Useful Chihuahuas

This morning, I read a very interesting article about a chihuahua mix like me that has been hired by a police department to be a mini K-9 unit. That was exciting news. Usually, little folks like me are mainly used as fashion models or companions to starlets and socialites. It's about time that folks appreciated us for the smart, dedicated canines that we are. We're hard workers, we learn quickly, and we like to help others. Maybe this trend will catch on, and chihuahuas will be put into other important positions, like fire dogs, airport security or french fry taste-testers.

The importance of getting tutored

Last month, Mami took me in for a very important visit to the vet's office. I don't care for the vet very much, although I really really like his assistants. They pet me and cuddle me and call me baby names, kind of like Mami, only there are more of them.
Anyway, the reason I went to the vet was because I had just turned six months old, so it was time to get me fixed.
At first, I thought that meant I was broken, but now I know it means that I won't ever have puppies. That's fine with me, I mean, I'm still a puppy myself. But I'm also an accident. My biological mami, a chihuahua, and my real papi, a toy poodle, fell in love, and mami had me and my brother and sister. But her owners didn't want us, so they gave us all away. If it wasn't for my new Mami and Papi, I could have ended up in a shelter in Albuquerque.
There are lots and lots of unwanted puppies and kitties born every year, and lots of those babies are destroyed because they never find nice new parents. The best way to keep that from happening is to fix your animals as soon as they're old enough, because accidents do happen, and I'm proof!
Anyway, this is a picture of me in the collar of shame, which kept me from licking my stitches. It didn't take long at all for me to heal up nicely, and now you can't even see a mark on my pink belly.

The Unbearable Cuteness of Being

The Unbearable Cuteness of Being
This is my friend Charlie's blog. She's such a fashionista. I love her work. I find her to be a true inspiration, especially her bold use of faux animal prints. Someday, when I grow up to be a big choodle, I hope to be as elegant as she is.

Ice dancing

Last night, as I lay across Mami's lap and watched women's ice skating finals on television, I started to drift off just as a Finnish woman began spinning around, and I had the strangest dream.
I was standing in the middle of a big ice rink, wearing this gauzy skirt in red, white and green, and I had a big red rose behind my ear. Then, I heard the announcer say "Representing Mexico is 7-month-old Emma Xochiquetzal!" and then everyone began to clap.
All of a sudden, I heard Chavela Vargas singing, and I began to skate across the ice to "La Llorona." I was gliding and spinning and then I leapt into the air and did a triple axle, and just as I was landing, I woke up, and Papi was shouting about how Irina Slutskaya had been robbed. I thought maybe someone took her ice skates but I was too sleepy to check.

Learnin'

So now that I'm seven-months-old, I'm starting to get my choodle education. Mainly, that means Mami and Papi say the same thing over and over and over again until I figure out that it's connected to something I do. I learned "No," really fast, like pretty much my first day I heard it, back when I was six weeks old. I also learned my name, cause usually when I hear it, it means something good is about to happen, unless it's followed by that "No" word again.
My hardest lesson so far has been "Sit." It took me a really long time to figure that one out. Usually when they give me a treat, I just jump up and snatch it, but that doesn't happen any more. I have to lower my rear to the floor now before I get biscuits. I don't like sitting on cold wood planks, so if possible, I find myself a throw rug and sit down on it. But when it comes to biscuits, I'll do just about anything. So now, whenever I see one, I pretty much just sit on the spot.
I can't wait to learn a new word, because it always comes with a snack. Hopefully next time it will be grapes.

Bath time!

My favorite time of the day has got to be bath time. It happens every night, and it's the best! I don't actually get a bath (that only happens once a month, or when I get muddy), but I get to sit next to the bath tub and wrestle with the bath mat. Lulu sits on the edge of the tub and sticks her tail in the water, and I get to bring my favorite toys and play my favorite game, which is 'Trick Mami.' Usually, she takes my toys and throws them down the hallway and I bring them back as fast as I can. But if I'm lucky, she gets distracted, and when she looks away I throw the toy as hard as I can into her bath water. It's sooooo funny.
But sometimes, the toy gets too wet, and then Mami takes it away so it can get dry. I HATE that. There's nothing wrong with wet toys. They taste nice and soapy that way and they make nice damp spots all over the floor. Sometimes they don't squeak so good, but that's ok. Mami said my toys are getting mildewy, and then she has to put them in the washer. After they come out, they taste funny and I don't like it. Why can't she just leave a good thing alone?

