Her name was Precious, and was she ever. She was there for me when I had a bad day, there when all I needed was to cuddle my pain away. She wasn’t just a dog, she was my baby, my precious little pug. I remember the day I got her, it was freezing outside, and all I could think about was how cold her fragile body was going to get going outside for the first time. She was content inside of my coat where the whole two pounds of her stayed until we got home. I was beyond excited to have her at last, six whole weeks I had waited to bring her home with me.

She was sick with a sinus infection, and malnourished because she had been weened by the mother too soon. I did my best taking care of her, I even got up in the middle of the night to clean her nose so she could breathe. My mom said not to let her sleep with me, and of course I did. She would curl up in the crook of my neck and snore softly in my ear, oh how I miss those days. She would lick my face every morning, to let me know that it was time to wake up, she was the perfect alarm clock.

We would take walks around the small town I lived in, she truly enjoyed these walks. She greeted everyone with excitement, she loved people. She was very calm on our walks, with the exception of seeing people, she always stayed right beside me, and she minded well. At home she could get very hyper. She loved running around the house like a maniac, sometimes running into the French door that divided the foyer from the living room.

She loved to play, and she loved to chew on things. She never chewed on anything that wasn’t her own though, for that we were very thankful. Her favorite thing to chew on was her teddy bear, it was the only toy that she didn’t destroy as a puppy. She was so sweet, and she got along with children better than I had ever expected. She absolutely loved cuddling with the eighteen-month old little girl I babysat.

I can still hear her mouthy little bark; the way she would do to let us know she needed something. She was very expressive, and yes, at times, very mouthy. She would run up, and bounce off of us to let us know that she needed to go outside. That was Precious and her idiosyncrasies, she was very colorful, always acting silly, and doing the funniest things. I miss her, how she would sit in between my feet on the floor so I could scratch her head. Or the way she would look at me with her head cocked to the side as if to tell me I was crazy.

She was my perfect pet, and I often wonder if I’ll ever find another one. I’m not ready to let her go, or to replace her (not that I ever could). Maybe someday I’ll be ready, until then I’ll reminisce about the funny things that she did, and the wonderful times we had together. She was and always will be my precious little pug.