Meet Milo
Milo, a black-and-white long-haired Chihuahua, looking at the camera.
On February 19th, hubby and I welcomed Milo to our family. We received an earlier-than-expected call a few days before Christmas that a long-haired Chihuahua was available. We asked many questions. We contemplated the decision for a few days. Is this the right time? Are we ready for a puppy? Maybe it’s too soon? We spent hours watching a 4-week old, black-and-white potato waddling around on the puppy cams. He could barely walk. He looked like a panda bear. And deep down, we knew he was ours.
Milo was 12 weeks old when we brought him home and we’ve had him for a month already. Here are a few things I want to share about him in all his puppy glory.
Milo is a total cuddlebug.
Chihuahuas were bred to be lapdogs but Milo is on a whole other level. This puppy would rather sit in our laps than eat or play. Sometimes he won’t eat or play unless he’s sitting in our laps. If we’re standing up, he’ll sit on one of our feet. He’d sit on us the entire day if he could. Milo is praise-driven and attention-driven — his love language is most certainly physical touch.
Milo is very clean… especially considering we’ve seen him nibble at his own poop.
I was expecting Milo to smell like a dog: puppy breath, farty bum, and Frito paws. This might change when he reaches adolescence but right now, at 4 months old, he has no scent.
Milo would rather hold it than potty in the wrong place. In the month that we’ve had him, we’ve only seen three true “accidents” that weren’t in the vicinity of his pee pad — twice at home and once at puppy school. That’s a minuscule percentage for a puppy who pees 12 times a day and poops 4 times a day. He will also let us know when his pee pad is too dirty for him (by peeing right beside it).
He is meticulous about grooming himself (more on that below).
Milo reminds me of Truffle and Lulu mixed together with a dash of kitten.
Milo bites our baseboards in the exact places that Truffle bit them 15 years ago. His white markings on his hind legs make him look like a rabbit, especially when he’s lying on his side. And he’s very bouncy.
Milo sounds just like Lulu, especially his little barks and the pitter-patter of his little feet on the hardwood floors. He zooms like Lulu. And of course, he’s also a long-haired Chihuahua.
Milo has soft cat-like front paws. He stalks and pounces like a kitten. He grooms himself by combing his fur with his tongue and cleaning his eyes with his paws.
Milo has big feelings and he’s not afraid to share them.
Similar to how Milo is trying to learn our language, we’re trying to learn his. He has a lot to say, especially when he’s having big feelings. I imagine him as a tiny philosopher, soliloquizing as he’s trying to figure out life.
His signature sound is the grumble-whine, most often expressed when we leave the room for a moment. It’s akin to a quick protest: “Hmph you’re leaving me; I guess I’ll do something else then!” as he walks away to grab some food, drink a sip of water, or find a toy.
His grumbling escalates to an almost-bark when he’s frustrated. This often happens when we’re training and he’s not quite sure what we want. So he will tell us what he wants. I want that toy. Gimme that treat. I must sit in your lap at once. Let’s go already.
He makes a near-constant squeaky-whine in new and exciting environments. A streetcar ride. The vets’ office. Puppy class. This sound is occasionally accompanied by trembling.
Milo is 85% calm, 15% gremlin.
We were so pleased to discover that Milo sleeps very soundly. He also likes to wake up slowly — stretching out so we can rub his belly and turning toward our hands so he can nuzzle our fingertips. When he eventually comes out of his crate (where he naps) or soft-sided carrier (where he sleeps overnight), he’ll sit in our laps and groom himself. Then he’ll potty and be pretty calm for 3 out of his 4 daily awake-windows. 6:30-8:30am: cuddly puppy. 11am-12:30pm: attentive student. 3-5:30pm: curious explorer.
The last awake-window of the day? After his signature wake-up routine, he’ll gradually turn into a gremlin. Jumpy, bitey, humpy, zoomy — you name the behaviour we’re trying to redirect, he’ll do it with gusto. We’ve experimented with more naps, more training, more playtime. No luck. The gremlin still emerges at some point between 7-10pm every day. Fortunately, gremlin-mode is only activated for an hour or two.
Milo is a pup of many names.
We also call him:
Milotic — the Pokémon that he was named after, who “has the power to becalm such emotions as anger and hostility to quell bitter feuding.”
Mister — a reflection of his gentlemanly, philosopher-like qualities.
Moochi — a play on “mochi” that pays homage to Milo’s cow-like colouring and his Chihuahua breed.
Momo — we’ve established a new tradition of picking up momos from our favourite Tibetan restaurant after his vet visits.
Milo has added so much joy to our home and it’s been incredibly fun to see his personality emerge. You can follow more of Milo’s adventures here.
This month’s reflective questions
After feeling creatively blocked for the past couple of months, I felt inspired to write a blog post about Milo. Selfishly, I chose to share these things because I want to remember them. Puppyhood is short and goes by so quickly. Already, I’m marvelling at how much Milo has grown in the past month.
But it's not just puppyhood that's short. Time can often catch us off guard, even on the slowest and most ordinary of days.
What are a few moments you want to place gently into a time capsule? What are some things you’d like to remember in 10 or 20 years' time? The mundane and meandering are very welcome here.
Wishing you (and me) lots of calm puppy energy,
