Unretouched photo taken by me of Emily and Tiny. There is no refocusing or manipulation to enhance the size difference.

My circle of readers is pretty intimate, so I hope I can entrust this secret to you.

You will recall that we made a trip into the lowcountry to pick up our newly adopted lab,” Emily”. Emily seemed to be just what we were looking for, a smaller lab, easier to pick up when necessary. Our Peachie, who passed away last year, was a hefty girl at 72 pounds. Emily only weighs 55 pounds.

When we expressed our delight at finding Emily and explained why we wanted a smaller lab, Mrs. ___, who operates the shelter, put a hand to her lips in hesitation, then said in a hushed tone “Well, I wasn’t going to tell you about ‘Tiny’ but you seem like such nice people and its a shame to separate Emily and Tiny. They are so attached to each other.”

Vanishing into the kitchen she returned with one hand cupped in the pocket of her apron. Peaking out was the smallest dog I had ever seen. And, not just a dog, but a perfectly formed, teacup-sized yellow labrador retriever.

I have read up on labs over the years and know there are no true miniature labs, even though some mixed breeds can look very much like a lab. But I had never seen a dog this small, and most lab mixes are good-sized dogs. “This is a trick of some kind”, I thought. But no, Mrs. ___ placed Tiny on the carpet and Tiny siddled right up to Emily, who nuzzled her like one of her litter mates. I thought to myself, “The American Kennel Club folks are not going to believe this. If Tiny can have puppies, we are going to be millionaires.”

Tiny looked like a lab in her coat of buff and tan. Her proportions and mascaraed brown eyes said “yellow lab”; her perpetual smile and beaver tail , her calm and friendly demeanor fit the AKC breed description.. BUT Emily was no bigger than the angel on our Christmas tree.

Where had Mrs. ___ gotten this dog? If they could be bred, everyone would want one. We wanted this one for sure. We were a bit afraid to ask too many questions. Our heads were churning. I managed a simple “Why are Emily and Tiny so closely bonded?”

“Its a bit of a story”, she said. “We rescued about thirty dogs from Doc Swift’s place when the old man passed away. He retired when the government shut down the Federal Canine Experiment Station out on Buck Creek Road. He was kind of a recluse; his wife died a few years back. And Doc loved dogs. He had over thirty dogs living at his palce, every size and shape and color.

“Doc was a scientist of some kind and was very secretive and hermit-like; and, he probably couldn’t stand the idea of what would happen to his labratory dogs when the center was shut down. He was doing experiments to find out if DNA could be spliced or recombined, in order to eliminate undesirable traits like being too big to use as service dogs, or improve on others, like you hear about on TV, improving their ability to smell some illnesses in human beings before any symptoms show up. We had all heard a million stories about the Experiment Station, but Doc must have been a kindly man-or at least kindly where dogs were concerned.”

“So, when the research center shut down, he brought them to his place, one by one. He lived by himself in the woods. When Doc finally passed away, the sheriff was called out by one of Doc’s neighbors. The sheriff said the county animal shelter could not care for the animals because of the Covid-19 epidemic and their workers had all been furloughed. So, he called our private adoption agency and we divided them up among our local foster homes. I got Emily and Tiny. They are just inseparable. They even look alike.”

I supposed that there was some sort of code of ethics among foster parents that they would place the dogs in new homes, even if they had become attached to them. Mrs. _____ looked pretty sad to turn loose of this odd couple of yellow labs.

There is a lot more to this story and I’ll share it with you later. We never even discussed whether we would take Tiny. We knew Emily would be lonely without her.

Besides, how much could a dog that would fit in the palm of your hand eat? Surely our vet would give us a break on such a small patient. On the long drive home, other concerns began to arise. Where would we find a collar small enough for Tiny? What would we use for a crate? What would her meds look like? How would we measure how much flea treatment to apply. Would it be safe to let her out into the yard? Would she get lost in the grass? Would the red shouldered hawks that nest near us be a danger for Tiny? Was Tiny the only one of her kind, the product of gene splicing.

We recalled that in the film Jurrasic Park, scientists had produced dinosaurs from DNA extracted from a mosquito encased in amber for a couple of million years. Almost daily online reports out of China suggested that rogue scientists there were cloning animals and growing human body parts in test tubes. Scary stuff to homebodies like us.

Tiny joins into our family activities as though she has lived with us forever. She could not resist jumping into the Christmas spirit by posing with the three wisemen in our Creche. Photo by Joe Kitchens.

Fortunately, Tiny and Emily are indifferent to such concerns. They are simply bonded friends, completely ignoring the disparity in size. We have not shared Tiny with our neighbors or family and hope you will keep this a secret for now. I am sharing photos of her with you only because you would not believe this story otherwise. We had to tell someone. When we all get our vaccinations and the quarantine finally ends, and guests and family come to visit, should we introduce them to Tiny? Or, would it be better to keep this to ourselves. Tiny doesn’t know she is tiny and too much attention can cause problems. Help us think this through. Any advice?

(An afterthought: I should confess that “Tiny” is only a VERY realistic figurine and not a real dog. She only came to life in my imagination, inspired by Jonatan Swift’s story of the Lilliputians. And, Tiny reminds me that sometimes our loved ones are so unique or remarkable that we fear they may not be accepted or understood in the Big World outside our home and family. Sometimes we simply hope to preserve their innocence and joy of life.

On another level, Tiny’s story is about genetic research, a field of study holding great promise for medical innovation, but also fueling concerns about its spiritual and ethical consequences.

Finally, and most importantly, the idea that Tiny exists as a member of our family is simply fun to imagine. Will readers find it fun as well? Let me know what you think.)