In November, we were awarded custodial rights for a precious little one-eyed shih tzu named Mopsie. We renamed her, and she’s now called Josie.

This little dog has brought so much joy to us with her sweet personality. She follows us around the house, patiently waiting for us to sit so she can snuggle in our laps. My husband and I home office, so there’s always a lap to sleep on. When it’s time to go to bed, she hops under the covers and licks our legs. She considers it her job. She has adjusted to her new life with us.

I don’t think Josie had been walked outdoors much before she came to us. She didn’t know what a leash was nor did she know the word “Walk”. Now she anxiously runs to the door as soon as she sees the leash, dancing until we clip it on her. There are so many interesting smells to investigate. Once her little feet were as soft as a baby’s face, but now her pads have toughened up. We tell her she’s now a big girl and should use lotion on those rough spots. When she first joined us, we could make it around the block on our daily walks…now she’s up to 1.5 to 2 miles. She and I really enjoy these leisurely strolls around the neighborhood.

There is one thing that makes me sad about owning Josie. I think in her previous home, there were children to play with. Every time Josie sees or hears children playing in the neighborhood, she runs toward them as though she’s looking for someone; someone she’s not yet found. In our house, the kids are grown and gone so she’s stuck with two middle aged people who don’t make a lot of kid noise (but we do play with her a lot).

When we got Josie, we were told she’d been found running around a neighborhood, lost and scared. I hate to think of her being scared. We love our little girl.

Thank you for letting us be Josie’s mom and dad, Cody’s Friends!!!
Jan and Vince