Princess LAYLA, Part I

We got Layla in the summer of 2013. We initially got her as a companion for our other Chihuahua, Lulu, whom we had purchased from a friend when Lulu was only four months old. Layla was two year’s old when we got her. She was a rescue dog. We got her from the Oakland SPCA.

When we decided to get a companion for Lulu I immediately went online searching and eventually found myself on the Oakland SPCA’s website. On this site were the photos of various puppies and dogs that were available for adoption. We had already decided we wanted another Chihuahua. So I focused on the Chihuahua photos. The Oakland SPCA had many Chihuahuas available for adoption. I knew why this was. Many people believe Chihuahuas are extremely sweet, cute, and adorable little dogs. They are all of these things to boot. However, they are also very smart which among other things means they get bored easily. They also tend to be very stubborn, can be mean-tempered, and can also be extremely difficult to house train. So many people obtain these cute little cuddly dogs and are shocked to discover that have gotten a little hellion on wheels as well as a cute, cuddly little sweetheart. They grow impatient with them and finally decide they can’t keep them any longer and give them up in disgust, disappointment, and exasperation. In Arizona, where we lived for a spell, some neighborhoods are flush with semi-feral, teeth baring Chihuahuas who rule and terrorize entire neighborhood.

When browsing the SPCA website I kept finding myself coming back to the photos of one “Layla” and a cute little furry white, male chi whose name now escapes me. I kept coming back to them—especially Layla.

Soon after the day finally came when we went to the adoption center. I asked to go see the dogs. As soon as I arrived in the kennel area, Layla started barking and jumping way up in the air and happily wagging her little tail. She adeptly knew how to immediately draw anyone’s attention to her. It was extremely powerful and extremely heartwarming. But I am not so easily won over—or so I thought. I acknowledged her and then went to the pen where the white, male chi was. He had the opposite temperament and approach. He quietly came to the gate, licked my hand very gently, and then just quietly flashed his sad little eyes at me. Oh my God, do they teach these dogs how to be so damn irresistible?

Layla was on one side of the kennel. The male chi was on the other. There was a bench in between the two. I sat on the bench and just swiveled, looking back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. At one point I realized my gaze was being more consistently drawn to Layla. With this realization, I made my decision. I said a little prayer that the little male Chihuahua would soon find a very loving home and headed out to begin the paperwork for Layla.

It ended up being a pretty long day. We told the people at the SPCA that we had another Chihuahua. So they insisted that our little Lulu and Layla spend some observed time together to see if they got along well. We ended up going all way to the other end of town, to the apartment we were then living in at the time, in The Grand Lake area, and packing up Lulu and taking her to be with Layla at the center. They got along swimmingly. Layla played and jumped with Lulu like she had known her forever. She was the perfect lady with her. She rolled around on the ground and even allowed herself to be a little submissive with Lulu. All of this was observed by the center staff. After another interview and some more odds and ends, signing of papers and whatnot, interspersed in between other errands all around town we also had to do that day, we had ourselves a new little Chihuahua. We were thrilled. We were especially excited about how well Layla got along with Lulu.

We ended up getting Layla the same day we went to the center. It was about an eight hour process though. John and I were exhausted. It had taken so much time we hadn’t the time nor energy to buy Layla her own food bowl or water dish or toys. Since they had gotten along so well at the center we figured we could just purchase all this stuff later and for now they could share. We were so overjoyed and happy.

The moment finally arrived when we introduced Layla to our apartment—her new home. We had Lulu in her carrying case and Layla was on her SPCA leash. We let Layla into the apartment first so she could get acclimated. Maybe ten minutes later we let Lulu out of her carrying case for the first moments they were to be in the apartment together. Owing to how well they had gotten along at the SPCA we just knew it would be a love fest. Layla was in the kitchen. We let Lulu out of her carrying case and Lulu immediately ran into the kitchen. Layla feverishly ran toward the food bowl and ferociously growled at Lulu. What? It was clear she was telling her not to even think about going toward her own food bowl. John and I were shocked, just shocked. Both our jaws were probably on the floor. Then Lulu ran toward the living room where her dog bed was located. Layla immediately ran after her, pushed her aside, and jumped onto the dog bed, and once again ferociously growled at Lulu and showed her teeth, obviously declaring that this dog bed was now hers too. What? Within ten minutes she had done the same thing with all of Lulu’s toys and with me as well—meaning Layla had also taken complete ownership of me. She would jump in my lap and would growl if Lulu came within two feet of me. She would not let Lulu get anywhere near me.John and I both simultaneously clutched our invisible pearls in horror.

Had we been royally hoodwinked? Had we been completely bamboozled? Was Layla a better actress than Meryl Streep, just without the statuettes to show for it? Her performance at the SPCA had apparently been just that—a performance. Now she was showing her true feelings toward our precious little Lulu who was still a puppy. Her true intentions and plans were being maliciously revealed. It was obvious to John and me that this clever little vixen had planned on displacing Lulu all along and probably transforming her into a homeless little puppy on the mean streets of Oakland turning tricks in order to get her basic necessities of life met. Oh the horror of it all. Had it all started from that very first moment I laid eyes on her, with that cute jumping up and down and the wagging of her tail? Was Layla planning on being the sole reigning Chihuahua of our little household, making certain that she never had any competition? She probably planned on taking Lulu’s cute little rhinestone encrusted collar as her own as well. Oh, the shade of it all! We were completely taken aback by the sheer skill and precision of her little parlor trick back at the adoption center for the whole hour she romped and played with Lulu. Penn and Teller obviously had nothing on this little woman, I’ll tell you that. What oh what were we going to do now?

To Be Continued (This story ends up having an extremely and overwhelmingly happy ending, BTW)