Thursday, March 22, 2018

NATIONAL PUPPY DAY

Friday, March 23 is National Puppy Day and this is the first year its ever meant anything to me. I had looked seriously into a dog that fit into the hypoallergenic category. I went online and searched for the top ten hypoallergenic dogs and then ended up with a Shih Tzu and Toy Poodle mix.

I figured if I was going to get a puppy, I'd better do it now to be alive long enough to have an animal for fifteen to eighteen years. Yes, the years are passing by along with enough energy to keep up with a puppy. Notice I didn't say train as I don't want to set myself up for failure to start.

I've now had Emmy for two months and she minds fairly well, but there are still those times when she moves around the room like a balloon losing air. Thankfully, I have a very helpful husband and a third participant, our six-year-old German Shepherd and Malamute dog, Jack, who weighs over a hundred pounds more than she does. Many times, we think Jack is the most important player, because he seems to know when "Dad" and "Mom" are at their wits end and he volunteers to play rough house with her and they move about like a horse and a mouse doing a haphazard dance. It is an effective way to let out some of her energy and give him exercise, too. But some days, like the rest of us, he gets tired and tries to hide his big body behind a chair. Emmy will stand as far as her back paws will allow and uses her front paws to "massage" the top of his tail while managing to cause his malamute coat to come out and settle in bunches.

My husband and I had always had large dogs and we wondered if we could love a little dog just as well. Yet, now we watch to see who she sits with the most like it's a competition. We instantly realized
that puppies are so cute, just as any type of baby is, and we smile and say, "Awww, and isn't she cute?" That cuteness sure helps when you are awake for the fourth time during the night when she may or may not need to use the yard as the restroom.

All and all the hardest days are behind us (we hope) and she will only get calmer and able to follow our schedule even better. So, happy National Puppy Day to you all!

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