Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Caution: I use profanity when I'm tired

File this one under: what the fuck was I thinking?

I had many awesome responses to my inner turmoil about dogs. I was fully expecting to be tar and feathered. To my surprise, many agreed with me! However, Mrs. 4444 brought to my attention breeds that DON'T SHED!

So, back to the drawing board I went. I researched custom mixes of dogs that are chosen to get the best characteristics of two different breeds. Remember, I was looking for very small, non- shedding, not much barking, not hyper, and non- smelly and my spoiled rotten kids weren't satisfied with the cartoon dog!

To my surprise, there are many dogs that fall into this category, within reason. Most of them were from breeders and out of our price range- part of the deal was that the kids were throwing their hard- earned money into the pot.

Then a found a website for a rescue that specialized in 'designer' breeds- ooh, la,la, right? Well, long story short: we went, they fell in love, and we bought:

meet Murphy...

Pretty damn cute- huh? He is an 11 week old Shihtzu/Bichon Frise and weighs 3 lbs and will weigh about 10 full grown. He is cuddly and soft and sweet and doesn't appear to shed, that's the good news.

The bad news: He threw up all over me on the way home. He also shit on the floor boards on that same drive. He cried and yelped all but 3 hours of the night last night. The fresh groomed fragrant smell that he had when we picked him up was replaced, within about 10 minutes, by that dreaded 'stinky dog smell'! CRAP!

So, I am walking around in that fog, you know the one you have from lack of sleep from a newborn? Yeah, that one. I have done more research about house-training, crate-training and getting rid of stinky dog smell than you can shake a stick at!I have neglected my bloggy world because I can barely keep my eyes open, again, what the fuck was I thinking?


Please wish me luck on a better night tonight!



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22 comments:

Unknown said...

Awww...he is too cute. It will get better...and threre will be a day when you will not know what you would do without him...and you will be grateful that someone in the house loves you...no matterwhat...

Caroline said...

I remember my first puppy...we bought her 2 mo's before our 2nd was born (WTF was I thinking?!). She barfed and peed in the car on the way home. She kept me up for 2 weeks straight whining and needing to go out in the middle of the night (good thing I was 8 mos preggers so I was getting up anyway). Holy crap...after that I vowed no more puppies! We just rescued a dog--he is 2 yrs old and no potty training was required! OK...long post...just know that someone in cyber space gets your pain!

The Mom Jen said...

I can only deal with the barf, poop, snot, pee and any other bodily fluids of humans-made-by-me. You are a much stronger woman...or completely nuts. ;)

Um good luck. I think.

Deb said...

Well, he is cute!

Myssie@PendletonMarket said...

He is cute!! I had a shihtzu and can confirm that they do not shed! I am right there with you on the dog training thing. We just got a puppy too. I'm with you: What the F*@# was I thinking!! Good luck!

MYM said...

OOooohhhhhhh my goodness. Shweet!

And I don't care what any book or specialist say, DON'T do the crate training thing. It's not right to keep dogs in a crate, we don't even keep zoo animals in small cages anymore.

Pups need a bed and need to be part of the family. But they need to know the pecking order and know you're top dog. He'll settle in, he's had a lot of excitement being adopted! :)

Jill said...

Need I remind you that in your previous, I Hate Dogs post, you said you would NEVER have a dog that you'd be carrying around in a purse.

Um... did hell freeze over? Or did you just have too much 'Staycation is over sex' to put you in a fog about getting a dog that you could easily fit on a conveyer belt through an X-Ray machine at the airport. Or in a Baby Bjorn?

You know I'm joking... right? Right?

Congrats on the little cutie pie! Just think those turds and vomit only get bigger and smellier when they grow up!

My poochie once started off that small... oh the memories!

Holy Crappers said...

OMg so cute!
God I hate training animals...what a sucky job.

good luck LOL

peace
#2

Unknown said...

I see a whole lot of blog fodder in the making! It will get better. I bet within the week he'll be sleeping well--but definitely CRATE TRAIN him. I've had several dogs, done it with & without crate and the crate is much faster. Plus, he will get to like it--like a den. It's not mean. DO IT.

Lots of luck to you baby!
~Christy

amelia bedelia said...

Or your could be like sis (jill jill bo bill) and take that thing to the park with the kids and "accidently" leave it. ha, sorry sister!

Honeybell said...

I can tell ya what you were thinking:

OH MY GOODNESS LOOK AT THAT FACE!!!

Amy Amy Bo Bamey said...

What a CUTIE, Sorry to hear about the barf & crap.

I think the first few weeks will be the hardest, adjusting to each other and trying to get the potty training down. The puppy pads worked for us and he moved onto going out the doggy door when he needed to go.

Good Luck!

Tena said...

He sure is adorable!!
Hoping you have a better night with him today!

Terri said...

oh puppy love! just look at that face though, and the kids faces!! Precious. But I hate to tell you when went through this recently and Mickey's puppy phase was 1 year and 3 months long. Uggh. I mean he got to sleeping well within the first week but the 'accidents' were many in this past year. Finally he's wizened up and its smooth sailing now. Hopefully yours won't be as long as ours!

Tiffany said...

Aw he's so cute! And the only way to get him to sleep through the night by himself is...to let him cry it out. I'm had quite a few dogs in a my life and unless you want him to sleep in the bed with you, he's gonna have to whine and cry at night. He'll soon realize that you won't come every time he cries and will soon be content by himself. Good luck! I know puppy whining is a BITCH!

Sheila said...

He is sooooooo cute!!! God bless you with all the training that's coming your way. I will pray for you. LOL

Anonymous said...

He is adorable. Puppys are such HARD work.. I am hear if you ever need to chat in the middle of the night.. my 14 month old does not sleep through the night .. and he is not potty trained either.. haha

Okay. maybe I need to lay off the cold medicine for a bit.

JoggingInCircles

Soge shirts said...

He'll be fine in a while but yeah the first couple of weeks will be rough.

Anonymous said...

but look at those happy smiling faces!! He is awfully cute.

jaime said...

oh crap! i didn't read this post until now- duh-- but my parents have a bishon/shitzu mix and i swear she is the SMARTEST DOG EVER! these are very intelligent dogs and i swear their dog is human...so after you break him in i'm sure you will enjoy him. she does not shed either but i am still allergic. i've always been yet hasn't stopped me from owning dogs. My aunt actually has the same dog too but he's a real momma's boy and spoiled brat- lol!!

jaime said...

One more thing. I have never been a fan of crate training, i do not think you need to if you properly train your dog...but if it means keeping your sanity- hell! give it a try! and good luck.

Ann Harrison said...

Super cute puppy. However....
better you than me. (I would lose my mind!)