Last week Siraj, Ernie's owner made time for me to ask him questions about Ernie. Here is what we talked about.
How did you adopt Ernie? And what made you pick him?
Siraj: My wife (who was then my gf at the time) adopted him. We did it to celebrate her finally graduating law school and passing the bar. Some woman locally had a chihuahua litter of 2 she was giving up for adoption. And because we knew that chihuahuas were kind of the runts of dog breeds, we would go see them and consider adopting. We fell in love with Ernie at first sight.
What made you decide to name him Ernie?
Siraj: That was all my wife. She thought of a bunch of names. Settled on Ernie because it was too perfect for him. And then we just started coming up with a bunch of nicknames for him
like "The Ern"
"His Ernest"
"Erna"
"Ernesto"
And because he used to bark way more and we couldn't figure out how to keep him quiet, I gave him the nickname "Bob Barker". And "Charles Barkley".
How old is Ernie now?
Siraj: He'll turn 8 in July
What does Ernie like to do during a typical day?
Siraj: Sleep and eat. I gotta force him to go on walks. Although at night, he gets extremely playful.
Does he like baths?
Siraj: So, I throw his toys around and he runs after them. He likes this really big spiky rubber ball that he can't possibly pick up, but he's obsessed with it. Ern has gotten better with baths. I try to give him one weekly. Sometimes he goes to the beauty parlor and gets the full nine.
What are his favorite foods and treats?
Siraj: Well, since he's a dog, he loves to eat just about everything. He's a real chowhound. But the one thing he goes ballistic for is chickpeas. He will stab anyone who gets in the way between him and a chickpea.
Any great memories or funny stories about Ernie you’d like to share?
Siraj: One of my favorite things that he does is sometimes when he's feeling a need for attention, he hops up on my lap while I'm sitting and then climbs up to my face and just lays down on my chest and tries to cover up my face by resting his head on it. Also, he can't jump up and down couches or walk up and down stairwells, so I gotta pick him up to go on everything almost.
If you want to know more about Ernie follow him on Twitter
and his owner
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