When Mel Met Nigel; An Adoption Story
It occurred to me yesterday as I was celebrating 7 years as Nigel’s mom, that I never told you how he came to be my baby. Since today is National Rescue Dog Day, why not?
I have been a cat mom, most of my life, even though I am allergic to cats, dogs, rabbits and most other furry creatures.
The first time I saw a Yorkshire Terrier was at a pet store in San Diego, I was doing an appearance and went inside just in time to see the cutest dog I had ever seen sitting on the shopping counter check out belt. My jaw dropped and my heart skipped a beat. What was this adorable thing? You see, back then the internet wasn’t as big of a deal, and there was no Instagram to show me all types of adorable dog breeds.
I asked what kind of dog it was and the owner told me. I promised myself that if I ever got a dog it would be a Yorkie. Then I did my research. Yorkie’s are hypoallergenic, which made me squeal with delight. Then I found out how expensive they were, and my dreams were crushed. I work in Radio, we don’t make a lot of money, so I figured it wasn’t in the cards for me.
Flash forward to May of 2013. I was living with my sister Maria in Las Vegas. A friend of ours knew of a family that needed to re-home their Yorkie. It was a sad story. The older couple had Nigel (named Elvis at the time) and another small dog. Their son, his wife, their 2 kids & 2 large dogs, fell on hard times and had to move into their home. The large dogs eventually attacked Nigel and he was living in fear, chewing thru a Kong a day. His parents decided to re-home Nigel rather than ask their Grand-kids to give up the dogs they had grown up with.
I made arrangements to go meet him, and instantly fell head over heels in love! I took him home and introduced him to his big sister Salem, my beautiful, sweet, 20 year old cat. And his cousin, Olive Juice, my sister’s dog. Olive was just a puppy and she annoyed Salem! But Nigel and Salem got on right away. Nigel had a calming effect on Olive and the three of them became a new pack.
I moved back to California in 2014, Nigel and I had Salem until Thanksgiving 2015. She lived to be 22 and he bathed her while she purred every night. It melted my heart.
Nigel now soaks up all my love and attention and he digs it. He’s a jealous little dude, but I think it’s cute.
So there you have our love story.
Nigel and I would love to hear your Adoption Story.
– Mel McKay
