“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.