Where Are Her Legs?

On a recent walk through Ravenswood Park, Maya saw a spaniel puppy approaching and crouched down on the ground to wait in play stance. When the puppy got closer, Maya stood up to wag her tail and greet it. The owner, seeing Maya come towards her, looked surprised and exclaimed, "Oh, she has little legs!" She had thought Maya was a big dog. Looking at the photo above, it's easy to see why people assume this. Maya has the head and muscles of a big dog, but as someone jokingly asked us once, "Where are her legs?"

Maya is not a proportionate dog and she seems to defy the laws of nature (much like the way a bumblebee can fly) when she sprints in the park on her stumpy legs as fast and as hard as a horse.

Later that day, a woman saw me walking Maya and said, "Oh cute; that's my daughter's favorite kind of dog!" I didn't know what to say...maybe this woman knew something I didn't about my dog. "What part of her is your daughter's favorite?" I asked. The woman had thought she was a chocolate lab puppy. Nope. Maya's full grown, and based on people's guesses so far, she might be part lab, pit/staffordshire, dachshund, corgi, jack russel, ridgeback, badger, sea otter, baby bear, seal and pot-belly pig.