Shodu the Shih Tzu

This is my baby girl.

Shodu was born April 15, 2000 in Detroit, Michigan. Her original given name was "Alice in Wonderland". Her mother's name was Emme, and her dad was Steven Tyler. No, I'm not making this up.

It was June 30, 2000 and I was at work (in Massachusetts) and I don't even remember how I found her, but I ended up on the website of her breeder. The moment I saw her tiny little face I fell in love. I didn't care that she was 800 miles away. I had to have her!

She turned 12 this year, but she will always be my baby.

This is a scanned image from the page I printed out the day I found her. She sort of looks like a little puppy pirate in that larger pic, with only one eye showing, but she really does have both eyes. And they aren't glowing blue, but beautiful baby browns. She was so tiny! You can see a penny in the far right next to her. I had never seen a black Shih Tzu before. I loved that she didn't look anything like my first or second dog. Look at her little nose! Wasn't it adorable? Yes, I do realize I'm rambling, she's just too cute to focus my thoughts. LOL

Emails were exchanged, money was sent, and she was flown out to me. A day early. Eek!

I went to Chicago for the 4th of July and was flying home on the 6th. (I think it was the 6th, let's go with that.) She was supposed to fly to Boston the next day. But she actually arrived at Logan airport hours before me. *panic*

Luckily, she was tiny, and adorable, and sweet, and the folks at Logan who ended up taking care of her fell in love with her too. She was happy as can be when I showed up. Tail wagging at hyper speed, running around, little kisses. She was perfect! My new little girl. :)

My now mother-in-law picked us up (I was away with my now husband) and I held my little one in my hands the whole way home. She fit in them, that's how small she was.

We were told she was an Imperial Shih Tzu and would grow to be no more than 3 pounds. They were a bit off with that estimate. She's a whopping 8 pounds now. Not an Imperial, but a Tiny. That's ok with us. We were afraid we'd break her in the beginning. Now she has some substance to her.

So, the name Shodu... anyone know where that name came from?

Personally, I think that Shih Tzus look like Ewoks. You know, from Star Wars. I wanted a female Ewok name for this little munchkin. Before I got my pup I researched Ewok names and found Shodu (SHOW-do). One of the most well known Ewoks was Wicket Warrick. Shodu was his mother.

See the resemblance? Haha

Her bedroom is a corner in the kitchen. She sleeps on a Leopard print pillow just like this.

Her favorite toy is a large stuffed Dalmation. We like to call it her boyfriend. Her's is quite old, so it isn't the one below, but this one looks pretty cool too.