Chihuahua Sneakily Wins Over Guy Who 'Doesn't Like Small Dogs'
"He tucks her in every single night beside his pillow" ❤️
When Sheridan Oliver Martin told her husband Sinclair that she wanted their next dog to be a Chihuahua, she knew she’d get some pushback. Sinclair didn’t like little dogs, and he made that very clear.
Sinclair thought small dogs were “yappy and mean,” and he wanted a dog who could hold their own with their pitbull/German shepherd mix, Merlin. “He wanted a big, tough dog that would be able to play rough with Merlin and he didn’t think a little dog would be able to,” Martin said.
Martin, who’d had a Chihuahua growing up, knew that you shouldn’t underestimate little dogs.
“I begged and pleaded and eventually, he caved and said for my next birthday I could [get a Chihuahua],” Martin said. “I remember the whole week before and the entire car ride there he lectured me about how she was going to be my responsibility and my dog and he wasn’t going to have anything to do with her.”
They adopted a puppy named Pickles, and the moment the little dog met her new dad, she won his heart. All she had to do was stare at him with her big brown eyes and cuddle close.
“As soon as the car door closed, he turns to me, points at Pickles and says, ‘Um, yeah, that’s OUR dog,’” Martin said. “And she’s just staring at him like, ‘Yeah, I am.’”
Sinclair immediately took on the primary responsibility of caring for Pickles, from wiping her muddy paws to putting her sweaters on. “He tucks her in every single night beside his pillow,” Martin said. “He did a complete 180.”
Pickles didn’t disappoint when it came to playing with Merlin, either. The little dog is incredibly athletic and loves nothing more than running, jumping and wrestling with dogs 10 times her size. “Pickles gives Merlin hell on a daily basis,” Martin said. “She runs him ragged.”
Pickles’ outgoing personality helps her win friends and turn small dog haters into fans.
“Pickles has all the personality of a 100-pound dog in a 5-pound body,” Martin said. “She makes everyone laugh because she makes really funny human facial expressions, like she knows something you don’t know, or is smug, or just looks really really happy.”
“She has a way of making you feel her love,” Martin said. “She did the same with my dad, who also doesn’t like small dogs — especially Chihuahuas. She greets her favorite people like they are just her favorite thing in the whole world and it’s hard to resist that.”
Pickles is now a licensed service dog and helps Martin, Sinclair and their family and friends any way she can. The thoughtful dog has gotten them through good times and bad, and Sinclair couldn’t be more grateful that he didn’t judge a dog by her size.
