Madeline Pinckert has bought her dog Bambi various accessories – including a Juicy bag for easy travel.
[Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series documenting the typical day of a campus community member.]
With her cream-colored Fendi sunglasses, shiny blonde hair and Juicy Couture bag, senior Madeline Pinckert – along with her companion, the infamous long-haired chihuahua Bambi – seems to many students as the university’s own Paris Hilton.
But for Pinckert, a day in her life isn’t all parties, sex tapes and Greek shipping heirs, no matter what other students think at first sight. Instead, as a dedicated journalism major, Pinckert is anything but Paris.
“Really, I’m an 80-year-old woman trapped in a 22-year-old’s body,” she said. “I stay home with my dog on my lap and knit.”
Known for carrying two-year-old Bambi to all her classes, Pinckert has been battling the socialite stereotype since getting the chihuahua in May of last year, she said. Each day, Pinckert estimates 10 to 15 people make comments about her dog, either to her face or behind her back, she said. After a while, it “just gets old,” she added.
“On any given day, I walk around campus and get the whisper or the declarative statement,” she said. “As I walk [around], people laugh and smile. But for every 10 of those reactions, I get one snide look or glare.”
One of those awkward moments came when Pinckert heard two girls in front of begin to discuss “the dog girl” – without realizing who was behind them.
“It’s so weird to me that people are sitting here, talking about it,” Pinckert said.
Before Bambi, Pinckert was just another couture-appreciating and dog-loving college student attending Tulane University. But after transferring here, she decided to buy a dog for protection, even though only a small breed would fit in her apartment, Pinckert said.
After hours of research with the American Kennel Club on pugs, pomeranians and dachshunds, Pinckert settled on a “5- to 6-month-old, long coat, fawn-colored female chihuahua,” and found a breeder in Churchville, a town outside of Baltimore. Once there, she saw 13 chihuahuas but immediately fell in love with the small, shivering puppy in the corner.
“[I thought], ‘No one else is gonna want her, and that’s just sad,'” she said. “It was love at first sight. It sounds silly, but I knew she was destined to be my dog.”
Two weeks after Pinckert took Bambi home, though, Paris Hilton acquired a new chihuahua to replace her lost Tinkerbell – and named it Bambi as well.
“My Bambi was first!” she laughed. “I tried to stay away from that whole Tinkerbell thing. I didn’t want to get a companion as an accessory. It breaks my heart to think about people that go out and buy animals because of a trend.”
Despite the love Pinckert had for Bambi, she soon began to realize the sacrifices involved with her “new baby.” From not living on-campus because of the university’s pet policy to suffering a cut in her monthly finances, the responsibilities became obvious – especially when Bambi “freaked out” in her apartment after the first time Pinckert left her, she said.
“I totally understand [people’s confusion], but if you saw my dog bloody, with paws covered in blood, you’d understand,” she said. “It was intense.”
As a result, Pinckert realized she had to structure her life around Bambi – especially when her veterinarian diagnosed the pint-size chihuahua with separation anxiety.
“I could either put Bambi on puppy Prozac or I could just keep her with me,” she said. “Frankly, she’s little enough that I can take her everywhere. I love her for all her craziness.”
And when Pinckert says everywhere, she really means it. From classes to clubs in Georgetown to restaurants where the owners know Bambi and have a special doggy bowl for her, Bambi’s been there. But those situations have sometimes ended in disaster.
“I go ballistic if people try to give my dog alcohol, or buy my dog shots or make her smoke a cigarette – and they have,” Pinckert said. “It’s ridiculous.”
Add outfits into the mix, and Bambi is ready for anything, Pinckert said. After spending $275 on a Juicy Couture dog bag and $60 on a sweater from Bethesda boutique Posh Pooch, Pinckert learned to sew and knit to create her own puppy fashions, expanding Bambi’s wardrobe to include a hot pink raincoat, sweaters, party dresses, robes and T-shirts with slogans like “If you think I’m cute, you should see my mom.”
An added benefit to Bambi’s companionship is her protective, loyal personality, which she displays by growling and barking at any men that come near Pinckert, a phenomenon the senior thinks came from the abusive previous owner.
“She’s never gonna be a dog that likes guys,” she said.
Although Pinckert knows that something could happen to Bambi at any time, she said she would be lost without her chihuahua – like a mother “without her baby.”
“Throughout my life, my dogs have been my best friends. Any dramatic or happy event, my dog has been there with me,” she said. “They kinda burrow into your heart and never leave.”
As Bambi’s birthday approaches on Oct. 11, Pinckert is constantly reminded of the “haters” who just can’t understand her lifestyle, she said. Nevertheless, she refuses to give up Bambi just to be more accepted by fellow students, Pinckert added.
“I’d much rather have people say, ‘That’s the smart girl, or the girl passionate about journalism or the girl in SAFER trying to make a difference’ – not just ‘the girl with a dog,'” she explained. “I feel like I have to prove people wrong about my dog and about me. I never want someone to walk away and be like, ‘Yeah, she’s the bitch with the dog.’ But if I lived my life based on other people’s perceptions, what kind of life would I have? There are always gonna be haters.”
Contact reporter Roxana Hadadi at roxanadbk@gmail.com.
