Everyone knows I'm a dog person. I love dogs, and I've really missed having a dog over the last year and a half. So Logan and I talked about it, and after seeing how much Knox loves dogs (and how gentle he is with them) we decided to start looking for a puppy. I know - it sounds crazy to be pregnant and looking into puppies, but it was either now or never. (And by never, I mean we'd have to wait at least 3 more years until baby #2 was old enough to be around a dog - and we didn't want to wait that long.) So we just decided to go for it!
Logan and I are both "big dog" people, but with little kids around, we knew we'd have to start out with a smaller dog. I promised myself I would never rescue another dog again after having so many issues with Lucy, but we found an adorable litter of puppies on Pet Finder that were available, and were only 10 weeks old. (Read: too young to be screwed up yet.) ;) They were part cattle dog, part Boxer (they think). We went to meet a few of the puppies that the foster mom thought would match our needs, and we fell in love with Libby. One short week later, she came to live with us!
Libby was SO sweet. All she wanted to do was snuggle up in your lap and let you love on her. And her puppy breath was intoxicating. She was so, so gentle with Knox. Even let him steal her toys and lay all over her. The problem wasn't Libby. The problem was me. I knew potty training would require a lot of attention - but I thought since I'm home all day she wouldn't have the chance to have accidents. Wrong. I was literally taking her out every 30 to 45 minutes, yet she'd still come inside and pee and poop in the carpet. I told myself to be patient with her, and try not to think about the fact that my son was rolling in the floor where I'd just cleaned up dog poop. Then there was the water bowl issue. I finally got Knox to stop dumping her water bowl out all over the kitchen floor, but apparently she thought this was a great new trick and didn't want to stop doing that. Once again, I told myself to be patient with her. All new puppies need time and training. (Never mind the fact that she would go around the corner to pee in the carpet while I was distracted with cleaning up the water bowl mess.) Then there was the howling and whining at night. She'd always stop after 20 or 30 minutes, but it was a rough half hour listening to her sound so pitiful... and loud. Patience, Lorin. She's in a new place. All of these things had me second guessing my decision. How was I going to add a newborn into the mix in just a few months?? How would I keep the baby from crawling through the pee and poop in the carpet?? How mad would I be when the howling dog woke up both my kids when I'd spent hours trying to get them to sleep?? The final straw was when I caught her gnawing on a dead bunny she'd found stuck between some rocks in the back yard. That was it. I couldn't take it. I know dogs will be dogs. But they can be dogs somewhere else and kiss someone else's kids in the face with rabbit guts hanging out of their mouth. So, back to the foster family Libby went.
While she was here though, we still had lots of fun!
She really was a very sweet puppy. The timing was just bad. It will be a loooonng time before we have another dog at our house. And I'm totally okay with that. Because as much as I love dogs, it turns out I love my kid more.
