Wednesday, January 29, 2014

The time is now

Josh announced last night that he wants to get a dog now. Like, this weekend. I have wanted a dog for a long, long time. A little white fluffball of a dog, but not so little that it fits in all your purses. But little enough you could easily carry a special dog bag with the dog in it. So like 15 pounds. Plus my little white fluffball wouldn't shed. I don't know if this exists, but I feel like the work of having a dog will go over the tipping point if part of having it is running around cleaning up hair every day.

When I asked Josh what about when we have long days out of the house, he turned away and mumbled something I couldn't hear. "What?" I asked. "Doggie daycare," he answered. Seriously?! This is a real thing? I would be so embarrassed to take a dog to a daycare. "Okay, then the other option is hiring a dog walker to come here in the middle of the day to take the dog out," Josh offered. I don't know about this. Even though we don't even have a dog yet I already feel protective of it and would worry about some random stranger coming into our home and taking our dog. I just don't know if we're ready for a dog.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

A dog suggestion? Think about a mini Labradoodle. They have hair (not fur) so don't shed. You can find a smallish "mini" - about 15-20 pounds. Adorable and smart with calm, sweet personalities. Just got one -she is 12 weeks old. Perfect pup.

Anonymous said...

We have a West Highland Terrier. She is "white & fluffy" about 15 pounds and like Anon above has hair (not fur). She is a great dog. The only down side to Westies is that many (including ours) have sensitive skin. Also, we have taken our dog to doggie daycare. Not really for the purposes of daycare, but to give her a chance to burn some energy and play with other dogs. She absolutely loves it and whines whenever we walk past the place because she wants to go there.

Kizz said...

Think super carefully about this. It's a lot of work. Think about adopting a dog, an adult dog, maybe a dog who has been fostered so you can get some thorough answers about its personality and needs. Think about day care and dog walkers and trainers. I can help you track down good people. There are a lot of great people out there who work with dogs and a lot of really awful ones. (Sorry to sound all know it all-y. I've had dogs in NYC for almost 20 years now and I'm training to be a dog trainer so I have lots of opinions on animal welfare!)

OTRgirl said...

Doggie Day care is definitely a thing. Dogs actually love it. We used to take our dog a couple times a week when we had to work late. She was always SO excited to go. Dogs are a big commitment, but they add a lot of joy, too.

Have fun dog shopping!

Monica said...

Doggie daycare is awesome. When we only had one we took him 3 days a week because we felt guilty that he was lonely :) He had a blast running and playing with all his friends.

It can get crazy expensive though - worse than daycare for a kid.

tesshead said...

I have a wheaten terrier (non shedding and hypo-allergenic) which is probably a lot bigger than what you're wanting, but he's great and as a puppy I took him to doggie daycare quite often. You need to socialize your dog as a puppy or else they can become very aggressive towards other dogs and even people as they grow up. Doggie daycare is a great place for this to take place and you won't be around so the dog is forced to interact instead of running to you. At the daycare where I live, they keep the bigger dogs separated from the smaller ones too so nobody gets hurt accidentally.

Anonymous said...

You might want to check out bichons. We have a little bichon/Am. eskimo mix - she's about 20 lbs and does not shed. The bichon side of her is like a baby - always wants to cuddle and play. She is also very smart. One of the sweetest dogs we've ever had.