After a long bout with old age, Peanut moved to the happy hunting grounds this morning where she is no doubt eating crusts from discarded pizza boxes.

Peanut, who we called “Girlie Dog” and “Peanutty Girl”, is probably the sneakiest dog we have ever had. If you think you will teach / train your dogs, you are mistaken. They will teach / train you far more.

Rewind 10 years to 2014… we were at the Animal Shelter, in the process of finalizing an adoption for Polly, who we had been fostering for two weeks. The Director said, “I hate to do this to you but,” as she lifted a little red chiweenie from behind the counter. Of course we left with two dogs, bringing our pack size to four. It was the first time we had more than three dogs, and it did not take long for Peanut to become part of our family and one of everyone’s favorites.

It also did not take long for us to realize that though small in stature, she had big plans which always involved food acquisition. If left unattended, she would flatten herself, escape under the fence, and cruise the neighbors’ trash cans in search of doggie delectables. Click here to see a 2020 video of the “Escape Artist” (nickname #3).

Another thing we will remember Peanut for is the time we whisked her off to the vet (it was a Saturday) because of a severely distended belly. After the emergency vet ran a bunch of tests, including an X-Ray, it was determined that Peanut had eaten about a week’s worth of dog food, again sneaking into the closet while no one was monitoring her. The remedy was to not let her eat any food for several days. After this she earned two more nicknames, “Plumppy” and “Le Plump One”.

All of this made sense if you knew her history… Peanut had been abandoned in an apartment for five days and had gone without food and water the whole time. In addition, in her frenzy she had wound the venetian blinds cord around her leg, cutting off circulation. The apartment manager found her and brought her to the Animal Shelter. Peanut almost lost her leg, but a vet was able to save it right before we adopted her.

I love dogs. I wish I could bring them to my classroom! I think they would help our students relax and focus. If Peanut had come to my classroom, she might have earned another nickname, “Hot Chip,” since that is what she would have scrounged off the floor.

Roscoe, Peanut, Polly, JoJo, and Luna.