Every night when we throw the needles away into the little disposal bin he says "see ya needle!" and giggles like a loon.
Saturday the Kiddo had to have two shots. There wasn't quite a full dose left in the first pen so he had half out of that one, and then half out of the next. He flinched, but said "now I have a FAMILY of holes!"
He seems to be dealing with his shots. He doesn't like them, he tries to avoid them but in a passive way vs running or throwing fits. He mans up and takes them, but wants a hand to hold during the shot itself.
So I want honest opinions. The Kiddo's Pediatrician will sign the paperwork that will enable us to get him a dog if we want too. Which is great!
There are quite a few pro's to getting one. Not the least of which would be that he'll have a best friend to help him deal with stuff. Plus since we will be walking to and from kindergarten twice a day five days a week (25 minutes each way) I'm thinking any dog we get will be getting a decent walk.
I can only think of three negatives. The first being we are in a third floor apartment (ugh), but that can be dealt with and adapted too. The other being traveling restrictions. We don't have many opportunities to travel as a family so it wouldn't be a major problem really, but it's something to think about. Third is of course medical costs. That's something you can't really plan for, unless it's scheduled shots or what not... so can we "afford it"? I think we can, the scheduled stuff anyway.
The last thought is, what kind of dog? The Mans sisters Lhasa Apso just had puppies so we could get a little boy puppy "free" from her. Or we could rescue from a pound...
I keep seeing the Miniature Australian Shepherd as a Kiddo type dog, medium small size, playful, loyal, likes kids, non barker... *shrug*
2 comments:
I can't address the should or shouldn't aspect, so these are just comments about the side issues.
As to Kiddo having the dog as a best friend ... maybe so/maybe no. He will certainly have a new family member, but that can go either way just the same as having a sibling. Kiddo and the dog might bond tightly, might not care much about each other, or might act jealous toward each other.
And as to breeds ... the ones that have traditionally been popular are generally the ones that are great with families. Popping into my mind are Golden Retrievers, Poodles, Shih Tzus (and others of the sturdier toy and non-sporting breeds, like Pugs, Havanese, and Bostons), Cockers, Labs, and Beagles (and you already know about Cavs, but rotsa ruck finding an affordable one). Smaller dogs can get their run while you are walking and Kiddo is biking, but to let a larger dog run you'd have to have a closed yard or someone else watching Kiddo (dog parks are notorious for dog fights, and Kiddo won't be at school every day). Hounds are not quiet (that leaves out the Beagle). Spitzes (including Pomeranian) are not quiet. Herding dogs tend to be a bad combination of smart and active (meaning that if you do not keep them busy with jobs to do, they can think of undesirable activities to amuse themselves)(also meaning that you ought to be wary of the exercise needs of an Australian Shepherd; did they breed the energy level out when they bred the size down?). The terriers (for some reason not including the West Highland White) are reputed to be stubborn. I can tell you from experience that a Lhasa Apso and Poodle mix is pure hell to housebreak: stubborn as the Lhasas are known to be, and with the intelligence of a Poodle, the little beast almost had me giving up before I finally had her trained well enough to give to Grandma.
And a note on coat (heh heh, I'm a poet): Long hair can be kept cut to reduce the amount of the great outdoors that gets brought inside in the fur. If you groom at least weekly, shorter is probably easier to care for. If you do not, the medium and long haired dogs do not shed more than the short haired (although it is easier to see because of its length) and the hairs tend to lay flat on the surface of fabrics rather than spear into the fabric like the stiff hair of short haired breeds. This makes a big difference in cleaning clothes and car upholstery, because a good shake or run-over with a sticky roller will take off the longer hair but leave behind the stuck-in short hair. That could be a consideration if anyone in the family has to wear spiffy work clothes.
Apartments with size limits frequently have it around 25 pounds. Airlines usually limit in-cabin travel to dogs that can fit in an under-seat carrier ... which I think is about 10 inches high.
And lastly, when people start to tell you how wonderful a certain breed is and they are mentioning a X/Y cross (like beagle x pug "puggles"), remember that the genes do not pay attention to what the human plans and you can as easily get the worst traits of each half of the cross as get the better traits of each.
I would love to have one of these little guys but Rob sais one full sized aussie shephard, even if he is a mix, is way more then enough. It took over an hour to groom him today and he still isnt completly good.
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