Elvis has entered the building

This is Elvis ... she is our second oldest fur baby (she turned 15 this past August). She has arthritis, cataracts, is full of moles, is deaf, has mild dementia and smells funny ... but in my eyes she'll always be he little bundle of fluff who was only 2 weeks old when we got her. Elly's my special baby because we had to bottle feed her, she barely had her eyes open, and because she was so young when we got her, she is convinced she's human too.

She was such a smart puppy that she could bring you any of a dozen of her toys if you said the toy's name, and I swear she knows English -- over the years she has had nicknames and they have evolved, as nicknames do (it started by shortening Elvis to Elly, then to Smelly then to Melly, then to Melba, then to Melba Toast, then to Mrs. Toast then to Sweet Baby Sikki ... and she will come to any of those names, but she won't come if you call her a name that isn't one of her nicknames -- we've tried tricking her - she won't come to Jelly, Mrs Roast and doesn't come when we call any of the other dogs or the cats).

She's a great athlete - she learned to fetch and return a ball by 9 weeks old, could catch and return a Frisbee at 11 weeks ... and was known far and wide (and still is the topic of many family discussions about it) as the best Frisbee dog we'd ever seen (she was a thing of beauty and grace, leaping effortlessly 6 feet into the air, gliding then snatching a Frisbee from the air- people used to tell us we should have entered her in contests). Her arthritis has taken that joy from her and it makes me sad.

Elvis is a dog with character ... and I could go on and on about my special girl (for heaven's sake, don't get me telling stories about her, unless you have a few hours to kill -- we have a special bond, and there are so many smart,athletic, funny things she's done over the years that I love to think about).

As much as I love the other dogs, Elvis will always be my favorite -- she was my first baby dog and my first old lady dog, and will always be my "beauty queen". (just don't tell the rest of them!)