My Chihuahua (two words I thought I never would write, say or even think until a couple of months ago) just alerted me to a story he saw on

I know, that's crazy, right? I have a dog who's into People magazine.

Anyway, there was this woman in New York who determined before she died (as opposed to after she died, which probably would be a little weird) that her Chihuahua should get $100,000 when she went to the big pet store in the sky.

Muriel Siebert died of cancer in August at age 80. She was the first woman to hold a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, but she never married or had children. However, she did have a Chihuahua named Monster Girl.

Chihuahuas can be terrific pets and companions, but is it a bit much when someone leaves their pet chihuahua $100,000 in their will? Courtesy of SAN JOSE
Chihuahuas can be terrific pets and companions, but is it a bit much when someone leaves their pet chihuahua $100,000 in their will? Courtesy of SAN JOSE ANIMAL CARE CENTER ( sjacc )

That, by the way, is an incredible name for a dog. It's an incredible name for ANYTHING. In fact, when I'm done here, I'm going to look at the legalities of renaming my 5-year-old daughter.

Good company

So Monster Girl (have I mentioned how much I LOVE that name?) is now in the care of Siebert's friend, Lynda Fox-Frazer. Siebert bequeathed the money with the request "that my dog not be left alone for long periods of time during the day."

That sounds, at first glance, like a crazy idea. Someone left a hundred grand to a dog. What's even worse, she left it to a Chihuahua.


Then again, after owning a Chihuahua for a few months, I can see how a Chihuahua caregiver might need to hire a baby sitter every now and then. Have you ever heard a Chihuahua after it decides one of your house plants is an intruder? If someone isn't there to stop the yapping, your neighbor eventually will have no choice but to break down your door and duct-tape its tiny mouth shut. That sort of thing becomes sort of awkward later when you run into your neighbor at the grocery store.

But isn't $100,000 a lot of money for a dog-sitter? Even for one that has to put up with a yappy, sneaky Chihuahua all day.

No, says my Chihuahua, whom we call Rock Man. I don't know why we call him that, but it's on the dog tag my wife bought him, and I'm old enough to know not to ask certain questions. However, I will definitely ask her tonight if we can rename something -- anything, a kid, the dog, a plant, me -- "Monster Girl."

So Rock Man -- who once belonged to a friend and just showed up at my house one day in my wife's purse (true story) -- is pointing at my laptop with a funny look on his face and saying how wonderful it is for people to leave their dogs money. And I'm getting the feeling that maybe he has this crazy idea that he's going to outlive me.

Love of pooches

I know you're thinking this is an unbelievable story. And you're right -- who ever heard of a journalist dying with enough money to leave anyone?

Siebert also left $10,000 a year to the Animal Medical Center in New York City for the duration of Monster Girl's life. Most of her $48 million fortune is going to her own nonprofit foundation, which was created to teach people about financial literacy and the humane care of animals, "especially those owned by the elderly who are financially challenged."

That's really nice. While a certain Chihuahua has become my nemesis the past two months, it's a breed that seems to get along with children and the elderly (not to mention elderly children). Whether I happen to like Chihuahuas or not -- and I don't, since mine is plotting to kill me -- they're still dogs, and dogs need friends and need to be needed. Which was the case with the Chihuahua who obviously brought joy to Siebert, who, aside from her considerable financial accomplishments, came up with one of the all-time great dog names.

That by itself is worth $100,000.

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