Puppy

Two weeks ago we got ourselves a little puppy.  It was quite the process of deciding if we wanted to go down this venture.  So many things to consider....

Let's follow Kathy's rationale reasoning in this fun, but concise list:

1) do we get a rescue dog like we did last time?
2) small dog or big dog?
3) can we handle the energy of a puppy?
4) what about allergies of lil' Asha?
5) dog hair....can my OCD handle it?
6) does our budget allow dog food, vet bills etc.
7) can we devote time in our lives daily, weekly, and for 15 years to a dog?

So we pondered these things for many months and filled out on-line surveys and talked to dog people, went to visit dogs and trainers, and weighed all our options.  It came down to a small puppy that doesn't shed.  Low on food, hair in the house, allergy issues, but super high on the energy, daily training, and life expectancy.  Little dogs can last forever.  Like Elena will be driving her volvo when this puppy enters into its elderly phase.  A big commitment, one not to take lightly.

The first few days with our lil' Mini Schnauzer was pretty labour intensive.  I'm paranoid about excrement on the floor so I was constantly taking the dog out and following her around (oh yeah, I have kids that I need to keep an eye on too!).   The backyard is a mud hole, so I was constantly washing off her feet.  Did I mention I'm a bit erked by mud everywhere?  So now we're taking outside in the front where there is grass.  I'm scared that we'll wreck her and she'll turn into those yapping, nipping awful little lap dogs that people just want to punt.  Sigh....Carl says just relax, we'll be fine.  It's not like we've never had a dog before.

One evening I was sitting with the dog on her mat and I realized that having Molly here made me miss Nigel.  If there were ever a super amazing dog, he was it.  He's been gone for 5 years now but I still miss that lumbering loving pooch.  It's funny, whenever any of the kids misses someone or they are very sad and can't express themselves they say, "I really miss Nigel,".  Even the ones that would have never even known him.

But then I came to the conclusion that we will have another great and different dog in Molly.  This week she's  becoming more predictable by pooing and peeing outside, which makes me more relaxed to have her scampering around.  And we're starting to bond with her.  The younger two children are doing better with her than I expected.  They don't put up with her mucking around and put her in her place pretty quickly.  The older two are a little more concerned that they don't hurt her or upset her, so Molly was starting to milk their passive nature.  But we're all getting there and happy to add to our pack.  I'm glad to have a dog, poo and all.