Sleep deprivation
I think I know why God made puppies so irresistibly cute. (And I bet the same thing applies to babies.) It's so you don't kill them when they continuously wake you up at 2:30 in the morning crying.
We had been considering getting a second dog for awhile now. I'm not exactly sure why. We have tried to tell ourselves that Alex needed a companion, which might or might not be true. He seemed pretty content without a companion, other than Shauna and me. Seeing Shauna's Dad's two dogs, Peachy (a Doberman) and Dottie (a Dachshund), convinced us even more that it might be a good idea.
We considered getting a different breed than Poodle. The only type of dog Shauna has ever had were Poodles. She is highly allergic to pet dander and hair, so we knew it would have to be a non-shedding breed, which narrows the choices significantly. Then we read an article in some dog magazine (Dog World? I can't remember.) about Poodles. This article discussed how intelligent Poodles are (the second most intelligent breed, behind Border Collies) and how Poodles "seem to know their own kind."
So for the past few weeks, we had been watching the Poodle ads in the paper. We didn't want another Standard, as we thought two 75-pound dogs in our small house would probably be too much. I didn't want a Toy -- too small. Max was a Miniature, so we decided to look for a Miniature Poodle. Miniatures seem to be a little harder to find than either Toys or Standards; I'm not sure why.
Saturday, Shauna saw a non-descriptive ad in the paper that advertised Poodle puppies. She called and discovered they were miniatures -- two chocolate and two creme. Chocolate Poodles are less common than creme, red, white or black. Shauna went and picked out a female chocolate Poodle. We named her Zoë.
So, now we get to go through the process of housebreaking (Zoë gets an "A" in housebreaking so far; Poodles tend to be easy to housebreak, at least in my limited experience.) and the adjustment period where she cries at night. It means little sleep for the next couple of weeks. It means remembering to take her water away at night. It means getting up at 3:00 a.m. to take her out so she can urinate if you forget to take her water away at night, because she has a tiny bladder. It means several trips to the veterinarian. It means things chewed that shouldn't be chewed, like carpet, shoes, and furniture. It means lavishing extra praise on Alex and tolerating his minor acts of rebellion while he adjusts to not being "an only Poodle."
Of course it also means laughing at Zoë when she chases her tail, and being amazed when she jumps up the couple of big steps up to our porch, and hearing her cute little growl, and watching her try to pull Shauna's big purse by the straps, and seeing her nip at Alex's toes.
I guess a little sleep deprivation isn't so bad, as long as Shauna, Alex and Zoë can put up with a grouchy David.
***
Quote of the day:
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
-- C.S. Lewis
We had been considering getting a second dog for awhile now. I'm not exactly sure why. We have tried to tell ourselves that Alex needed a companion, which might or might not be true. He seemed pretty content without a companion, other than Shauna and me. Seeing Shauna's Dad's two dogs, Peachy (a Doberman) and Dottie (a Dachshund), convinced us even more that it might be a good idea.
We considered getting a different breed than Poodle. The only type of dog Shauna has ever had were Poodles. She is highly allergic to pet dander and hair, so we knew it would have to be a non-shedding breed, which narrows the choices significantly. Then we read an article in some dog magazine (Dog World? I can't remember.) about Poodles. This article discussed how intelligent Poodles are (the second most intelligent breed, behind Border Collies) and how Poodles "seem to know their own kind."
So for the past few weeks, we had been watching the Poodle ads in the paper. We didn't want another Standard, as we thought two 75-pound dogs in our small house would probably be too much. I didn't want a Toy -- too small. Max was a Miniature, so we decided to look for a Miniature Poodle. Miniatures seem to be a little harder to find than either Toys or Standards; I'm not sure why.
Saturday, Shauna saw a non-descriptive ad in the paper that advertised Poodle puppies. She called and discovered they were miniatures -- two chocolate and two creme. Chocolate Poodles are less common than creme, red, white or black. Shauna went and picked out a female chocolate Poodle. We named her Zoë.
So, now we get to go through the process of housebreaking (Zoë gets an "A" in housebreaking so far; Poodles tend to be easy to housebreak, at least in my limited experience.) and the adjustment period where she cries at night. It means little sleep for the next couple of weeks. It means remembering to take her water away at night. It means getting up at 3:00 a.m. to take her out so she can urinate if you forget to take her water away at night, because she has a tiny bladder. It means several trips to the veterinarian. It means things chewed that shouldn't be chewed, like carpet, shoes, and furniture. It means lavishing extra praise on Alex and tolerating his minor acts of rebellion while he adjusts to not being "an only Poodle."
Of course it also means laughing at Zoë when she chases her tail, and being amazed when she jumps up the couple of big steps up to our porch, and hearing her cute little growl, and watching her try to pull Shauna's big purse by the straps, and seeing her nip at Alex's toes.
I guess a little sleep deprivation isn't so bad, as long as Shauna, Alex and Zoë can put up with a grouchy David.
***
Quote of the day:
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
-- C.S. Lewis
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