Lazy weekend

Well, as you can see, I spent most of the weekend on the couch with Lulu. It was way too cold to do anything but shiver on Saturday, and finally Mami put a sweatshirt on me and cranked up the heat. When it gets that cold, I just want to nap and snuggle. But Sunday, the sun was so bright I just had to get outside, so I bundled up and we went for a three mile walk.
The smells are so much sharper when it's cold out, you can smell the daffodils pushing out of the ground, and the forsythia starting to bloom, and the air is very sweet. We walked all the way to an old pioneer cemetery where the graves all have carvings of angels and lambs and clasped hands. Mami carried me through the gravestones so I wouldn't have an accident, but it was nice and warm next to her so I didn't mind.
Then we went home and I had a nice long nap. Weekends are my favorite.

I like the night life

I am a creature of the night. While most other doggies are fast asleep in their beds, I like to roam the halls, or hall, of our house, looking for stray Kleenex to kill, pieces of lint to snack on, spiders to harass.
Big sis Lulu is up at night too, but she says that cats are supposed to do that, and that choodles should stay in bed and sleep. She doesn't care for me springing out from behind doors and chasing her through the living room at 3 a.m. She wants to prowl alone. But sleep is boring. I do that all day!
Sometimes, though, when the mood strikes and I howl at the moon, I get in trouble. Mami yells at me from bed to be quiet (Papi sleeps through everything). Every once in a while, she even puts the gate across the door so I'm stuck in the bedroom all night. I hate that. I need my freedom to roam. I am a born explorer. If I'm stuck in the bedroom, how will I know if a prowler breaks in, or if there are ghosts in the bathroom? I cannot be confined! It's against nature!
Ok, time for a nap.

Big sister

This is my big sister Lulu. She's 5-years-old, and Papi adopted her from the Humane Society, where there are lots of other good cats like her looking for homes. She told me that when she was a kitten, she lived in an apartment with 10 other cats, but her parents eventually gave her to the shelter.

She had to stay in a little cage for eight months, until one day Papi came and found her. She gave him a big hug with her paws, and he decided to take her home. Papi loves black cats, he says they're the most special of all, and at the Shelter, they say black cats are the hardest to get adopted, because people are scared of them. That's silly.

Lulu didn't care for me very much at first, in fact, she kind of walloped me in the head when we met, but now that I'm big enough to fight back, we play all the time. My favorite game is "Dragon Paw." She gets on one side of the door and I get on the other, and she sticks her paw underneath and waves it at me, and I try to jump on it without getting her claws stuck in my pads. It's scary, but it's super fun.

Sometimes, when no one's looking, she grooms my fur. But I'm not supposed to tell anyone that.

Westminster Dog Show

Last night, Mami and Lulu and I sat around watching this strange program about dogs. There were all kinds of dogs, big ones and little ones and weird skinny ones that didn't even look like dogs, and they kept marching around in a big circle. I wasn't sure what was going on, but just in case, I barked a little at the bigger ones, just to show them I was watching. Apparently, we were supposed to root for one of the dogs to win, so I decided to root for the pug, because he was the smallest, and also, I have a couple of pug friends in Montana. He didn't end up winning, but that was ok, I think he still was the best looking dog in the ring.
Then Papi came home and made grilled cheese sammiches and I forgot all about winning or losing. Cheese is the best.

I'm Emma, a 7-month-old choodle. 

Welcome to Choodlemania!

Hola! My name is Emma, and I'm pretty new around here, both in the world of blogging and the world in general. I'm only 7-months old, and am a native of New Mexico, but I moved up to the Pacific Northwest at the age of 7 weeks. My abuelita in New Mexico sends me lots of sweaters, raincoats and sweatshirts to make sure I don't get cold.
I'm what's known as a choodle, that is, a chihuhuah-poodle mix. People are always asking my Mami and Papi what I am, because I don't quite look like anything they've ever seen before. My parents say that I look like a goblin, or the Luck Dragon from "Never Ending Story."
I have a sister, Lulu, whom you will meet later. She's a lot bigger than me, and Mami said she's something called a cat. I think maybe choodles are cats too, but I'm not sure.
Anyway, welcome to my blog!