02/02/2026
ššHappy first birthday Mouse! šš
I canāt believe Mouse is already a year old! The time has flown by but at the same time it feels like sheās just always been here. She has become such a huge part of my life that I just canāt imagine a life without her.
Her album in my phone has well over 1500 pictures and videos but fb will only let me use like 80 in one post. How do you sum up an entire year of so much in so few pictures? So Iāll start by giving yāall an update on her and then follow it with her story for those who may not know it.
She EASILY has the most personality I have ever seen in a dog. Her registered name is Vigilanteās Little Light Of Mine and she absolutely lives up to it! She lights up my world and keeps me on my toes all day long, like living with an incredibly demanding toddler!
Sheās 11 pounds. Sheās completely deaf. Her ears stick up and she has a tail. Sheās got a funny Mohawk on her head that actually has a bald spot under the hair and weird lumps in the bald spot and the vets donāt know what they are. She goes by Mouse, Mousey, Mommyās Little Heathen, Rat, and Meanie Mouse.
Sheās got so many funny little quirks and idiosyncrasies that if I tried to tell you all of them youād still be reading this post next week! So Iāll just share some of my favorites.
She sticks to me like glue and never wants to be very far from me at all. Sheās always in my lap and when I first sit down she wonāt even give me time to get situated before sheās planting herself right in the middle of my lap. If I give her a chew she INSISTS on eating it in my lap. If Iām not sitting down sheāll follow me around carrying it until I do sit down and then in my lap she goes, butt on my left and head on my right every single time.
Sheās sooo insistent on being in my lap when sheās got something to chew on that when she finds something fun that she shouldnāt actually have she still brings it straight to my lap where I then take it from her. She still hasnāt figured out that maybe she should chew on stuff like that somewhere besides momās lap, though Iām glad she hasnāt figured it out!
My lap has become āMouseās Spotā. Itās ok if another dog sits there if sheās busy but once sheās ready to sit in my lap sheās going to do it, even if that means planting her butt right on top of the other dog like theyāre not even there! Then they have to figure out how to get out from under her.
She loves to play tug and fetch but pretty much only with me. If somebody else throws the ball for her sheāll go get it but sheās gonna bring it straight back to me instead.
She really dislikes being held. Youād think as much as she was held being a bottle baby that sheād love it but no. She tolerates me holding her when she feels like it but heaven forbid if somebody else picks her up! Sheāll give you about 2-3 seconds to put her down before she throws a fit and struggles till you do. Then sheās going to run straight to me, jump up into my arms, climb up to put her front feet on my right shoulder and then give the person who tried to hold her a dirty look like sheās saying āMom did you see what they did?! The audacity!ā
She has ZERO understanding of personal space and has to be right in the middle of whatever Iām doing. If Iām busy and she wants to play sheāll bring me a toy and then grab my fingers, my hand, or even my whole forearm with her mouth and pull on me to get my attention while making funny little half growl half gurgling sounds. She tries to steal laundry right out of my hands while Iām folding it. I canāt put my shoes on or take them off without her play attacking my feet.
A friend told me Mouse has got so much personality that she should be a childrenās book character and I could absolutely see it! Who knows, maybe one day weāll figure that out.
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Mouse was born first in a litter of 8 and clearly was born premature. She was only 3.2 oz and still missing hair on her head and bottom of her legs/feet. Her skin felt paper thin and her head was funny shaped from lack of development. I didnāt think there was any way she was going to live but I just donāt have it in me to just let nature decide.
She was so tiny I decided not to dock her tail because I wanted all her energy to go into growing and not healing. I had to tube feed her in the beginning, then was able to switch to a syringe with a ni**le attachment on it at two weeks old. All previous attempts to bottle feed puppies always failed and I never understood why. I was going off of the most reputable information I could find on the internet. Thanks to a conversation with a Lhasa Apso breeder and friend who had plenty of success bottle feeding puppies she made it past 2 weeks old and I was ecstatic! By 4 weeks old she was finally big enough to use a bottle.
By 6 weeks old we started to suspect she may be deaf. However, she was so observant of her surroundings that we were constantly second guessing ourselves. Did she hear that or just notice the movement of whatever we were doing? So weād wait till she was fast asleep and then make enough racket to wake the dead and sheād sleep right through it all. She canāt hear a lick!
She went literally everywhere with me the first 6-7 weeks of her life. To church, the store, dog shows, barrel races. If I had to be there she was too. She had to be fed every HOUR the first 4-5 weeks, including through the night. I have never been so exhausted in my life, including when my son was an infant. I was so tired I even had a couple emotional breakdowns that my husband had to help me through. You know the kind where even something as small as your sock being slightly twisted on your foot sends you into a bawling mess? That was me.
Needless to say, when youāve put your absolute ALL into keeping this tiny little puppy alive itās impossible to not be 100% completely attached. I had sooooo many people send me fb messages wanting her. I had people in person practically begging me over and over to let them buy her. But there was no way I could let her go.
So now here she is, one year old, and she wont be going anywhere anytime soon!
