Sometimes a roll in the grass just feels yummy!

I Was Close

Okay, okay, the suspense was killing me, so I Googled it. Timmy's mom, in the Lassie series was Ruth Martin in the series, played by JUNE (see!) Lockhart, and also by Cloris Leachman. See what you can learn when you know Super-Chi, and follow her blog.

Who'll Stop The Rain?

Apparently, Ms. Maddie does not like the rain. When we get caught in the rain during our walks, she will furrow her brow and look at me like: "Are you nuts? We're not supposed to be out on a day like this!" The all-knowing chihuahua.

Today, Maddie kept going to the door to the side verandah where she likes to luxuriate in the sun, and warbling, and then running over to warble a message to me, and going back to the door. It was a perfect, "Timmy's in the well, June, run." (Was Timmy's mom named June? I need to check that -- I may be thinking of June Cleaver -- same mom-type.)

Gordon, who was trying to read the newspaper, noting the little chi racing back and forth to the door, finally looked up and said, "What in the world does she want?"

She wants me to stop the rain so she can go lay out in the sun.

He looked at me with the "Oh, sure" man-look.

So I got up, opened the back door, and Maddie darted over (Maddie doesn't walk anywhere, she darts), and peered out into the rain, and then looked up at me, brow furrowed, and warbled what I think means, "can you fix this?" I just shook my head "no," and closed the door.

"See," I said smuggly to Gordon, and I went back to sit down. Some days you "can't always get what you want," even if you are Super-Chi.

UP IN THE AIR JUNIOR BIRD-CHI

Maddie Sue has military fighter pilot blood -- or at least whatever makes us proud and stand tall when the military jets roar by in formation overhead has become a part of her heart.

Maddie's dad is a fighter pilot and a military test pilot. I imagine that in Maddie's 9 years on this planet, she has lived near, or maybe even on, military bases.

Today, Ms Maddie was in a cuddly mood, trying to snuggle me and was enjoying being cuddled back. And then, as sometimes happens, fighter jets from McDill soared over the house in formation and Ms Maddie Sue flew off my lap, stood at attention in the center of the room, ears as focused as radar antennas -- listening to the sound of the jets overhead. She stood, every muscle perfectly erect until there was no sound to be heard.

And then she looked at me with a question. And I just nodded to her and life continued as before. I was going to say her daddy's name, but I want to save saying that for times when he is coming to visit her.

It was an odd reaction of Maddie since typically she is frightened by noise. During the fireworks last weekend, she startled at the first one and began shivering as she crawled up to nestle by my neck as I lay on the couch reading. I held her tightly during the entire firework program and she quivered until minutes after it was over.

But let those military jets fly overhead and Ms. Maddie Sue Kinszley stands proudly at attention -- giving the Chi-salute to her Dad!

Thank you Mr. Paul.
love, Maddie Sue K
read and approved by a nosy chihuahua

Maddie Sue to the Rescue of My Brain

Maddie and I took "our" coffee inside this morning. I wanted to read the news before feeding the pups since I woke up early. It was well before doggie breakfast, but still, when humans wake up, dogs begin salivating.

Ms. Maddie was perched on my lap as I was reading the news on my laptop computer on my desk. And somehow, as headlines will have it, I was pulled into an "oh so important" article asking the question, "Did Photoshop strip Demi Moore of her left hip?" I am embarrassed to share this with you -- not the fact that Demi Moore's hips were Photoshopped, but that I was reading the article!

And of course, the article had a series of photos of other actresses with their before and after-Photoshop photos. To move from one photo to the next, I just had to hit the button near the front of my laptop base.

And right in the middle of this mind-shattering group of photos with captions (which I needed since I didn't even know who most of the people were, who were taking up my time this morning), Ms Maddie Sue took her nose and hit the button, moving on to the next photo. And then again, the next photo. She started moving the photos faster than I could read the captions.

I almost moved her so I could continue this pursuit, when I came to my sense: that I really did NOT need to spend time looking at before and after photos of Brittney Spears. And that my life would actually be better if I never looked at any photos of Brittney Spears, and gang.

