Chula

Chula came to me 11 years ago. She was homeless and pregnant.....and vicious. I was actually afraid of her. She stayed around and then had her babies at the very back edge of my property. I felt bad for her because she was nursing all those little guys and no one was feeding her. I started putting food out for her....at first, close to where she had the babies and then closer and closer to my back door. After almost 6 weeks, I found her waiting for me at the back door. I touched her for the first time!

After that, our friendship grew. She was always waiting for me when I came home. She brought her babies over for me to see. And then all but two of them disappeared. The neighbor told me that she carried them away. The prettiest two stayed by my back door.

I was worried about what would happen after I gave the two puppies away, but she only became friendlier. It was time for me to go to Illinois.....so I left wondering if I would ever see her again.

But she was there waiting for me when I returned. And by this time, she was very protective of me and my house.......no one could come close. In case she decided to bite someone, I thought I had better take her to the vet and get her shots. She surprised me by jumping right in the front seat and being a wonderful passenger in the car. The vet determined that she had been abused because of her fear of people and her protective ways as well as evidence of a broken front leg. I needed a name for her records. Since I had always called her Chula (meaning pretty), I gave her that name and Chula she was.

Chula had two more litters of puppies and her daughter Chiquita stayed with us to keep Chula company. Together, they became guard dogs....ferocious to everyone except me. They were sweet and loving with me always!

After the 2nd litter of puppies, Chula developed cancer and had chemo. She lost lots of weight and didn't have much energy, but the cancer was gone and never came back. She got her energy back and was a great mother to her last litter of puppies.

However, this past winter Chula started slowing down. She became very fussy about her food, only wanting chicken or beef with rice and turkey hot dogs. In the late spring, I had to start feeding her or she would usually just leave her food. She stopped barking at strangers and didn't want to run and play with Chiquita any more. But she was always ready for me to rub her tummy or sit and talk to her.

On Tuesday afternoon, she was less energetic than ever and I noticed that she had a lot of ticks and fleas. I took her to the vet yesterday for a bath......and the vet suggested an iron and a vitamin shot to give her a boost. Chula got back in the front seat of the van and we started for home. We had no even gone a block when she looked at me, gasped for breath 3 times, and shook all over. And she died.

Chula is buried in the pet cemetery at the church here in Reynosa...with her daughter, a granddaughter and a granddaughter as well as other "church dogs". Chiquita, Maxie, Opie and I will miss her so very much. Eleven years is a long time to love a dog.....I will always remember her!