Humans: Karen and Tim Whitaker, Iowa City, Iowa, U.S.A.
Beezus (aka Ladybird, Birdy and around 823 other nicknames) came to us in 2009. My dear friend Chris who, at the time, owned an acreage outside of town woke to find a random dog on his property one morning. As he already owned three dogs he decided to take the dog to our local shelter but not before showing it to me. That evening I was describing said dog to my husband and decided to pull up the Iowa City Animal Adoption webpage to show him a picture. That dog was not on the site yet, but Beezus (then known as Twiggy) was. Tim took one glance at her photo and immediately said “I want her.” We already had two 8 year old male Jack Russel terriers, so I rolled my eyes and dismissed him. The next day my friend Katie and I got off work early and she suggested that we go take a peek at “Twiggy.” She took a picture of me with her and the next day we brought her home. I was immediately regretting our decision and panicking that the boys (Cheswick and Frankie) would reject her or vice versa. But that lovely, charming chihuahua/Jack Russel mix had everyone eating out of her paw immediately. The most loyal, loving, snuggly soul still – after nine years. She has meant the world to us.