My Newest, Bestest Friend

As some of you may remember, my wonderful girl Ms. K, who had been with me for over seven years, passed away the week before Thanksgiving 2019.

After a month of giving my grief the proper space to process, I began looking for a new companion.

Mr. Tee had an adorable photo and profile, and I had learned through much trial and error that you need to jump on an opportunity quickly when looking at adoptable pets on petfinder.com, so I quickly filled out the online forms and submitted them.

However, I couldn’t *actually* submit them. I kept getting an error and the form was LONG. I was pretty frustrated, so the next morning I called them and explained the problem. The woman basically interviewed me over the phone and the next thing I knew I was headed to Chicago to get me a dog.

I called my friend Karen (no, she’s not one of those Karens, quite the opposite, in fact). She’s my go-to for dog care and had taken Ms. K so often she was basically a member of the family. I asked if she was up for an all-day trip to pick up a pup in Chicago on Saturday, and she was up for it. It was the first Saturday of 2020.

Mr. Tee had been passed over by a family whose mom really wanted him, but whose dad was not convinced. See Mr. Tee is a tad nervous, and has a little growl to express how uncomfortable he is in new situations, or when he’s double-teamed. When Mr. Tee growled at one of the daughters in this family, Dad didn’t understand and thought he was an aggressive soul.

Lucky for me, they passed, and I was soon driving back home with my new buddy.

It took a while for us both to adjust to each other. Ms. K had been a very independent soul and typically was low-key and wanted to be left alone. Mr. Tee, not so much.

Mr. Tee was my constant companion, following me all over the house and never taking his eyes off me. It took a long time just to teach him how to enjoy the backyard on his own without me, because he just wanted to be with me so badly.

And on top of that, he was always just so damn HAPPY.

It kind of felt like the Grinch and his dog Max. Max is so terminally happy and upbeat no matter what the Grinch does or says to him. He makes the best of anything that’s thrown his way. And unfortunately, I was feeling like the Grinch in this story.

Some days I was just tired, or frustrated, and didn’t have the energy. But there was Mr. Tee, tail a-waggin’ with a look of unbridled, joyful anticipation of some wonderful event in his eyes.

It was pretty annoying.

Occasionally I would sharply tell him to ‘go lay down,’ or ‘get a life!’ but he stubbornly would continue to wag and smile at me. I continued to be annoyed. How dare he be so terminally happy!

Eventually we found a happy medium and a respectful understanding. Mr. Tee quickly learned the rhythm of the household and we fell into a joyful routine.

He’s part Chow like Ms. K, only his tongue is only partly blue instead of blue all over. The other part just might be Corgi, since he has shorter legs and the features of a Corgi, but is much larger.

But when people ask me what he is, I typically tell them he’s part Chow and part comedian. But that story’s for another time.

Meanwhile, I’ll leave you with pictures of my newest, bestest friend.

He loves you already, and he doesn’t even know you.