about
Koya is the senior Staffordshire Terrier mix that Poopy and I adopted in 2022 on what was almost a whim. We had just moved into our newly built home, and I was struggling with how big and empty it felt. I had been dealing with the passing of our previous dog and my family dog, that happened in the same year as well as coming to terms with the passing of my dear Grandmother and a friend that happened shortly after, as well. The years during the pandemic were extremely hard for me, filled with deaths, family drama, and personal health problems and I was trying my best to navigate through all of my grief.
Though, of course, I was happy with our new home, we both felt like something was missing. On a random night in July, we were scrolling through many local adoption pages "just to look" and when we came across Koya's picture in her little blue bandana, we instantly fell in love. Poopy was wary at first, because it was hard dealing with pet loss, and with her advanced age...it was basically heartbreak waiting to happen. So for the time being, we dropped it, though for a few days we kept thinking and talking about her.
Then, a couple weeks later while I was in the office, he called me, starting immediately with: "Soooo, let's go to the shelter today. Let's meet Sequoia." (Her name before we slightly changed it!) I was shocked, but super excited! So of course I instantly agreed. When I left work, we booked it to the local humane society, and got to take her home the very same day!
Since adopting Koya, she has brought us so many happy and joyful times and memories. I am always excited to get home and be greeted by her instead of coming home to a silent house. She's insanely smart, well-behaved, and just...such a good girl, I'm so happy to have her as a part of our little family. I love her so much!
fave toys
her purple dragon. gets chewed on every single day.
her chewy vuitton! gifted by her auntie for her first christmas with us. mostly used as a pillow in the gremlin cave.
baby yoda plush. she alternated between chewing his ears or cuddling him.
Koya
Nicknames:
Koy Koy, La Choy, Chonk-Koya, The Abyssal Chongus, Stinky
Age:
8-9 years (Estimated)
Gotcha Day:
AUG 8 2022
Personality:
Sweet, friendly, sleepy with random bursts of extreme energy, cuddly, happy
Favorite Treats:
Pineapple, Deli Turkey, Dental Sticks
Likes:
Other dogs (Boxers, specifically), rubs, downtown walkies
Doesn't Like:
Apples, being crowded by kids
dawg blawg 
12.02.23: cowgirl koya!!
09.16.23: halloween costume try-on! moo!
09.12.23: ma'am why are you so cute.
08.09.23: koya's first gotcha day!!!! she kept trying to paw off her crown.
some silly lil pics
my angels
My two dogs that mean everything to me! I will always love and miss these girls.
donut
My family dog. She was in my life since I was a kid. We stumbled across her one night when my dad was picking me up after drama club! She was crossing the street, I don't know how my dad saw her in the darkness but we took her home with the intentions of finding her family.
She was so skinny that her ribs were showing. It looked like she had been on the streets for a while. I secretly vowed that we would keep her while my dad was telling me to ask around school the next day if anyone lost a dog (I did not.) My mom's first words when she saw Donut were "Aih....he's so ugly!" LOL. She swears to this day she has always called Donut cute but I have good memory! My sister fed her leftover hamburger patties and we both instantly fell in love.
I named her Donut because of the cute little curled up way she would lie down to sleep. She was very small, even for a mini dachshund but she fattened up quickly enough and was a little ball of sassy energy. Throughout the 15+ years that we had her, she always made sure to let anyone and everyone know who was the true Head of the Household™. She was a funny little dog who was spoiled rotten and had a bit of an attitude problem.
But we all loved her so much. She was there for not only my teenage heartaches and tears, but my sister's as well, and then later, my mom's tears as she dealt with Empty Nest Syndrome.
In retrospect, she was a bit of a bad dog (I will never forget her constantly trying to knock over the kitchen trashcan with her little body in the middle of the night. All so she could chew on shrimp and fish heads in peace lmao!) but she was exactly what our family needed.
shades
Shades was a very special dog! When I first met her, she was Poopy's dog. I remember asking him, "What is up with her name, it's weird?" He explained to me that when she was a puppy, the dark coloring around her eyes made it look like she was wearing sunglasses. The rescue he got her at named her (and her mom! Who also had a really odd name. Elbow. I have no idea why...)
It took us both a little bit to warm up to each other. For most of her life, it was just her and Poopy, and I was the stranger intruding into her space. She was never outright mean to me, but there were times when she showed her cleverness by specifically eating food that she knew was mine, or chewing on my DS cords. But surely, we bonded and she soon recognized me as her other human.
Shades was a funny girl. She would get scared of her own farts, or bark at the tiniest of noises that would jolt her. She was known for being super affectionate, and would be happy licking away at your face for minutes if you would let her! She had a huge appetite despite her small size, and could easily chow down on a family bucket of chicken by herself.
Shades was incessantly loyal and brave, and she was my companion during days and nights alone when Poopy had to leave town for work, or work late into the evenings. Some of my favorite memories are the ones of us napping with her on the couch, Shades choosing to doze inbetween us.
She lived to be about 16 or so, which is unusually long for her breed. But I would like to think that she hung around for awhile because she knew she was so loved.
