Dogs of the Month, February 2017: Huxley and Peanut
In December 1998, Judy Lytle’s sister gave Judy a peanut for Christmas. But it wasn’t your average legume; it was an 8-week-old mini-Dachshund who fit in the palm of Judy’s hand. Weighing it at about 3 pounds, the tiny pup had the colors of a peanut butter cup, and was originally named Reese. “But because she was so small, she earned the nickname of Peanut, which stuck,” Judy remembers of Peanut, who’s now 18 years old.
Then, in April 2009, another sweetie joined Judy’s family: Madonna, but her name changed too. Judy and her husband decided to rescue another dachshund, this time from a rescue on the east coast. “She made the drive with a van full of other rescue pups from South Carolina up to Washington, DC, where we lived at the time,” Judy says. “The pups were delivered to a room full of people, anxiously awaiting their new arrivals on a chilly and rainy evening. She was the last one to be unloaded, in the tiniest little cage, and when she was coaxed out, there was a collective Awwwwww from the group. It was really sweet.”
But the name Madonna just didn’t seem to fit. Instead, Judy and her husband chose the name Huxley, after a character in Judy’s favorite 1990s action film, Demolition Man, which is based on the Aldous Huxley play, Brave New World. Picturing Huxley—now 8 years old—emerging from the cage, into a brave new world, makes the name seem very fitting indeed.
These sweet mini-Dachschunds have been patients of Rainier Veterinary Hospital since 2014, when Judy and her husband moved to Seattle. The “sisters” were in for dental work recently, and both did very well. “Quite frankly,” Judy says, “I’m surprised Peanut has any teeth left at her age.” But keeping their chompers clean and cared for is very important, because both pups are very food-motivated. “They eat just about anything you put in front of them,” Judy says of Nut (a black and tan) and Hux (a dapple).
And they both love their beds, not surprising for a couple of old gals. In fact, if they were on the Golden Girls, Judy knows which characters they’d play. “Peanut would be Dorothy (Bea Arthur), and Huxley would be Rose (Betty White),” she says. “Peanut is easy going, and, if she could speak, I think she’d be very sarcastic. And Huxley is very sweet, but not the brightest.”
And to that, we say Awwwwww. Happy to have you all as part of the RVH family, Judy!
About Our Dog of the Month Program
How our Dog of the Month program works: Each staff member provides a nomination for the distinguished honor, and then we vote. The highest vote wins! Any pup who visits us during the prior month is eligible. This month had to be both Nut and Hux; we couldn’t choose one without choosing the other.
