Written by Irie the Jackahuahua

‘alo perritos, you don’t know me, but I know you! Let me introduce myself. Yo soy Irie la Jackahuahua. I know, I know, strange name – you can blame my papi for that one. When I hear humans say my name it sounds like eye-ree, so maybe try to say it like that. My mami says she wants to tell you all about how I was saved from the puppy pen, but she thought it’d be better if it came straight from the puppy’s snout. It’s a tough assignment cachorritos, but I’ll dip into my past vida loca and tell you about how I got here to this office and became TJ’s pup pawl.

I was very little when I came to the puppy pen, only three itty-bitty months old. I was so small and skinny. Back then my left ear would flop, a month later it was my right ear flopping, and now that ear will flop and stand up then flop again. My ear gets very confused. Pues, as I was saying, I don’t know why the other humans left me at the puppy pen. I thought we were all getting along super good, you know? I would run really fast back and forth in the house. I would jump on the furniture to ask them to play, they’d throw their huge human paws at me, but - hooowl – they weren’t playing. Sometimes, when they couldn’t take me out, I’d pee in a corner in their big room with the talking box. I was really nice about it tambien, ‘cause I would pee in the same spot for them over and over and over again. For some reason, they didn’t like that, bola de ingratos! I’d nip at their pants to get them to play. I’d shed all over the house and leave a pretty white blanket of hairs. It was so pretty, like snow!

I was so good! I’d even bite their little humans a little when they tried to pull my ears so they would know not to do that. I even babysitted y todo, can you believe it? But perritos, the humans didn’t like none of the fun stuff I tried to do with them, or how considerate I was. BARK! So, like big meanies, they left me at the puppy pen and said they didn’t have enough “time” for me. If they didn’t have time, why’d they bring me home? Oh well! C’est la vie as my French Poodle pawls say.

I was too cute to last more than a day at the puppy pen. What? It’s true, ::wag wag::. They dropped me off on May 7^th and on May 8^th my new humans came to the rescue! I like to think I rescued them really, from a life without a dog – what kind of humans don’t have a best pup? Anywho, mami and papi had been looking all over for a new puppy. That day was like, let me think, their third time to that puppy pen. They had already picked an older doggie to take home and had come back to ask to adopt him, but pobrecitos, the older doggie was gone when they got there. Mami said papi was heartbroken! She told him “It’s okay baby, let’s just look at the puppies again and then go home.” They were quitting for the day, but they went in to the puppy section to look around.

Mami said they were looking for a dog that when they saw it they’d know the puppy was “the one.” What they didn’t know was that when they came in I knew they were “the ones” too! I walked up to the front of the yucky cage and sat down really quietly. I was super good and put on my best I’m-such-a-cute-little-puppy-don’t-you-want-to-take-me-home look. Then, they found me! Papi was smiling and mami was so excited to see me. They really liked that I was a Jackahuahua because papi really wanted a Jack Russell and mami really wanted a Chihuahua mix. Pues, hellooo, meet Irie the Jackahuahua bomb-dizzle! They loved me so much they didn’t even ask to play with me (probably a mistake on their part! Bark Bark, haha!). They adopted me right away. I had to get the ouchy surgery on my tummy, mami calls it “spay,” all I know is it hurt! I had to wear a funny cone on my head for like two weeks. Guacala! I hated the funny cone because it made it hard to scratch my legs with my teeth.

When I first got home I was so sleepy from the ouchy surgery that mami and my auntie thought I was a very calm pup, but the next day they got to see my Jack Russell side in all its glory. I jumped, played, rolled over, and yappity yapped yapped. It was a good day to be a pup.

Now, well, I have to tell the truth – I’m very spoiled! I like it that way, just what a fabulous Jackahuahua like me deserves, not a stinky puppy pen. Abrazos y Besitos puppy friends, I hope your journey to your furever home was just as great.

Perritos, do you have a great rescue story, send them to my friend TJ to tj@ilovedogs.com, or tell me about it in the comments below. Woof!

Irie Belle (a.k.a. “I Rebel”) is a 1-year-old mixed breed, bilingual Jack Russell Terrier/Chihuahua adopted from the South Los Angeles Animal Shelter. Still a puppy, she aspires to one day host her very own show, and be the Oprah of mixed breed pups around the world! Check out her other articles!