It is a sad fact of life that puppies turn into dogs. Why is that sad? Puppies are so cute and can do no wrong, after all, they are puppies.
The same can be said for for babies. They are so cute and can do no wrong. However, they grow into the terrible twos, and then after a brief respite, they turn into teenagers, and then non caring, all knowing, young adults.
The same can be said for relationships. At first, your partner is so cute, and can do no wrong. But, as the famous writer Mark Twain once said, 'Familiarity breeds contempt and children.
The same can be said for friends. They are so cute and can do no wrong. My Russian friends are a perfect example.
I thought I would take a break from talking about Thailand for a week and talk about the above truisms.
I will start with the puppy idiom first.
In my previous life, SWSNBN (she who shall not be named) insisted, against all my objections that it would be good for our children to have a puppy as it would teach them responsibility, yadda, yadda. Worse still, she insisted a designer puppy would be in order as they are so cute and are not an allergen.
So off to the puppy mill, with daughter in tow, she went and bought a Bichon Friese puppy from a breeder. First, a little bit about the breed from:
http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/reviews/bichonfrise.html
The three most common behavioral issues with the Bichon Frise are:
Housebreaking: Bichons are usually difficult to housebreak, often VERY difficult to housebreak
Separation anxiety: most Bichons are so sociable and dependent on human companionship that they don't do well when left for long periods of time
Barking: some Bichons are barky, and some have a high-pitched bark that can set your teeth on edge
If you want a dog who...
Is small but sturdy
Is playful, but doesn't need much outdoor exercise (though he enjoys it!)
Has a curly coat that doesn't shed (one of the best breeds for allergy sufferers)
Makes an alert watchdog, but is not aggressive
Is good with other pets
A Bichon Frise may be right for you.
If you don't want to deal with...
Notorious housebreaking difficulties
"Separation anxiety" (destructiveness and barking) when left alone too much
Shyness in some lines, or when not socialized enough
Frequent clipping of the curly coat
Potential for excessive barking
A Bichon Frise may not be right for you.
I personally believe, if you were going to get a dog then you should really get a dog, one who sits on command, rolls over, runs , and fetches, etc.
However, let me detail my experience of the dog.
Puppies are so cute. Not so, non spaded females who get their first period while sitting atop my $3,000 leather recliner couch. Enough to make a grown man cry, and yes, the blood stain never came out.
Let me draw your attention to the word notorious above. Small head = small brain. This dog never did become house trained, but it is entirely possible, she employed her arsenal of spite shits and pisses while left alone all day to thoroughly trash our upgraded, off white carpet that SWSNBN insisted upon when we bought our dream house. Over the next 9 years, I spent countless hours on my hands and knees trying to salvage the carpet, whereas SWSNBN resorted to hiring carpet cleaners ad nauseum.
As for teaching the children responsibility, I was the only person to ever walk the dog, morning and evening, in all types of weather, including winter storms. Having a dog is a responsibility, but whose!
The good news about the breed is they don't shed. The bad news is they need to go to the puppy salon every 2 months to get trimmed and have their anal glands cleaned out which stops them from doing the bum drag across the white carpet to satisfy the itch. Enough to make a grown man cry.
Add in the license fees and RFID chips and frequent vet visits and this puppy became very expensive.
However, then appeared the dog from hell. SWSNBN decided we should go teach overseas and let her sister stay for free in our house for a couple of years. It seems her sister's dog was creating problems by barking all day long in the apartment she was renting, much to the chagrin of the neighbours. You think that should have been a warning sign. No problem she said, the dog is crated (nice word for caged) all day.
Needless to say this did not work out well, and when we returned at Christmas the carpets were ruined, the patio screen door was ripped, the kitchen island had been chewed up, and worse still, my $3,000 leather recliner couch had a hole dug in it by the sister's dog. Having a dog is a responsibility, but whose responsibility?
A grown man did cry but SWSNBN insisted we could replace all the carpets with hardwood with the money we were making overseas. I thought, what about the screen door, island, and my leather couch, newly adorned with grey duct tape over the 12 inch hole. So much for responsibility.
That is my experience with puppies. So beware, puppies grow to become not so cute dogs. Relationships turn sour, babies grow up, and friends drift apart. One thing of value I learned from my high school physics class is that gases disperse drifting apart to fill their container. Expand the container and you get more drift.
Get my drift?
TTYL
My, my we are on a rant eh?
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