, we arranged to go back the next day and adopt her too; the runt of the litter, a lightweight frame of curly black fur we named Mia.

Zoey and Mia would spend the rest of their lives together, with us. They were both wonderful, loving pups, but Mia’s initial attack of the tongue was not a fluke. She would smother you in love as often as you’d let her; morning and night especially.

Mia was a healer. She could somehow sense where you were hurting. Her body would melt onto that spot and things would feel different when she left. It was amazing, except when my daughter came home from wisdom tooth surgery and Mia tried to jump onto her face and heal her. That was a problem!

When her sister Zoey grew bumps on her skin, Mia licked them every night for weeks until she had removed several of them. There are countless other stories of Mia taking care of others. She was a special pup.

Zoey died last September at age 14. Mia died last Tuesday, at age 15. After initially being hesitant to adopt even one dog, I’m glad we had both sisters in our house for all those years.

Like Zoey, Mia’s decline was gradual and sudden at the same time. We may never be ready to say goodbye to our pets, but sharing stories about them is an easy way to honor them.

So let’s do that here.  Share one of your own pet stories below in the comments as a reminder of the richness pets can bring to our lives.

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