I want to introduce you to the newest member of our family and to the ChiChis And Me family. He is a 9-year old, short-haired, apple head Chihuahua that we adopted on December 19, 2020. His name is Sir Winston, Win for short (or Win Win, or Winnie (the pooh).

How We Found Sir Winston

While working in a very busy veterinary hospital I have met a lot of animal-loving people, and that as well as all the amazing animals that come in has always been my favorite part of working there.

Most of the various rescue organizations in our area bring their rescues to our hospital for vetting. That is, to make sure they are healthy, spayed or neutered, up to date on their vaccines, etc. before they go to their permanent homes.

One of those organizations is F.L.E.A. or For The Love of Every Animal. Suzanne is the owner of this amazing one-woman rescue organization and she is such a loving and caring person. She rescues all breeds, large and small. She doesn’t get Chihuahuas very often, however. (Before you ask, she rightly is very particular about who her rescue dogs go to and scrutinizes each application very carefully).

I had adopted Cora from this rescue organization on October 12, 2020. In the meantime, Winston (then known as Mr. Tugs) went to two forever homes, and each time was taken back to Suzanne for one reason or another. I don’t know much about his background, but I know Suzanne rescues dogs in need. 

He and Cora had been surrendered to Suzanne from a breeder. That is all she told me and I didn’t ask her what kind of “breeder” they came from, (see “Meet Cora“). He had gone to a potential adoptee to see if they were a good match and from there he went missing. He apparently had escaped from her while on a walk and slipped out of his halter. He wandered around all alone in unfamiliar surroundings for several days before he was found again.

Before we adopted Cora, we still had just lost our beloved Chico at 17 years old on July 17, 2020. We had planned to get a male Chihuahua to fit into our all-female pack (this included Pebbles and Remedy as well as Lucy, our cat). We had thought about bringing Winston home but decided to take Cora instead. That gave us three Chihuahuas plus Lucy, our cat, we decided that made our family complete.

When I heard that Winston had gone missing, it broke my heart. My husband and I followed the Facebook page where many volunteers were out looking for little Winston (then known as Mr. Tugs). We kind of fell in love with the little guy and were so happy when he was finally found again.

But, four dogs plus a cat? We just didn’t think we could do it. We settled into our daily routine and loving our new little Cora, our pack of three (and Lucy), and tried to put little Winston out of our minds. “He’ll find a good home”, we told ourselves.

 

One evening, we were watching television cuddled up with our 4 fur babies, and my husband out of the blue ask me if Winston (Tugs) ever found a new home. I said, “I’m not sure, but surely by now, he has”. Guess what happened next? Believe it or not, it was only about 10 minutes later that Suzanne texted me and ask if we were sure we didn’t want Winston (Tugs).

She knows about my website and my love for Chihuahuas and she said she just wanted him to have a good home, at last. He had not found a new forever home yet! We immediately looked at each other and at the same time said, “let’s do it!”

That, my friends, is how Sir Winston came to be ours. He was very unsure at first and very subdued. I did not know until later that he and Cora had been together all her life before they were rescued together. If I had known that I would not have wanted to break them apart.

Thankful To Be Reunited With Cora!

When he arrived, it was obvious how very happy he was to see Cora again! He just followed her around and took his cues from her. Where ever she went, he went. He learned to go up and down the stairs and to use the dog door because he wanted to follow her.

His Weight Loss Story

Just as Cora was, he was overweight when he arrived at 7.2 lbs. So, we immediately began to work on his losing some weight. The result?

Today, Sir Winston is a happy, contented and much loved little dog. He has fit into our pack better than we ever dreamed. Now we wonder how we got along without him!

But, then we got Lilianna! That, I will save for another post…..