It’s International Dog Day so it is a great time to honor my two dogs. I got my first dog seven years ago. He is a Pekingese/Cavalier King Charles Spaniel mix. When my daughter was 11, she wanted to get a dog. At first, I was a bit reluctant, but the idea started growing on me. I told her that to get a dog, she had to do extensive research because I do not want to get the wrong dog for us and then have to get rid of the dog. For six months, she researched. My criteria are:
- A small dog
- Easy to train
- Lazy and just relaxes when we are not out walking or playing together
I found out there was a dog festival that weekend so we went. Li was the first dog I saw when we arrived, and I instantly fell in love with him. The rescue volunteer was carrying him because he was terrified to be on the ground. My daughter wanted to see this other dog that she had seen on the Internet so we went to find her. We found the dog, but I could tell she had a high drive. At that time, I couldn’t do it so I told her that if the Pekingese mix was still there, I would prefer him. We went back and forth, and so my son became the deciding vote. He voted with me, and luckily Li was still there, and we got him. I was a bit worried cause he was only newspaper trained, and when he arrived at the house, he peed on my rug. In a few weeks, he was potty trained.
I am his person so he follows me around the house, and he sleeps on the bed with me. He is a great dog. He seems to have been abused by people because he is terrified of humans except for my son, mom, and sister. He is a bit afraid of my daughter, but she was a bit too much with him in the sense that she was always trying to carry and play with him.
My daughter is a chronic runaway. It has been a very trying time, and I want to post about it to make other parents know that they are not the only ones, but I am not there emotionally ready to do so. She asked for a second dog because Li is really my dog. I wasn’t sure if I should, but my mom told me that if it helps my daughter stay home, then I should do it. A German Shepherd (GSD) is what I decided to go with because I used to have one with my ex, and I loved that GSD. He was a great dog, and I loved the qualities of the breed. We found a sable GSD, and my son picked her out. We decided to name her Lola.
She was only ten weeks old so we took her to training classes, and really worked hard to train her. Lola is now 16 months old, and she is amazing. In two weeks, she was potty trained. She was crate trained in a few days. She was a high-drive dog, but now that she is older and is spayed, she has definitely chilled out a lot. I also taught her the “Relax” command, and that really helps to get her to just lay down and be calm. It has also been nice taking her to the dog park because I have met some nice people and it’s nice to socialize with them while Lola plays with their dogs. At first, I wasn’t sure if I made the right decision, but I now know that I did. We are still working on her leash pulling, but that is pretty small compared to how well-trained and socialized she is.
Do you have any dogs? Please share what kind of dog you have and how old he/she is? I’d love to hear from you!
