Treats for Employees

Apr-2019-Pet-Gazette-Real-Life-Claim-Story-header

The whole world is this Chihuahua's stage

A couple weeks after their beloved Chihuahua, Pebbles, lost her battle with a rare blood cancer, Alex Rodriguez and his partner found themselves at a pet adoption center near their home in San Francisco. They weren't intending to adopt another dog, though. Instead, they were simply trying to cope with their grief—but fate had other ideas.

'He was looking for us'

"I don't think you ever feel ready [after losing a pet]," Alex muses. "And then all of a sudden it was kind of like, right place, right time."

During their visit to the adoption center, a sweet Chihuahua with a disarmingly crooked smile and googly, expressive eyes came trotting out jauntily with a huge tennis ball in his mouth—and the rest was history.

"We weren't looking," says Alex, "but he was looking for us."

This family is far from Stone Age

The little dog the shelter was calling Flapjack was generating interest from multiple families, but Alex was determined to win what he jokingly calls the "adoption war." (Of course, when it comes to pet adoption, everyone wins.)

Flapjack ultimately came home with Alex and his partner, who promptly gave him a new, Flintstones-themed name inspired by the Chihuahua to whom they had just said goodbye.

"We named him Bam Bam because of Pebbles."

Pebbles's influence didn't end with Bam Bam's new name though, explains Alex. The emotional and financial toll of her fight against cancer forever changed the way Alex protects his pets.