Dear Maia, Isaac, and Virtual Wanderers,

It’s snowing outside and I just realized how far behind this blog after not posting our summertime adventures. The last 7 months have brought much change. My heart dog, Sazi, died in March. I added a special needs senior dog, Kokopelli, in April. So, what did I do this summer? I added a 3rd dog: Cimarron Esti. This post is her intro.

I rescued Cimarron from Harley’s House of Dreams, the same rescue Kokopelli came from in April. I have been longing for another tiny dog since Sazi passed. I guess my feng shui was lined up right, because Cimarron (formerly Simone) became available at just the right time. We were planning a camping roadtrip in a few weeks and could pick her up on the way home.

Cimarron was surrendered after her human mom died and the family felt that they couldn’t give her the TLC she needed to thrive. They had rescued her some years before and her mom was very involved with the local dog rescue.

Cimarron comes from my childhood hometown of Estes Park. I gave her the middle name Esti for Estes Park (and for my Esty ancestors). Cimarron means “wild and untamed ” and Esti means “star.” Both fit her!

I talked with Cimarron’s former family to find our more about her because she has fear-aggression as a reaction to some types of touch (harness and sweater area). They said she was like that when they rescued her and that she had become much more social during her time with them. They said she acted very skiddish and perhaps was even abused in her past life.

So, here I am with another special needs senior rescue- Sazi’s legacy. Cimarron is 12 years old and just a hair over 6 pounds. I was told by both the rescue and her former owners that she was Chiggy – Chihuahua and Italian Greyhound mix. She looks it. Chihuahua face, Italian Greyhound ears and build.

Italian Greyhounds can be skiddish about touch, and breed is likely part of her issue. (Her first DNA got messed up in collection, so I’m going to resend it in a couple of months.) I’m working with a behaviorist and doing massage. She is coming around, slow but sure. I plan obedience classes in the next couple of months.

Cimarron came on the last day of our camping roadtrip, so she has just started her travel adventures with us. She has been to a few places, like Hovenweep and Canyon of the Ancients National Monument. She also spent her first night with us in a tent at Boyd Lake State Park. She hiked the Curecanti, Dominguez Canyon, and McInnis National Recreation Area and a couple of local trails. Her list won’t grow much until spring, but that gives us a chance to get her training done.

What do you think? Italian Greyhound/Chihuahua or long legged Chihuahua? I lean Chiggy because of her arched topline (her back arches at her loin) – and that’s almost exclusively a Greyhound thing. Her ears are paper thin, rose ears (Greyhound ears). Her legs are long and her feet very slender. She lives under blankets and is always cold. And, her skiddishness could certainly come from Greyhound DNA. I’m having fun getting her a wardrobe of Italian Greyhound clothes taken down a size to EES because they fit her build the best.

The journey has just begun!