It's A Zoo Out/In There...

Today, I went upstairs to get my lunch and I ran into, first--our dog Patch. It's fitting I ran into her first. She's our oldest pet. She's blind and deaf and barks all the time. I think I would bark, too, if I were blind and deaf. She keeps surprising us with her ability to keep going.

I entered the house and was met warmly by Bec, our second dog. He's no longer officially a "puppy." but he's still got a lot of puppy instincts. He hears the basement door open and waits by the front door for me to walk through. He's been a wonderful companion for my son, and for all of us, really. Even though he's only been with us a little over a year, I can't imagine our home without him.

I came into the bedroom and was immediately seized upon by SamDean Winchester, the newest edition of the family. This little guy's a hand and leg-full. He torments Patch and Bec, along with the rest of us. I'm sure he loves every second of is as well. He's still a kitten. He no longer attacks us (very much...) and we think he might be mellowing. Time will tell if it lasts. But he's stolen our hearts.

As I leave the house, lunch in hand, I pass Teewinot, the pet we've had the longest. He's our hunter, our rock, annoyer of neighborhood--and our--dogs, and an animal that doesn't seem to give a crap what you think--he's going to lay down in the middle of the cul-de-sac and make you drive around him. We couldn't have asked for a better cat when we picked him up from my cousin's farm all those years ago. He's slowing down a little, which is to be expected.

Four animals and only Patch and SamDean can be in the same room at the same time. We have gates and closed doors, schedules and times when all the animals are asleep. It's truly a zoo both outside and inside. It's hard to imagine life with just one or two of these little guys. It seems like it would be so simple, but I'm sure it wouldn't be. Each one has their own personalities, their own traits, habits, quirks, and mannerisms.

Yes, it's a zoo, but one that makes life interesting.

Happy Puppy Day...To All The Puppies Out There!

Apparently, it's National Puppy Day, and for the first time in thirteen years, we have a puppy in the house.

At least, for another week.

Last summer we (and by "we" I mean, our son...) adopted/rescued a poodle. In another week the puppy will turn one and will no longer be a puppy...officially. It's been a wild nine months.

Years ago, we brought the cutest little shih tzu into our family. As dogs go, she has been an incredible dog. Yes, she's head-strong and she used to bark every time the doorbell rang. And because we chose the same doorbell sound that is used as a sound effect on television shows and movies, she barked every time the doorbell rang on a show, too.

We no longer have to worry about the little dog barking when the doorbell sound rings--either on TV/movies or in real life. The dog's pretty much deaf.

That is not the case with the puppy. His hearing is perfect. He can hear the most distant neighbor dog barking and, of course, he must join in. Having a puppy is just like having a baby in the house, because that's what he is--a baby dog. There's training that must be done, attitudes adjusted, lessons learned.

We know that in the coming weeks all the mannerisms of puppyhood will not suddenly disappear. Some issues will still take time. But, for this day, and for more than the past half year, we've had a puppy in the house.

And our lives changed forever.

I Thought I Knew A Lot About Dogs...But I Didn't Know This One

When we made the decision to add another animal to our menagerie, I was a little nervous. I knew training a puppy is tough, but we have five adults and a teenager who loves animals in our house so I thought we could share the load. 

And for the most part, we have.

I got my first dog when I was thirteen and between me and my mom, we kind of trained her. She was a little yappy thing, but we loved her and she lived seventeen years. This dog--a poodle--would require more work. They're just smarter and I knew we would have to stay on top of things. We've had Bec the Dog for about six weeks and we've had more pluses than minuses (the pictures show how much he's grown week-to-week...). He is smart which causes other problems, but when he's sweet, he'll melt your heart.

Today we have weapons in the dog-training arsenal not available to a thirteen-year old in the late 1970s--the internet and cable TV. Those two things mean all the collective dog-training knowledge in the world is accessible to us. You'd think we'd be set and have the best-trained dog in existence.

Funny thing about knowledge...sometimes you can have too much.

I have been constantly surprised at how much a puppy acts like a baby human. They're curious. They don't sleep when you want them to. They're always getting into things they shouldn't. And just like there are books on how to raise a child, there are books and shows and podcasts and blogs on how to raise a dog. What drove me and my wife crazy about the child-raising books is how they said by just doing A, B, and/or C, all your baby problems will be fixed. I suppose they do this to sell books. We were much more successful (and sane...) when we used the books as suggestions and not as gospel. 

And besides, none of the people writing baby books knew our kids.

And none of the people writing puppy books knows our dog.

I'm not saying their information is not helpful. I just mean I have to be careful with expectations. 

For now, we'll continue watching the shows and the blogs and the podcasts. There's a lot of information out there. But, we'll also keep watching and learning from our dog. After all, without him, we'd be watching something else...like Hallmark movies.

So...My Son Got A Puppy

Remember back when you were younger (or, maybe it even happens when you're older...) and there was something you wanted? You wanted it so bad you thought about it all the time. It might have been a car, or a jacket, or skis, or a computer...

...or a pet.

Something got into our second-oldest child a few months ago. He wanted a dog. We have a dog, but he wanted one for him. We started looking on-line and going down to our local pet store when they had dogs and puppies to adopt. There were some sweet and amazing animals, but none of them connected with him. They didn't feel right. I told him that if there was a dog out there that was supposed to become another member of our family, it would happen.

And it did.

He had been checking Petfinder.com fairly regularly, but nothing came up. We wanted a hypoallergenic dog because of allergy issues with our family. We thought, maybe a poodle and we wanted a rescue dog. My son looked and the closest rescue poodle was in Texas.

But last Friday my son decided to check again. He found one, a three-month old Standard Poodle puppy. He came upstairs and told us about it and urged us to put in an application. Long story short, twelve hours later, we were driving home with Bec.

It took a lot of courage for my son to commit to this. We're helping, but he knows it's his dog. I got my first dog, Tasha, when I was thirteen and she passed away seventeen years later. This dog will hopefully become a friend and companion for my son, someone to help him through the good times and the tough times. We feel this animal is going to change lives.

Yes, we have another animal living under our roof. It's not the easy choice, but things that matter most usually aren't. Welcome home, Bec. We've been waiting for you.