The pug that stole my heart

If you know pugs, you can't help but love them. Those smushy little faces, those skinny little legs that miraculously hold up round, chubby bodies. And the big personality that resides inside such a small dog.

Many pugs seem to be highly tolerant of wearing clothes, as there are some very famous pugs on social media that are regularly photographed wearing elaborate outfits. I once had a little pug like that. She didn't seem to mind wearing anything you put on her.

Tia was a tough little dog even though she was small and preferred snacks and napping to all else. She held her own against our 70-pound and slightly crazy mixed breed rescue dog.

My husband and I got her as a puppy shortly after we were married. And sadly, she passed away when she was eleven due to breathing problems. My daughter was only three years old at the time, and if I thought losing a beloved pet was heartbreaking enough for me in the past, I had no idea the depth of sadness I could feel when my little girl cried and asked why Tia had to leave us. And why can't we just go and visit her in heaven?

But this story isn't about the sad ending. This story is about the life of a fierce and sweet, fawn-colored pug who wore Halloween costumes without complaint for years.

Our big, mixed-breed rescue dog would not tolerate clothes of any kind except a handkerchief around her neck. Or occasionally a coat in the dead of a frigid Chicago winter. And that was only when the temps dipped below zero. But no Halloween costumes for her.

Truthfully, I had no intentions of putting my dogs in silly outfits. But we had a pet sitter who felt differently about it. She is a wonderful woman who loved our dogs as much as we did, and was the only reason I didn't feel guilty leaving the house every day to go to work. Every year for Halloween, she gave Tia a new costume.

The costumes were as silly as you could imagine a Halloween costume would be on a pug. A butterfly, a bee, a hula girl, a lobster. And she wore every single one of them, including the headpieces, as long as she'd get a treat for her reward.

She was such a great costume wearer, I imagine she could have been one of those social influencer pugs if only Instagram had been a thing back then. But it wasn't, and her images live on mainly in grainy photos taken from digital cameras and early iPhones.

After Tia, I mistakenly thought all pugs enjoyed wearing costumes. And our second little pug, a black male named Max that came to our family when my daughter was 14 months old, does briefly tolerate costumes for a treat. But he works on ripping them off shortly after he's finished his food.

The third pug of the family, the now two years old and still full of puppy-wild energy Missy, wouldn't wear any piece of clothing for any amount of food.

My daughter thought it would be fun to see Missy wear one of Tia's old costumes, so we tried to fit her into the old butterfly outfit. But Missy was having none of it. She twisted and turned, and stood up on her hind legs when we tried to put it on her. It wasn't worth her upset, so we gave up. Maybe we will try an orange-colored handkerchief around her neck this Halloween, much like our old rescue dog used to wear.

It's been years since we had Halloween with our little Tia, but we'll never forget the silly dog that made us laugh and always had so much love to give.