New Family Member

OK, so almost everyone knows now that we've got a new puppy, but many don't know the story behind this.

Our kids have been asking for a long time about getting a dog and Ryan and I have been putting them off and putting them off because, honestly we've never really wanted a dog. Ryan loves cats and I love babies :) but neither one of us goes ga-ga over dogs, even though we both grew up owning dogs and almost all of our immediate family members have at least one. However, after watching our kids with the dogs of their cousins and grandparents and friends, we realized that our offspring really do enjoy dogs, and we would like to give them the chance to own a dog.

So, in the spring, when they asked again about a dog, we didn't say no. We told them that if they wanted so badly to have a dog, they would have to look into how much a dog would cost, to purchase, to have fixed and to furnish with all of the necessary supplies - and they would have to pay for it. We also explained that we would not be responsible for cleaning up after, feeding or walking the dog. This worked well as a stalling technique, but also to educate the kids. They realized quite quickly that it was not going to be a simple thing to acquire a pet dog. They found out that even the SPCA charges at least $300 for a small dog, and at first they found this quite discouraging. But they were determined and with some encouragement, they started saving their allowance and paper route money. When Papa came down for a visit, he generously donated to the dog fund, and when they were at Boundary Bay they sold freezies and added that money to the jar. Finally, they felt that they had enough money to start seriously looking for a puppy. We spent many hours looking at ads on craigslist and kijiji and Evan scoured the classifieds in the paper. We phoned one ad and the kids thought they had found the dog they wanted but I had an instant distrust of the guy trying to sell it to us and I was really hesitant. it turns out I was right and he had been lying to us about more than one thing so we didn't get the dog, which was hard for the kids, but also a good lesson in trusting Mom's judgement. A few days later, we found an ad on kijiji for 3 Shih tsu / Lhasa apso puppies that were left and we contacted the owners. It turned out they only had one left and we agreed to meet him. After spending an hour with him, we had a good feeling about the owners and our kids were completely smitten with the puppy. Grace said, "It's a good thing you like the people Mom." And when I replied, "You already love the puppy don't you," her answer was, "Oh Mommy, I adore him!"

And really, how could you not adore this face! :)

Teddy, as he was dubbed, is fitting in quite well with our family. He is an easy going puppy, happy to cuddle and be held by the kids. He's pretty smart too - he learned very quickly what "NO!" means and he hasn't had very many accidents in the house. He's eager to make friends with the cats, though they're still very wary of him. And he has completely won over Ryan and I. Both of us (not dog people) can be overheard talking to our "baby" and he spent his first nights in our home sleeping in our bed!
Evan, Grace and Rachel have been very responsible about caring for Teddy. I haven't heard one complaint about poop cleanup or standing in the rain to make sure Teddy does his business before going in his crate. And, I'm very proud of them for saving up over $500 to pay for their dog and all his supplies. Now they just have to save up to have him neutered in a few months!!