Bye Bye Chaco

I had an Aunt Marge that did have a rat-dog. Because she was considered the black sheep of the family, her having a rat-dog didn't count. She married a rich old man & lived in a mansion in a high dollar area of Chicago. Died her hair bright red & raised Chocolate Tea Cup Chihuahuas. Rat-dogs.

Most of the relatives ignored her, except my mother. Aunt Marge would stop by our house in her big, bathtub looking, chauffeur driven Lincoln Continental. We'd all pile in & spend the summer at her place in Michigan.

She had a male rat-dog Chihuahua named Chocolate & a female named Chocollatta. They were cantankerous, vicious, tooo fat & ugly. And they bit. We hated these rat-dogs! But she didn't! These were the babies she never had.

They had special places to sit & we didn't dare sit down before they did, cause they bit! But sometimes we forgot. If you sat in the car before one of them did, they bit you. If you sat on the sofa before them, they bit you! If you sat on a lawn chair before them, they bit you! If you walked too close to their dog food bowl, they bit you. Usually on the fingers. By the end of the summer we had 5 or 6 band-aids on each finger. We hated these rat-dogs!

Of course it was always our fault, because my Aunt thought they were just soooo cute. Each time we got bit she would laugh & blame it on us, it was never the rat-dogs fault.

"Oh no, you got bit again (laughter), you know Ms Chocolatta just has to pick out where she wants to sit first, (more laughter). You should have sat on the dirt, then you wouldn't have gotten bit. You know she likes sitting on the lawn chairs." " Let's put a band-aid on that little finger, Chocolate didn't mean it, (laughter) he just wanted to sit on the sofa & you got in his way (more laughter). You kids need to sit on the floor, that way you won't get bit." "Oh my that looks like a bad one, but you shouldn't have walked so close to his dog bowl."(more laughter) We hated these rat-dogs.

One summer my Aunt came to get us in her black bathtub looking Lincoln & was gleaming with excitement. Smiling ear to ear she announced Ms Chocollatta was pregnant! She was due any day now & hopefully she would give birth at the summer home. She was very excited. We weren't! All we could think about was there was going to be another biter that we'd have to deal with.

This was the last time we stayed at the summer house & the first time my little sister got bit. She was only 3 & had walked too close to the dog food bowl. Chocolate jumped up and bit her on the butt. He held on while she ran screaming through the house. Of course it was her fault, but she didn't see it that way. "Bad dog, bad, bad dog". She cried over & over again.

The chauffeur was very upset over this & told my Aunt if those dogs ever bit him, he'd drown them.

Ms Chocollatta gave birth to one tiny little rat-dog. My Aunt thought it was the absolutely most beautiful puppy in the whole wide world. We thought it was ugly!

My Aunt brought her home from the vet's & made a bed for them in the bathroom. Us kids were not supposed to go in there. If we had to pee we were supposed to either use the old out house or pee outside. The bathroom was forbidden territory, Chocollatta needed peace & quiet so she could recuperate. Such a wonderful miracle had bestowed her & she just didn't need a bunch of kids upsetting her & making her milk go sour. According to my Aunt.

My Aunt named the puppy Chaco & talked non-stop about how cute it was. "Chaco is so cute, he has these big brown deer eyes. He's just covered in beautiful brown fur. He's so tiny, but each time I pick him up he nibbles on my neck. Little puppy kisses."

On & on she talked about how cute Chaco was. My sister hadn't seen him yet. The excitement of it all & curiosity got the best of her. Early one morning she snuck into the bathroom to take a peek. Just as she picked up Chaco, Chocollatta grabbed her by the fingers. My little sister screamed, turned around & dropped the puppy into the toilet. My Aunt walked in just as my sister flushed the toilet & said, "Bye bye Chaco." "Bad, bad dog!"