Name/Age: Penny - 8 y/o
Family Members: Maggie & Sean
How long has Penny been in the family? 8 years
Professions: Sean - IT Consultant Manager Maggie - Food Critic and Freelance Journalist
Location: Chicago, IL
Nicknames: Mushy, Mushes, Mushy Peas, Cheej (pronounced “Cheese”), Cheej Dragon, Mrs, Mrs P, Squishy
5 words/phrases that best describe Penny?
Special
Lazy
Wiggly
Whiny
Stinky
What makes Penny unique? She doesn’t really bark; but she makes lots of noises. Sighs when comfy, groans / loudly exhales when she tries to get your attention, moans when you scratch her ears in the right spot. She’s very attuned to us and our every move, sometimes staring from one of us to the other like she’s enthralled in a very good tennis match. She might even have her own voice, which sounds a lot like Gollum (to those who’ve seen Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies).
Teefs!
Rescue Story: Rescued Penny through One Tail at a Time, a Chicago animal rescue with a progressive dog adoption program that supports under-resourced animal shelters and pet families.
We first met a 6 month old Penny in the suburbs at her foster mom’s house. Within a week we started our 2 week foster program to make sure we were ready to become dog parents. By the end of day 1 of our foster program, we knew Penny would become part of our family.
What is your favorite pastime as a family? Playing “fetch” with one of her many toys. Fetch is in quotes because she’s actually not great at it. But she loves when we toss a toy on the wood floor and she chases it down and surfs on it with her front paws until it slides into the rug and stops moving. We also love watching movies on the couch as a family.
What is life like since you rescued Penny? We find joy in every single day, no matter how stressful, sad or challenging. She makes us laugh and loves us boundlessly. For her, life improved immensely mainly through being totally spoiled. But we wouldn’t have it any other way. We love this creature to bits!
Photographers Note: Lucky to discover another coworker with a pittie and take advantage of that on a work trip. This sweet girl just has the best smile but what I discovered is that she is a model in the making. When going through all the photos I took, most of which she was pulling a full on Cindy Crawford, it was a challenge to find one where her big smile was on display. So many different expressions from this little girl! Not only is Penny spoiled (her Grandma may have made a huge pillow with an image of her face on it for her parents), she is also a fighter. She is a cancer survivor and as she ages maybe slowing down a bit (aren’t we all) but you would never guess it. Her excitement to meet a new friend or just be happy to be with her parents, is always there with the wiggle in full motion! When you look into those soulful eyes of hers, all you see is “ Hi, I’m Penny, are we friends now?”