She is apparently a Pekinese and Spaniel mix, and was judged to be almost a year old or so, by the vets, when we got her, in August of 1997 - so that makes her almost 6 and a half now (as of November 2002) - or, for those of you who are septadigitally challenged, that's 45 in dog years - but she still has the heart, legs and smile of a spunky little kid ;o)

We got her at the pound, which is the best place to get dogs, btw (or rescuing one from that depressing destination), as they were about to put her to sleep the next day. She had just given birth to a litter of pups (all of which were put to sleep the day before), and had the operation - that is, she's fixed =o�

When I first saw her, I had to turn away - cuz she''s so cute, but I thought she might be too big for our apartment, or grow to be. I started lookin at these two little miniature mutt poodles, in the next cage over, kinda just like our other dog who had recently passed on of old age. I wanted to get them both - poor things, all of em: bellies up, fresh stitches drying in the stale air - but we couldn't afford em both. Shit, I wanted to get all three. As I was preparing my "pro" argument for getting two smaller dogs, it turns out, our little Princess was already fully grown already n just under the weight limit of our complex. A short while later, as I was walking my new furry friend, I noticed a few people moved in with some big old dogs - shepherds, dalmations, you name it ..... =oP

She had already been named Princess, by her previous owners - but we turned it into Princess Leia the first day we got her. Still, we tend to call her just Princess anyways - or Poochie, Petunia, etc - but she also answers to that particular friendly yet summoning tone in the voice, so we can pretty much call her anything ;o)

We heard from the vets that her original owner had abandoned her once she became pregnant - and, I imagine, they mistreated her somewhat too, which totally sux, but we're takin good care of her now =o)

When we first got her, she was understandably withdrawn and very shy. I pet her on the sofa for hours and played with her some, but she just wouldn't bark. Only after I gave her a bath and she ran around the apartment with her hair still mostly wet, did she feel free enough to let one go. To this day, she seldom barks - only at potential intruders, like when there's a knock at the door - or when she's really happy and excited - or, my favorite trick, when I move in slow motion for her - it drives her absolutely nutso ;o)

She loves squeeky toys - especially those little fuzzy squeeky balls with squeekers inside, that make happy little noizes when chewed down upon. Her first squeeky toy was white, kinda of wolly fabric outside, and shaped like a little bone (see photo). I think she musta had a kinda maternal affection towards it, because it looked so much like a puppy. It still makes me sad to even think about it - but we've since moved her on to more advanced squeekies =o)

I think her favorite thing to do in the world is to play Furball - an, at times, full contact sport that we mutually invented - which basically entails me kicking one of them across the floor, and then another, and then another - you get the idea ;o)

She has lotsa friends in the neighborhood - fellow apartment poochies, which she sees on daily walks around the complex, and up in the wooded neighborhood. Our neighbors that we know real well have two little doggies, and we go over there sometimes n let em all run around the apartment together =oP

After daily walks, she likes a treat - an Alpo doggie cookie of some snackity sort or another, we get beef n bacon flavor for her - a Scooby Snack for the road weary poochie. We are teaching her to sit up and stand, and even dance a little, but all attempts at getting her to "speak" have utterly failed. That's OK with me tho - she can talk, or not, whenever she wants to - n she does too. On the rare occasion that we make it known that it's time for a walk - n take a little too long gettin ready with the coats, shoes n lockin up, etc - "ow-ooo" means "out" - as in "NOW already" ;o)

Oh, and here's a helpful tip - every successful homepage hasta have pix of yer pets - n many long paragraphs all about em =o)