Darling Domino

Domino came into my life completely by accident. While taking my break at work, I did a Google search for Chihuahuas. That is when I discovered Chihuahua Rescue Midwest. This group is out of Missouri and specializes in rescuing…Chihuahuas!

Upon opening the page, I found a dog that looks exactly like Theo. They could literally be twins. I continued searching through the photos and then my heart dropped. The animal in the photo was black and white spotted, like a cow. I actually thought it was a cat!

I blew the picture up and discovered that this was a Blue Merle Chihuahua. I had never heard of such a thing! The merle refers to Domino’s coat. He has black and white spots all over (including the inside of his mouth!), but his front legs have two patches of gray fur. And his eyes are as blue as the sky. One thing I knew for certain, I had to have this dog!

I immediately put in an application. I received a call about wanting to set up a home visit. Uh-oh! We were currently renting a duplex and were in the process of purchasing our first home. Our land lord barely let us keep Theo and Adriel. I knew that a third dog would put him over the top.

Since the group is about an hour away, it was decided that photos of the house would be sufficient. So, I frantically got in contact with the person we were purchasing the home from to ask if we could take pictures. Thankfully, the pictures sufficed and we were able to adopt Domino!

His original name was Solo and I could see why. This dog was a loner. He liked to be by himself and had issues with dogs getting in his face. I won’t lie, it was a bit tense in our household until Domino began to get comfortable and adjust. He now loves getting kisses from his sisters Adriel and Penny. He also enjoys playing with our 21 pound mutt, Cole.

I chose the name Domino because, well, he looks like a domino! We also call him: The Mighty Merle, Merlinator, Doms, The Doms and Dominator. Now that I think about it, he has so many names because he has so many personalities. He really does act like a cat. This tends to frustrate my husband because Domino comes to me every time that I call him and lets me pick him up. Not so much with the hubby.

Still, every day he comes out of his Merle shell a little bit more. It is amazing to see the transformation that has taken place just within the year that we have had him. Dogs are fantastic creatures!