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Fidelma and Me

Here's daughter and dad taking a walk on the grounds of the Vanderbilt Mansion in Hyde Park, New York. It wasn't a warm day, and so we had our jackets on. Fidelma is only 8 pounds which makes her two pounds overweight. Don't underestimate her abilities because she's just a tiny Chihuahua. The longest walk we took went eight miles, along a woody and rocky trail. She loved every step of it. I adopted Fidelma in September, 2004 and she is approximately nine years old now. Nobody knows for sure how old my sweetie is. One thing is sure, she had a difficult life before I adopted her. She was sick with an upper respiratory infection, lost most of her teeth, only patches of hair on her body, and angry at most people who approached her. I think Fidelma was a chained dog and neglected in the backyard. Her neck had a ring of callous skin from a tightly-fitted collar. I suspect that someone saved her from this bad situation and turned her in at the Philadelphia Animal Control Center. On the day she was to be euthanized ( nobody adopted her at the shelter ), the good people of the Belle Mead Animal Alliance swooped her up and loaded her into their van to safety. I believe that Fidelma remained with the Belle Mead Animal Alliance for approximately two weeks before I adopted her, reading about her and seeing her photo on Petfinder.com. Fidelma received further medical attention as soon as I became her official daddy, and her complete recovery underway.


Here is Fidelma, getting cozy by our backdoor. She's a beautiful girl once again, and people can't avoid stopping us on the street to admire her. We are very close and do a lot of wet nose kisses.


Here she is again, always walking ahead of me, at our local park which is no more than a mile from my house. Fidelma loves this place, and she would walk there all day if I let her. We're happy together.

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