After losing her two beloved Dachshunds within less than two years of each other, Monica Cevallos was determined to find a new rescue pup to ease her grieving heart. And that’s when she found Mia, a little Wirehaired Dachshund who turned out to be the perfect — and an absolutely adorable — antidote.

“About two years ago I lost a piece of my heart. My little rescued dapple Dachshund, Max, passed away from cancer. In early November, another piece of my heart was also stolen away. My second rescued Dachshund, Mina, passed away from kidney failure. Needless to say, I was crushed and experienced a whole new kind of loneliness unlike anything I’d experienced before.

I knew that I wanted to get another little dog. Scratch that — I needed to get another little dog. So within a few weeks of looking, filling out forms, inquiring within various rescue organizations, losing out to another adoptive parent who beat me to a new dog, I finally found Mia at the Florence Humane Society.

Mia is a nine-month-old Wirehaired Dachshund who looks just like a little Jim Henson Muppet. I named her Mia because it of what it means: Hebrew for “beloved” and “mine” in Latin/Italian. I adore her.

I was not expecting to get a puppy, but I’m so happy to have one! She’s been nothing but fun. Of course, I have to do a bit of training with her, but I welcome it. One thing she likes to do is sit at the slider glass door and watch (and bark at) any squirrels who dare enter her territory. In fact, one day she had a “high noon” stare-off, or rather, a bark-off, with one squirrel who refused to budge and just stood there, taunting her.

I work fulltime as a graphic designer and illustrator who caters to the pet industry. Since I work from a full-fledged home office, I get to take Mia to work with me, and it’s the best! She’s even learned how to slip up from underneath the desk and sit on my lap while I work. Mia has brought me so much life, love and joy. I really lucked out, truly.”

There’s nothing like the unconditional love of a dog to help heal our broken hearts. Mia certainly helped Monica, and in more ways than she’ll ever know.

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