So I turned off my computer, and fed the pups 30 minutes early just to reduce the mounting tension amoung the four-legged beloveds in my house: "is it time to eat yet, mom, is it? is it? is it now?!"

And now as I sit at the computer, I put Maddie Sue behind me (where she promptly fell asleep) so I could write this post. She ususally likes to watch the screen when I am on the computer, but I did not want her editing this story.

The hot pink harness by light of day

My dreams last night were loaded with hot pink harnesses and one
smarty pants little chi trying to solve the dilemma: how to don the
harness without looking like I macremed a NAKED CHIHUAHUA.

With Maddie's help, take a look at the results. Maybe???

Talk About a Love Fest

Here is Ms Maddie Sue, on the lap of her dad, and enjoying her mom, Nancy's attention. She was in her glory showing them her new home, and her new dog buddies, and her new neighborhood. She was so wonderfully perceptive. She loved on dad, then she loved on mom, and when it came time for them to head for home to Fort Hood, Texas, she came to sit by me to tell them in her own way, "I love you both, but I am fine here." And she might have added, "And, by the way, wag, wag, Ms Ann needs to write The Tails of Ms Maddie Sue, so I have to stay here and help her. Dahhh! "

Ms Maddie Sue and Mr. Paul

Maddie had a reunion with her dad, Mr. Paul, who was deployed in Iraq when it became necessary for Ms Maddie to board a jet and be flown from Texas to Florida. Gordon happened to be returning home and driving down the street as Maddie was in Mr. Paul's arms, and he shared, "All I could see from a block away was Maddie's tail going crazy, wagging with enough gusto to take them airborne." Which Mr. Paul could handle, I suppose, since he is an ace military pilot. I mean, if you can steer a fighter jet, you should be able to steer a chihuahua, especially, not a naked one! It was a love fest!

Help! I need a 5 year old to help me -- or a naked chihuahua!

Today was the day that the package arrived. Maddie Sue's new, improved, hot pink, yowza, personalized harness arrived. The three dogs stood at attention as I opened the box. Maddie Sue must have known it was hers because when I showed it to them, she lunged for it and tried to take it from me. Ruby was disappointed that it wasn't a treat; Lex, chagrinned that it wasn't a toy; but Maddie was overjoyed, for some odd and unknown reason. Maybe she likes hot pink.

But alas, it did not come with instructions. Gordon and I used our hands as model dogs as we attempted to figure out, literally, which end is up with the new harness, all the while, Maddie kept after us with the, "if you would just let me show you....." look.

The title for this blog, Chasing the Naked Chihuahua came with a harness snafu. Maddie has a red harness with a tag engraved with my phone number dangling from it. It jingles during the night. It is good when I am looking for her in a dark room; it is bad when I am trying to sleep and she is dancing around the room looking for a little action.

So I would take her harness off each night, asking her "do you wanna get naked?" She did. And when she was naked, I would give her a good massage and scratch, which she loved.

Gordon was clueless as to how to put on her harness, so he would tie a noose around her neck with a rope and take her out early in the morning when I was still snoring, ooops, I meant: snoozing. And one morning, she slipped out of her noose and became the liberated, adventurous, teasing, catch me if you can, NAKED CHIHUAHUA. By the time I woke up to see what the commotion was, Gordon was at wits end, with a sheet and towel (both in attempts to snare her), the Have-A-Heart trap, kibble treats dotting a path to ominous corners where he would ambush her. And Maddie? She was in her glory. Naked and having a blast, snatching her kibble and dancing around the yard.

Once she was brought in for landing, I showed Gordon that Maddie knows how to put on her own harness. Just hold the back part up, and she will walk into the head noose, lift her right paw into the leg part, and if you just match up the left paw with the right, and snap the harness, she is good to go.

With this hot pink, yowza, wowza model, we can't tell where the head noose is. And Ms Maddie Sue is getting frustrated with us. She keeps sticking her head through various loops and trying to lift her paw into other loops, but so far, it is not making sense.

