Max

I have adopted two SNIPPP rescue dogs, bringing my family to five frisky canines and one skeptical cat. You might agree with the cat that this is crazy, but it is proving delightful! I asked for Max, a 10-year-old Chihuahua, because SNIPPP described him as an "overweight, bewildered little guy" who had forgotten his house manners due to his previous owner's dementia. I figured this package of attributes made him less than the most adoptable pup on the page, but that with guidance from my other dogs, Max would shape up. It took a few days of scrubbing the carpet, and his house manners completely returned; he goes on long morning walks with us, pacing his friend the Doberman Pinscher by moving his tiny legs at a speed barely suggested by futurist painting. Max believes he bosses the whole place. He's actually smaller than the cat, and dogs ten times his size don't take him very seriously; however, Max thinks he commands the rising and falling of the sun and the moon, not to mention everything on earth. He's good-natured and endlessly amusing, a hugely affectionate cuddler who sits on my lap in the car so he can gaze out of the window while dreaming of his twice daily meals of one-quarter cup each. Lady joined us in late January, having been with SNIPPP since the previous summer. She was found cowering in the bushes outside the Burney Health Center, pregnant, starving, terrified, and beaten until bloody. She whelped two days later and after being nursed back to health and weaning her pups, was spayed and offered for adoption. Her SNIPPP foster home was a very fine one, but Lady remained cautious of people, cringing when approached. She didn't show well at adoption events. Then I agreed to foster her for a couple of days -- and we fell in love! Although an injured rear leg has not healed properly, she manages to tear around with the other dogs at a high rate of speed and gets along with everyone, especially me. I never met a sweeter dog, or one more anxious to please, and I can hardly remember home without her. With a huge veterinary investment and eight months of foster care, Lady is a fabulous illustration of the SNIPPP mission fulfilled. I hope we have many joyful years together. ---David S.