“I know of a black lab puppy if you would like one.” NakedJen was sitting across from the table from Mike and me at lunch this Friday. Mike surprised me with the answer, “A black lab is too big for us. We’re looking for something smaller.” I had no idea that we had been looking for a dog, but I suddenly realized that I was perfectly okay with the idea. I tried to recover. “You know, the other day, I saw a couple walking their dogs and I really missed having a dog. Not that I was able to walk Sid or anything, but seeing them made me wish I could have a dog that I could take on a walk.”

We talked some more about Jack Russel Terriers and Australian Shepherds before the conversation turned to something different, but something had changed. Mike and I were looking for a dog. As of Friday afternoon, we started looking. We lost a lovely Australian Shepherd named Disco to a family with two kids, but I really think that was for the best because yesterday, we found Nina.

She’s a Chihuahua/Dachshund mix, so she’s bigger than a Chihuahua and much more calm. Here is her picture from the Humane Society:

They also made a video of her to try to get her adopted:

I’m surprised that she had to come all the way from Los Angeles to find us. I imagine she was originally owned by a woman who enjoyed carrying her around the posh places in L.A. When she grew up, however, her Dachshund side made her a tad too big to carry around everywhere, so she was sent away for a different trendy pet. She wasn’t treated badly, she just became too large for the flighty woman’s purse.

Well, she’s EXACTLY the right size for us. I took her for a walk this morning around Daybreak. She was good when we passed other dogs, joggers and bicycles.

She’s never been taught the basics like sit and stay, much less the litany of tricks we are planning on teaching her, but she does know come. Most importantly, she loves a treat, so we’ll be able to teach her how to be a perfect dog for us.

Right now, she’s passed out on the couch after her three mile walk with me. It’s good to have a dog in the house again.

Update 06-20-11: Dr. Lynette verified that Nina is approximately four years old, so we’re considering her birthday to be June 12, 2007. She also got a clean bill of health, so we are so happy we will be having her in our lives for a long time.

Our new dog, Nina, is scared and jealous of Elvis, our cat. Elvis just wants to play, but Nina’s having none of it!

I’ve never seen a dog so unwilling to play in my life. She doesn’t like toys and just ignores them. She doesn’t want to play fetch, tug-o-war, or even chew the toys. Elvis has tried in vain to get her to play with him, but she just avoids him or retreats to her bed. Mike and I got her to play with some bubbles a couple of nights ago, but she refused to even look at them last night.

The only thing that makes her smile is a walk. She loves to run in the park and is always surprised when the leash runs out of slack and she’s pulled back. She loves to smell every plant and post along the way.

How can it be that the only play she is interested in is a walk? Is this common?

Nina doesn’t like to play fetch or tug-of-war. She doesn’t chase Elvis around the house or even like to chew on a Kong toy with a treat inside. The only thing she likes to do is take a walk.

This short video of her was taken while walking near the Daybreak Community Center. Almost every day, she likes to bound through the weeds with a smiling joy.

I wished for a dog like Nina and I’m so glad that the two of us can have these quiet happy times every morning.

Nina does this about once or twice a day, but every time I try to film her, the noise of getting the camera always wakes her up. Today, I was able to catch her in the act.

She is such a light sleeper, I would swear she was a cat, not a dog.

Every day, I happen upon a scene like this, but by the time I get my camera, they’ve stopped. Or sometimes, I can get my camera, but they suddenly become shy. Today, however, they just kept on cuddling for THREE whole minutes. I trimmed the cutest bits to show you.

Lucy is the cuddliest cat I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. She would cuddle with me all day long if I let her. She snuggles with Elvis and even Nina, the dog. Caitlin, our baby sitter, caught them in the act the other day.

Nina doesn’t appear to like the snuggle nearly as much as Elvis does.

I’m so glad we have animals who not only get along, but actually LOVE each other. It brings me joy every single day.

Update 8:51 pm

I can’t believe I got two videos in one day. I have been trying to film these guys for MONTHS!

I was lying on the couch, relaxing and Lucy came to sleep on my stomach. Within a minute or two, Nina walked up to Lucy and the lovefest began. You can see it here:

It lasted for a full three minutes before Nina pulled away and slept next to me.

I can’t believe the harmony we have in the house. I’ve never had three animals get along as well as Lucy, Elvis and Nina do. The only points of contention are when Lucy wants to cuddle too much with Elvis and when Elvis is hogging the doggie bed. I’m just so happy with my peaceful house.

Nina’s doggie bed was a shredded and fraying mess. The grocery store had dog beds on sale for ten bucks, so we bought her one and she LOVES it.

Unfortunately, Elvis loves the bed as well. After days of Nina just letting him sleep in her bed, she finally just gave up and joined him in it.

Elvis has been snuggling up to dogs his whole life. Here is a very similar picture of Elvis and Sid.

The patience of a dog is unparalleled. The next time I am irritated by something, I’m going to remember Nina and Sid, patiently and kindly sharing their beds with Elvis.

This morning, Nina was basking in the morning sunbeam, completely oblivious to the camera.

As soon as the sunbeam inched its way across the floor, Nina got up and went back to her bed. It’s funny how I forget to enjoy a good sunbeam when it comes along and I need my dog to tell me what’s REALLY important.

This LITERALLY happens every day in my house. I usually can’t get to my phone quickly enough to capture it, but today, I was lucky. Nina had approached Lucy to get a cleaning while Elvis calmly watched.

This cuteness happens so often in my house that I’ve become blind to it. Then I will have people over to visit and they will see it and just ooh and ahh over how adorable our pets are together. I guess I’m just lucky!