This is Charlie. He officially became part of the family last weekend (Charlie lifts a paw to say hi).
He's a 12 week old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and he's just gorgeous (clearly, our brains don't extend past the most obvious name possible). We've not had a family pet before - in fact, I haven't lived with a pet since moving out of home 12 years ago - so it's a bit of a steep learning curve for all of us, but so far I'm happy to say Charlie has settled in quite well. A bit of whimpering on that first night (he's sleeping in the laundry room) and since then he's gone off to bed beautifully - and for the last few nights we've woken to dry newspaper. Yay Charlie-dog!
He's a bit mischievous. I mean, he is a puppy He's like the equivalent of a not-quite-2 year old. But he's having to learn the routines of the house the hard way and I must say, he seems rather indignant at the absurd notion that 'his people' do not share his love for chewing on socks. The kids have the habit of shucking their shoes and socks immediately upon getting home, then stuffing the socks into the shoes. Charlie now thinks the shoe basket near the front door is his personal toy box and his favourite game is Steal The Sock And Make A Bolt For The Backyard. He is being reminded quite often that it is NOT. I have zero lung capacity with this pneumonia thing and I can't chase him. Little terror.
He had his 12 week shots yesterday, as well as his microchipping. Vets are expensive, aren't they? Hoo-eee. We just paid more for a consult, flea/worm medications, microchipping and vaccinations than one entire child's school fees. And there's a whole aisle that just opened up to me at the grocery store - one I've been able to avoid until now. Wet food vs dry food. Pet mince vs chunky dog food 'log'. Premium vs Lower-end brand. Chicken vs Beef With Vegetables. What kind of training treats do I buy? Dog biscuits? Is marrow-bone flavoured better than gourmet chicken flavoured? I don't even put that much thought into this house's human meals!
The kids are enamoured - after all, its not often a 'lifelong dream' (Moo's words) of pet ownership comes to pass. However, I'd like to go on record about something.
Mummy is just a wee bit sick of picking up doggie poopie.
Somehow, conveniently, I got suckered into poop duty. And feed-the-dog duty. Where's the justice in that? I'm sick! A few weeks from now, when we've all settled in well, the kids will be taking over the feeding duty but I'm not so sure I like the idea of my kids going anywhere near dog poop just yet. It's bad enough that I have to endure it, but honestly? I will likely vomit the second one of them cries out something like, "MUMMEEEEEE! It got on me! I got POOP on my hand!"
Because, as it turns out, there actually is something worse than dog poop.
Its seeing one of your children covered in dog poop.
He's a 12 week old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and he's just gorgeous (clearly, our brains don't extend past the most obvious name possible). We've not had a family pet before - in fact, I haven't lived with a pet since moving out of home 12 years ago - so it's a bit of a steep learning curve for all of us, but so far I'm happy to say Charlie has settled in quite well. A bit of whimpering on that first night (he's sleeping in the laundry room) and since then he's gone off to bed beautifully - and for the last few nights we've woken to dry newspaper. Yay Charlie-dog!
He's a bit mischievous. I mean, he is a puppy He's like the equivalent of a not-quite-2 year old. But he's having to learn the routines of the house the hard way and I must say, he seems rather indignant at the absurd notion that 'his people' do not share his love for chewing on socks. The kids have the habit of shucking their shoes and socks immediately upon getting home, then stuffing the socks into the shoes. Charlie now thinks the shoe basket near the front door is his personal toy box and his favourite game is Steal The Sock And Make A Bolt For The Backyard. He is being reminded quite often that it is NOT. I have zero lung capacity with this pneumonia thing and I can't chase him. Little terror.
He had his 12 week shots yesterday, as well as his microchipping. Vets are expensive, aren't they? Hoo-eee. We just paid more for a consult, flea/worm medications, microchipping and vaccinations than one entire child's school fees. And there's a whole aisle that just opened up to me at the grocery store - one I've been able to avoid until now. Wet food vs dry food. Pet mince vs chunky dog food 'log'. Premium vs Lower-end brand. Chicken vs Beef With Vegetables. What kind of training treats do I buy? Dog biscuits? Is marrow-bone flavoured better than gourmet chicken flavoured? I don't even put that much thought into this house's human meals!
The kids are enamoured - after all, its not often a 'lifelong dream' (Moo's words) of pet ownership comes to pass. However, I'd like to go on record about something.
Mummy is just a wee bit sick of picking up doggie poopie.
Somehow, conveniently, I got suckered into poop duty. And feed-the-dog duty. Where's the justice in that? I'm sick! A few weeks from now, when we've all settled in well, the kids will be taking over the feeding duty but I'm not so sure I like the idea of my kids going anywhere near dog poop just yet. It's bad enough that I have to endure it, but honestly? I will likely vomit the second one of them cries out something like, "MUMMEEEEEE! It got on me! I got POOP on my hand!"
Because, as it turns out, there actually is something worse than dog poop.
Its seeing one of your children covered in dog poop.
5 comments:
Get a scooper and teach them how to use it. about the dog food, try to introduce a variety of flavours and brands so that he doesn't become picky. (psst, the generic brands may be cheap, but nutirtionally not good value)
Yep, we're experimenting. Vet surprised me by saying a good quality kibble actually has all they need nutritionally so not to worry too much if he doesn't eat much 'wet' food - her own dogs are kibble-only. We won't skimp on the food though - I mean, we're not going to go uber-premium, but we're pretty sure generic dog food would be pushing things, LOL. Happy medium. He doesn't eat a lot of kibble in one go either - he eats all his 'wet', then grazes on the kibble most of the day - both the vet and the breeder say that's okay (we rarely need to give him any extra dry food at dinnertime, so he's actually getting half what the puppy diet sheet says). He likes his raw mince and 'puppy meat log thing' though. Gobbles that up like its nobody's business...
We do have cats but unbeknownst tot eh rest of the family we re getting a puppy in about 3 weeks... so I will watch and read with interest the tales of yur journey- already onmy list is pooper scooper
also glad to see youi are feeling better - I thoroughly enjoy your writings
Oh so CUTE! My stepdaughter insists that this breed would be the best for US, which we'd like to get some day. :) Some day.
He IS adorable and Cavs are fantastic with kids. They don't require hours of exercise a day either. They're also meant to train really well.
Ours is a bit cheeky at the moment though - auughh.
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