I was perusing through the Life Archives (if you haven’t done this yet you are missing a treat at www.life.com) and found some really great photos of chihuahuas from all over the world.

These chis were dressed for the Chinese New Year in 2007

Paula Abdul with her long hair chihuahua (she looks like Daisy!!) Four years after this, Paula tripped over Tulip and broke her toe.

A woman holding four long haired chis during the Cruft’s dog show.

And how about the markings on this little beauty??

No one should get mad at a cutie like this. So here you go, just a sampling of what you can find in the archives. Now go look for something you are interested in. From the 1860′s on it’s a treasure trove.

Daisy and I couldn’t even write this for days. Just about the time we were getting all excited about a possible showmance blooming between Laura and Travis

as seen here discussing how difficult it is to find someone to love who also loves our dogs (in our household this isn’t a problem because Daisy’s Dad, Mr. B,  adores Daisy almost as much as Daisy’s Mom does which is a good thing because Mrs. B worships Mr. B so we understand about cuddlefests in this home.)  Then what goes and happens?  First, the judges assign an asinine test to the contestants. I mean, really? Who ever heard of dog painting? First time Daisy tried to help Mr. B out with painting our bathroom it was a fiasco and I was trying to get paint out of her hair for a week.

Beth Joy  taped sponges to Bella Starlet’s feet causing her to cry out in pain on several occasions.  Several of the contestants noticed and said something to themselves or one another. During the judging when the judges asked Laura why she didn’t push Preston to do more, Laura defended her actions by saying she wasn’t going to cause trauma to her dog like some other owners had. The judges wanted names and Laura said  This caused Beth Joy (who was sitting in another room watching on a closed-circuit television to go ballistic.)  The judges questioned Beth Joy who said as a rescue dog ‘this had given them an opportunity to push through some issues with her feet.”  What a crock of manure. Beth Joy, of course, denied it and turned on the tears again- no surprise.  What did surprise everyone, however, was that Travis came to Beth Joy’s defense saying that she was a good owner and would never hurt Bella intentionally.   No one else spoke up- and with that Laura’s fate was sealed.

I will miss Preston. He was the feistiest little man on the block.  I intend on keeping up with him.  He has his own website at www.prestoncasanova.com .   Last night, Preston was on “5 Minutes of Fame” on  thestream.tv ! He was too cute and Laura was beautiful.

Greatest American Dog will not be the same. Who are we supposed to root for now? Is Laura going hold her votes and ask for a spot at the Convention? Are we doing a roll call on week 13 until she releases her votes?

Such sportsmanship was shown by Teresa when she won the Dog-Bone Suite and immediately gave the Suite (and the attached ‘leg-up’ in the Main Challenge) to Bill who was so home-sick for his wife and children.   Just when we thought Teresa should go, she lives on to show us that she has a huge heart. Daisy and I say, “Kudos, Teresa.”

Discoveries abounded tonight! First, our sweet, little Preston, like most men I know, doesn’t dance. Despite his lion cut and tie-dyed hair, we now know for certain one thing- he isn’t gay.  If he had been, he would have torn that dance floor up.

Laura tried. Oh my, how she tried.  She looked like a junior high school girl on Homecoming Night but our darling little Preston Casanova was stubborn. So stubborn he could have placed a new definition in the dictionary for the word.  Preston wasn’t budging and he won….. well, in his own mind.

As all men will tell you, when dealing with women, being stubborn only ends up getting you in trouble. In Preston’s case- the bottom three. Preston was lucky. Beacon got the ax. She obviously couldn’t ballet. Maybe not being able to dance isn’t gender-based after all.

Daisy and I didn’t realize we were watching The Bachelor. I wonder if Travis realized that is what he had signed up for with Brandy becoming more and more churlish with each passing week.  JD at least calls childish behavior when he sees it, “How did you get past the doors?” he asked quizzically, looking at her and shaking his head.

Tonight’s Suite Challenge was another Second Place finish for my wonderful Preston.  Laura obviously knows her little Monkey-Man- just not his penchant for tofu!!

The Main Challenge, however, wasn’t on equal footing. The Challenge was a Photo Shoot where the owners were given a word to convey during the Shoot.  Some of the words were difficult, no doubt- “suspicious” and “mischievous”.  We will miss Ron and Tillman.  Whether or not it was their week to go home remains open to debate.  Teresa and Leroy had drawn the worst word of all- “angry.”  In fact, as an owner, had I drawn the word, I’m not sure I wouldn’t have refused the shoot.  Would I have subjected Daisy to an hour of angry behavior at my hands? No. I’m fairly certain I would have rather gone home than for her to think that I would harm her.  I’m disappointed in the producers for placing the word in with other words such as “regal” and “love.”  I’m disappointed in our darling Laura for suggesting the use of the snarl bands to Teresa but what was she to do to get such an awful picture without them?   I’m disappointed in Teresa, not necessarily for going along with the snarl bands, but for agreeing to go along with the word to begin with.  Anger and animals should never be in the same sentence together. Even mine.

Tonight the right dog went home- which was any dog that wasn’t Preston! We love Preston and have been emailing Preston’s Mom, Laura, like a stalker to tell her that the dreams of small dogs everywhere lie firmly on the bony little shoulders of her precious little Pom.  So far, So good.  Preston came in second in the first challenge tonight.  Some stupid boxer made a left turn faster than our precious little pooch did and thus knocked Preston out of the privilege of getting to live in the Master Suite for a whole week but we’re not worried. Laura and Preston will do it again.  For those of you who haven’t met them yet:

Goooooo, Preston. Our hopes are with you.

Our chihuahua’s name is Daisy. The question is whether or not Daisy deserved her own website. I finally determined, “Why not?” She has taken over everything else. My house. My bed. My husband’s affection. What’s spending a bit more time spreading her charm with an unsuspecting public?

I know everyone thinks their dogs are great but I’ve seen dogs that hump furniture and their owner’s like them just fine so what does that say? Owners are a funny breed. Take a look at some owner’s and their famous small pets- Tori Spelling said of her Mimi LaRue, "She was not just a dog but a fashion icon and legend amongst Hollywood dogs," Spelling says. "She received fan e-mail on a regular basis, and I often joked she got sent more designer clothes than me!" (My heart goes out to Tori who lost her precious pug on June 18th after 11 years.)

What about Paris Hilton and Tinkerbell? (Okayyyy, now that might be a loaded question but the da&*%$d dog DID write a book about her exploits and how many dogs can say that???)

So if LaRue can ride around LA in a dog stroller and Tinkerbell can get a two book deal out of Grand Central Publishing then why can’t Daisy have her own website?  She’s certainly cuter and if nothing else, she’s got more hair than either of the other two gals.