Tomorrow, I will go online to look for instructions. And if all else fails, I will call Jean/Ernie, owner of the luxurious pet spa that Maddie enjoyed and yell for help. Or maybe after a good night's sleep, either I or Ms. Maddie will figure the darn thing out.

Tonight, the naked chihuahua is sleeping in her tinkling harness and the hot pink macrame of a mess will rest on the table and await clearer minds.

Good night, Maddie Sue. Warble, Warble, Ms. Ann.

Super Dog! Olympic Dismount: 10

The story I want to share this morning has no moral, no theology, no hidden message except perhaps that sharing your home with pets can brings laughter and love to your heart. This is another "tail" in the continuing saga of Ms Maddie Sue, a little foster chihuahua who is living with me and trying to learn courage since she thinks the world is a scary place.


Among her quirks, Ms Maddie Sue is a Nervous Nelly about walking on the slick (in her opinion) floors; Gordon, my beloved, says she "over-thinks it" -- which is true. If she is just following along, she is fine, but when she stops to think about it, she twinkle toes around, darting and scrambling and leaping as if she is walking on burning coals.

To set the stage for this simple "tail" --

In the mornings, I like to sit on the side verandah which is right off the kitchen and is enclosed for the dogs. I feed them there and this is the drying area after their baths. To get there, obviously, you have to come through the kitchen's tiled floors and then go down one step: "the grand mountain range if you ask Ms Maddie Sue." But Maddie loves to come out with the group and lay in the sun, or sit with me while I have my morning coffee.

Also in setting the stage -- note that we have a very enthusiastic toaster. When it pops the toast, it hurls it into the air and if you are alert, you can even catch it on your plate. If you are not alert, you might find your toast a week later on top of the refrigerator. Suffice it to say, it pops the toast with gusto.

Okay -- so here we are on this glorious morning, Gordon had put some toast in the toaster but had come out to sit with his coffee, I am savoring mine, Lex and Ruby (Pekeapoo and Mastiff) are settled in their favorite places. And I hear Maddie, scrambling around the kitchen trying to get the nerve to navigate the last few tiles remaining on her journey to join us. I decide not to help her. I am allowing her to make these trips across tile by herself, hoping she will build up the courage to walk across floors without all the drama.

Then, suddenly, I hear the toaster pop with its usual gusto and out of the door, as if shot from a cannon, blows Ms Maddie Sue, through the air, double somersault, and Olympic dismount. If I weren't laughing so hard, I would have held up a "10" score card for her outstanding Olympic gymnastic performance.

And as she landed, of course, little piggy tail wagging, she is so proud of herself as if she says to us: I'm here! I made it! Are you happy to see me?!

She is such a nut.

The Naked Chihuahua

One for the Human

Another battle of wills. I wanted to take a shower with the door closed, and Maddie wanted to have the door open. Normally, since I am a human with opposible thumbs and good problem solving ability, and Maddie is a chihuahua, one would assume that this battle would be easily solved by me, the human, by simply closing the bathroom door tightly.

But ahhhh, not so simple. Our house is a 1923 house, nothing is even or square, and we are in the midst of a bathroom remodeling project resulting in a bathroom door that does not latch, and a willful chihuahua that knows this.

I shut the door and get naked. Maddie opens the door and warbles at me. I shoo her out and close the door and scratch, scratch, scratch, she's back in.

Fine, I decide to start my shower - door open, Maddie watching. I turn on the water full blast when, unbeknown to me, the showerer prior to me, left the shower stopper up so the water ran from the shower head rather than the bath spigot. And in the god or no god category, somehow the shower head was aiming straight out of the shower and directly at Ms Maddie Sue. Wham! She was hosed down as if a firehose hit her. It blew her out of the bathroom.

Smuggly, I closed the door and showered. When I emerged, there she was, door open, sitting on the mat. But I have to admit, she was looking at me with a new found respect, as in, "wow, I didn't know you could do anything like that!"