I had a rescue named Lilly, part Scottie, part jack, part pot bellied pig, etc. She was a hot mess to behold but no smarter, sweeter dog has ever lived. She just wagged her tail and smiled whenever anyone said she was ugly. She didn’t know she wasn’t a beauty, and she was going to make everyone love her no matter what they thought.

I don’t know how else to say it — she was incredibly vain. She loved to be groomed and really understood when anyone called her pretty since it rarely happened. She clearly adored anyone who complimented her questionable looks. She worked hard on her appearance too, lots of self grooming, etc. and liked to look at her reflection in a mirror or glass reflection every chance she had. She would actually smile at herself in the reflection. Which leads me to one of the top ten funny memories I have of that little sweetheart.

One day, we were visiting my parents. Dad was in the front yard gardening and mom was inside. Lilly gave dad the usual celebratory greeting, then ran inside to greet mom. For some reason mom decided it would be fun to take her upper dentures out to show Lilly while being greeted. Before I could say how weird that was, Lilly said it for me. Her eyes got huge, her jaw and one good ear dropped, she swallowed hard and then bolted back out the front door as fast as her little legs could carry her, whining. Lilly never whined, ever.

Mom and I were laughing so hard we could barely stop long enough to explain what had happened to dad, who had come in to find out what was wrong with the dog. Lilly had nearly knocked him down bolting to the end of the block where she now sat frozen, on red alert, staring back at the house. It took quite a few treats and over an hour’s convincing to get her back in the house. Mom was never able to win her trust back because Lilly never got too close after that. We forbade mom to remove her teeth in front of Lilly again but that little dog never forgot it.

I think Lilly thought mom was going to pull her teeth out too and it scared the happy right out of her. It still makes me laugh to think about it. She was quite content to keep her beautiful, smiley teeth, thank you very much! I miss that little beauty.