Yoder, Mavi, and Myrtle
Over the past 3 years, my daughter and I have added 3 marvelous chihuahuas to our life: Yoder, Mavi, and Myrtle, now aged 3, 2 and 1 years, respectively. Yoder (known as Max by CRT) was our first, and came to us about a year after we lost one of our 2 cats at age 15 years. The remaining cat, Cleo, was in need of company, and my daughter was old enough to be a dog mom at that point. So, during a business trip to San Francisco, I was browsing PetFinder and suddenly saw this adorable black and tan chi whose sweet facial expression stopped me in my tracks. On a whim I emailed the CRT contact and to my surprise received a prompt email response. Next thing I knew, after the appropriate application process was complete, the CRT foster family who live near Blacksburg, Va., delivered to our home in central N.C. a precious gift named Max, who my daughter soon renamed Yoder. Yoder was in wonderful condition following several weeks of foster care by the loving and knowledgeable foster family. He was gentle, well socialized, and very healthy. He became fast friends with Cleo the cat who by then was 16 years old. A year later, one of my business partners, my daughter, and I packed up my car and road tripped to Blacksburg to adopt our second pup, Mavi. My business partner was adopting Mavi’s sister, Lola, then being cared for by another member of the same foster family. (A third sibling, Minnie Mae, was ultimately adopted by the foster family themselves.) Mavi was named by the foster family based on her brilliant blue eyes (mavi is Turkish for “blue”) and we retained that name due to its beauty and connection to her first family. Mavi has kept us laughing since that day, with her ultra-cuddly and goofy manner, her bright blue headlights, and her constant playfulness. She also befriended Cleo the cat immediately, and it was ultimately Mavi who lay beside Cleo on her little heated mat every day during our sweet calico cat’s final weeks of life.
Well wouldn’t you know, about a year after we adopted Mavi, we get an email from my favorite CRT foster family telling me about a new foster pup they had, Myrtle, and next thing I know I can’t believe we are again packing into the car and heading north (this time bringing along Yoder, Mavi, and Lola for a visit). Was I crazy? We had missed having 3 pets since our last cat passed away, so we were ready to round out our pack with Myrtle, who has turned out to be a little spitfire. She is like a pre-programmed torpedo who can come out of nowhere, leap into your lap, lick you right on the lips (with amazing precision), and jump down again and disappear before you realize what has happened to you. Myrtle has made herself at home, and, with a little “tutoring” from Yoder, our alpha, she has found her place in the pack and pounces, leaps, and plays tricks on her siblings without reserve. On our recent annual vacation in Maine (yes all 3 pups go with us), all 3 added at least 100 miles to their personal odometers running with great abandon through open fields full of yellow wildflowers and fluttering orange and black monarchs, and along endless rocky beach. Myrtle was the fastest of all and could not get enough of chasing the butterflies.
I can’t say enough how evident it was that all three of our Chihuahuas received exemplary care and tons of love from their foster family in Virginia (who have 3 chihuahuas of their own), and perhaps the best bonus has been our friendship and admiration for them. The entire process was particularly special to us because my daughter was also adopted, and our pet adoptions have helped her to understand the love at all levels and the roles required for an adoption success story. We are grateful to CRT for your wonderful work.
Yoder, Mavi, and Myrtle (And their human “support staff”) North Carolina