Let’s start with the day I brought Muffin home, okay? I’d spent 6 months on a waitlist for a reputable breeder, had the whole apartment puppy proofed, bought the fancy organic puppy food, the softest bed, all the toys. I thought I was prepared. Ha. I was so not prepared. The second I set her down on the floor, she zoomed straight under my couch, chewed through the charging cord for my work laptop, then popped out like nothing happened and peed on my favorite white area rug. I stood there staring for a full minute, wondering if I’d made a huge mistake. Then she trotted over to me, climbed up my leg, curled up on my shoulder and licked my cheek, and I was hooked. Ain’t no going back after that, y’all.
Next up, the great squirrel chase of 2021, which is still the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to me at the local dog park. It was a nice Saturday, I was chatting with a friend I’d met at the park, Muffin was sniffing around near the oak tree. All of a sudden, a squirrel darted out from under the tree, and Muffin’s prey drive kicked in so hard she slipped right out of her harness. Before I could even yell her name, she was chasing that squirrel full speed across the park, straight up the base of the big pine tree. I swear to god, she climbed 3 whole feet up that tree before she realized she doesn’t have cat claws. She was hanging on the bark, barking her head off at the squirrel that was sitting 10 feet up laughing at her, and I had to climb up the tree after her to get her down. Half the park was staring and taking videos, my jeans got covered in pine sap, and Muffin was so proud of herself she pranced around the rest of the day like she’d just won an Olympic medal. The Welsh Terrier Club of America says this breed has an extremely high prey drive and will chase anything smaller than them that moves, and let me tell you, that ain’t no lie. I’ve seen her chase birds, squirrels, a stray cat, even a skateboard once because it was rolling fast.
Then there was the time I tried to groom her at home to save money. If you know anything about Welsh Terriers, you know they have that wiry, double coat that needs to be hand stripped or clipped every 6 to 8 weeks, right? I’d been paying $80 a pop at the groomer, so I thought “hey, I watched a 10 minute YouTube tutorial, I can do this myself”. Big mistake. Huge. I got the clippers, got her all calm with peanut butter, started clipping her body first, that part went okay. Then I got to her face. She wiggled right as I was moving the clippers up her cheek, and I shaved a whole 2 inch patch of fur off the side of her face. I tried to fix it, made it worse, ended up with half her face shaved, leaving just her little mustache and eyebrow fur intact. She looked like a tiny, grumpy old man who’d had a bad barber visit. I posted a pic on my Instagram, and my friends made fun of us for weeks. I took her to the professional groomer the next day to fix it, and the groomer laughed so hard she had to stop for a minute to catch her breath. Now I just pay the $80, it’s totally worth it to not have my dog look like a confused grandpa for 2 months.
Don’t let all the chaotic stories make you think they’re just trouble, though. They’re also the most loyal, sweet dogs I’ve ever met. Last year, my 18 month old niece was staying with us for a week, she was just learning to walk, super wobbly, kept falling down. Muffin, who normally hates anyone touching her fur, decided she was gonna be my niece’s personal walking support. Anytime the kid was standing up trying to take steps, Muffin would sit right next to her, let her grab onto her scruff to steady herself, and would move super slow with her so she wouldn’t fall. Even when the kid pulled her fur so hard I thought Muffin would snap, she just wagged her tail and licked the kid’s hand. I cried a little bit, not gonna lie. The breed guide says Welsh Terriers are great with kids and super loyal to their family, and that’s 100% true. She’s also been there for me through all the bad stuff too: when I lost my job a couple years ago, I spent 3 days on the couch crying, and she didn’t leave my side the whole time. She even brought me her favorite squeaky toy to try to cheer me up.
Oh, I almost forgot the great cheese heist of last summer. I swear, Muffin is way smarter than she looks. I’d left the fridge cracked open a little to grab a bottle of water, ran to the front door to get a package, and was gone for 30 seconds tops. When I came back, she was in the kitchen, standing on her hind legs, pulling cheese sticks out of the fridge drawer. She’d already eaten 2 of them, and had 3 more tucked under her chest like she was hiding them for later. A week later, I caught her opening the fridge door all by herself with her nose. I had to buy a child lock for the fridge after that. She still tries to open it every single day, I see her staring at it like she’s plotting her next heist. That’s another thing about Welshies: they’re super intelligent, and if they want something, they will figure out how to get it, no matter how many locks you put on things. I also had to put locks on my pantry because she figured out how to open that too, once dragged a whole loaf of sourdough bread to her bed and ate half of it before I found her.
If you’re a fellow Welsh Terrier owner, you know exactly what I’m talking about, right? You know that specific grumpy terrier stare they give you when you won’t give them a bite of your food. You know how they hate getting their paws wet, will stand at the door and refuse to go outside if it’s raining, even if they really have to pee. You know how they bark at the mailman every single day like it’s their full time job, even if they’ve seen the same mailman every day for 5 years. You know how they’ll zoom around the house at 2am for no reason, running into walls and furniture like they’ve got endless energy. It’s chaotic, it’s messy, it’s sometimes frustrating, but it’s so worth it. I wouldn’t trade my little scruffy gremlin for anything in the world.