Evee’s story

As promised, here is the first of the nine canine biographies. I have started with Evee as she has been with me the longest, it is easier than trying to do this sort of thing by age as four of them don’t know when they were born. So Evee the Chihuahua, this is you life thus far.

Back in early March 2009, a close friend of mine had just bred a litter of Chihuahua puppies. At the time, Mark lived in Tooting South-West London just down the road from us in Streatham. As we already had three dogs (Macgyver, Jordi and Rupert) and twas a time long before I had the urge to adopt every dog on sight, not much attention was paid to Mark’s news. Until that fateful May heatwave day that was and Mark’s car breaking down. On a sweltering Friday afternoon, I offered to help.

“I’ve got the Chihuahuas in the back of my car” he said,

“Oookay. Do you want me to take them back to mine and you can pick them up later?” said naive me,

“Amazing, thank you!” was the obvious answer

Now, I had forgotten a minor detail. It was a Friday and not just any Friday. It was my turn to host the Friday Night Tea which, in short, meant I was my turn to have a dozen 6-8 year olds at my house plus their parents. Mark assured me that the pups and Mum were happy being in their crate so I duly took the little brood home. By the time everyone had left that evening and pups were running loose around the house, we had somehow acquired a Chihuahua puppy. Since Tony and I had been manipulated by our seven year old son, we left it up to Callum to choose the name. As befits my family’s tradition, she had to be named after a character fiction or otherwise. Evee is apparently a Pokemon character but hey, it wasn’t a terrible name and a few weeks later we officially became teeny dog parents.

I grew up with big dogs. We naturally had one in Macgyver, a huge German Shepherd but because I loved Cavaliers so much we had Jordi and Rupert. Tony however had grown up with cats so the idea of having a small dog didn’t worry him in the least. And we didn’t have to. Evee slotted into family life as if she was born to rule men. From the day she strutted through the front door, she had total control of the house and this has never changed. Mark breeds well and is known for the independent and strong characters that leave his nest. As part of the deal, Evee was to have one litter which we agreed on but sadly she lost both puppies.

Evee is known as ‘Nurse Evee’ in our household as she has the ability to understand when someone isn’t well. When Jordi’s heart was failing, she slept with him every night until he died and she fussed over both Rupert and Macgyver in their final days. She cleans the dogs’ teeth on a regular basis even though she could easily be swallowed by the average German Shepherd. Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately she hasn’t been without her own ‘nine lives’. She got badly attacked by two Border Terriers as a pup, fell down the stairs and managed to end up in A&E fighting for her life after licking the chops of a Bassett Hound who had just had a dose of barbiturates. She’s one tough cookie.

In 2011, Tony and I adopted a 2 year old miniature Yorkshire Terrier whose Chelsea owner was moving abroad. He was a terrified little creature who had never known the outside world unless he was looking out of a handbag but Evee took it upon herself to woo this handsome young fella and they have remained devoted to each other ever since. And when I packed up the dogs into the Mothership and across the Channel, Gizmo stayed near her throughout the journey, knowing Evee didn’t travel well.

How does one sum up Evee? I once joked that she was from ‘Mexico via Tooting’ meaning she had all the sass of a South American woman with a bit of South London diva thrown in. She loves fiercely and protects her own (she has prevented both a Rottweiler and a German Shepherd from innocently entering the door) and has never believed size matters. Some may call her voluptuous but she prefers curvy, some may say she is short-tempered but she prefers honesty and some may she is small but she just says mighty. She hates being picked up by strangers but will never show her displeasure obviously (she might leave a deposit near a shoe later) but she loves to cuddle with those she adores – namely Callum. he might be a very tall, strapping 22 year old now but she can still make his heart melt.

So this is our Evee. Despite the recent scare with her seizure she remains as feisty as ever. She can tell the exact hour one expects to be fed by the nearest second and will vocally complain if you are late. She will hog your pillow and snore throughout the night and experience tells you never to think about moving her. She protects her own and will nurture all that need her, both in sickness and in health. The dogs love their big little sister. Her name is Evee.