Thursday, January 5, 2012

From whence did Smooch come?

Someone recently asked on one post or another (and of course I can't find it now) how it came to be that Smooch joined the 7MSN family. 
It was January 2006. Has it really been six years? I had just lost my sweet yellow lab Annie to bone cancer. My other elderly yellow lab, Dusty, was bereft, as was I. We both needed another dog. I went searching on petfinder.com for a puppy to join our family and located a four-month-old "possible Chihuahua mix" named Gracie at a local animal rescue. When I went to the rescue to meet her, I took her for a short walk and she seemed to like me well enough, so I brought her home.


The name "Gracie" did not suit her at all, so when I wanted her attention, I made a loud and obnoxious kissing sound and she would come to me...some of the time. After a week of trying out a litany of names, none of which felt right, I finally gave up and called her Smooch.


The name is rather genderless, and often people wrongly assume that Smooch is a he. In my mind, Smooch is neither a she or a he – Smooch is a dog, a dog's dog, a four-legged, 36-pound, fiercely loyal companion who scares the crap out of strangers, snakes and rabbits with her ferocious bark.


When Smooch is not on high alert, she is comatose. There isn't much of a middle ground.


Smooch: What was that?



Me: Nothing. Now go back to sleep.

Actually the noise she heard was the camera shutter. 
Nothing gets past this dog.

30 comments:

  1. I love hearing the story of Smooch, but a "possible Chihuahua mix" ... yikes, what were they thinking? Regardless, she seems like Wonder Dog to me and I adore her/the stories pertaining to her.

    My Wally is very much like Smooch in that he's also in high alert or comatose/no middle ground ... I've never had a dog like that and find it quite amusing.

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  2. Looks like Smooch is enjoying the NM sun! Thanks for sharing her story.

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  3. Thank you! I, too have been wondering about Smooch's story. Some chihuahua! But she seems bigger than 36 pounds. What a treasure you have there.

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  4. and we all can observe how unloved smoochie is eh! ;P woof

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  5. I love Smooch, not least because every time I look at her I'm reminded of my Marly dog, gone these . . . what, three years? Four?

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  6. ... a Chihuahua mix? She is adorable and I love that you rescued her.

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  7. She's just the right dog for the ranch. Probably not a chihuahua though!

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  8. Dogs are magical creatures aren't they? I just finished reading Julie Klam's Love at First Bark about how in rescuing dogs sometimes you end up rescuing yourself. Lovely little book :)

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  9. So that's where she gets her ferocious bark! She's part chihuahua!

    Ok, maybe not. She quite iconic. The perfect ranch dog - never fully tamed, good eye for snakes, often outsmarted by mice, and a tendency to race around like her tail's on fire.

    No wonder we all love her.

    Smooches for Smooch!

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  10. Smooch is a character and I love her name.

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  11. When we adopted our rescue, Sandy, back in '05, our best guess, based on conformation and the desire to run in big (three acre) circles, was "greyhound"--which upon further research we found described as "45-mile-an-hour couch potatoes." Yep that's Sandy--could almost be applied to Smooch as well?

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  12. LOL ... "possible Chihuahua mix" oh, that is a hoot! I love Smooch ... she reminds me of a dog up the street from me ... her name is Sky ... a blue-eyed yellow-coated most layed back, regal dog I have ever seen ... except for Smooth.

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  13. The best companion ever!

    Sincerely, Sandra

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  14. Love Smooch and I have often thought that is the best dog name ever.

    By her coloration and her face, I would say that she has some basenji in her. But she is missing the tightly curled tail.

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  15. I figured her name came from the possibility that she was such a good "kisser". Kissing is an important trait that we look for in dogs. Some folks think it's gross, but we have to have dog kisses before exiting the bed each morning.

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  16. Carol in Colorado1/5/12, 8:50 AM

    Love the last photo with one eye open and the other looking at mom as if to say "Pleeze, stop with the camera." LOL Smoochies for Smooch

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  17. She looks bigger than she is in pictures. She looks like she's the size of a boxer.

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  18. I asked about the origins of Smooch, she (now I know)is such a good looking dog with all the traits of a loyal companion. I tried to find out using your archives but over 180 posts tagged "dog" shut down my computer. I am happy you answered my inquiry. I'm not quite sure about the chihuahua (but it wouldn't be the first time some larger dog took advantage of those little critters.

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  19. Thanks for sharing her story.

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  20. I bet her daddy was the chihuahua & HE took advantage of the larger dog!
    HA!!!
    We had a chihuahua & he was most ferocious & loyal dog I've ever loved!
    ♥'s
    Sherry

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  21. The "possible Chihuahua mix" made me giggle... do you have any 'baby pics' of Smooch you could share?

    Oh, and how big is she? 36lbs, I think she's smaller than I had pictured in my mind.

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  22. Hmm, that face speaks "Queensland" to me, maybe not half, but somewhere. I like her slick coat. If she only had the queenie trait of sticking close to your heels and to home, she'd be the totally perfect ranch dog.

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  23. She so obviously belongs at the 7MSN, I can't imagine the place without her.

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  24. Yes, as CDNCowgirl asked--do you have any baby pictures of your Smooch?

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  25. I love you, Smooch.
    Thank you for sharing your day-bed with me.

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  26. I have had my dog Cooper almost the same amount of time. December 30th was six years for us. He had been my son's dog for six months and was destroying his apartment, so he came to live with us. He has been wonderful and a lot of my blog is about him, he is a very significant part of my life, my joy, my friend.

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  27. Smooch is a pretty girl.
    She has always looked to me like she is part Heeler.

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  28. If I am a film maker I will definitely sign Smooch as a lead actor.
    Love you Smooch.

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  29. Smooch is one of my favorite BlogLand dogs and it's good to get a back story on her. Not sure I believe the chihuahua bit though.

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