Leela is my 3.5 year old dog. I talk about her on the blog so much, I thought she deserved her own page.
I have loved dogs for as long as I can remember. My mom said when I was little, I would want to say “hi” to every dog I saw. Note: that is still true.
Our family adopted a 2 year old border collie named Duffy when I was in first grade.
He grew up with me and was completely part of the family.
He died when I was a freshman in college and I was devastated. For a while, I could never imagine having another dog. But when I moved back to DC I had the itch to have a dog of my own. Neil and I visited the pound one day and met the cutest border collie. Unfortunately, our landlord said no to a dog. The good news is that my parents decided to adopt him! Joey is also featured on the blog quite often because he is Leela’s best friend and we love to babysit him:
Fast forward 3 years later to summer 2009, we buy our first house and finally can think about getting a dog of our own. We gave ourselves about 2 months to settle into our new routine, and then back to the pound.
I actually walked right by Leela in her cage. She is small (35 pounds healthy, <30 pounds at the time) and I had never considered adopting a small dog. I wanted a dog I could run with. Neil pointed her out and the rest is history.
The pound thought she was part-whippet and part-pointer. I theorize she also has the following breeds in her: dalmatian (to explain the spotted paws), pit bull (because she looks like one when she is tired), and chihuahua (because she loves to sit on laps). 
She was two years old when we found her – and as a result of being left at the pound by her previous owners she had bad separation anxiety. It has gotten much better over time, but she still mopes when we leave her alone. I’ll take that over destroying my underwear or shoes, thank you very much.
She loves playing with other dogs,
Chasing squirrels,
Hiking in Rock Creek Park,
and sleeping completely under the covers.
It turns out she is a great running partner after all, even though she is only 35 pounds. If you are thinking of getting a dog, I cannot recommend it enough. Even though she takes up a lot of my free time, she brings me so much happiness. She made our family feel complete!
