Karen-Ology: Puppy Love

You could never have told me 4 years ago that I would allow a dog to live in my house, sit on my lap or sleep on the end of my bed. I would have argued with you till I was blue in the face about the 'well known fact' that dogs are not that clean and anyway, it's an animal, how can you get so attached to an animal that it becomes a part of the family like a human????

Time for Karen to eat humble pie on all of my ignorant canine rhetoric, I freely admit I had absolutely no idea about dogs, about their personality, their loyalty and their amazing way of wangling into your emotions and heart so that you end up loving them as much as any other member of your family.

People kept telling me, "Karen get a dog, it will be great for Caragh. She will love it." So back in August of 2010 one of Caragh's carers told me that her dog Ruby was about to have a litter of puppies and that I was welcome to one of them if I wanted. I said I was not sure, but asked her if I could bring Caragh over to see them once they were born. August 26 2010 came and Ruby had a litter of 6 puppies. There were already takers for 4 of those six, one would stay with Ruby and one extra that nobody had claimed could either be mine or would stay with his mum and brother.

When the puppies were about 5 weeks old I took Caragh over to see them. Big mistake.. HUGE mistake.... one look at those little bundles of fluff and my heart was mush. We women just cannot resist babies of any sort can we?!!!

Seb at 5 - 6 weeks old when we first met him

Sebastian was the oldest in the litter. He was a wee white ball of fluff with big dark eyes. Absolutely cute as a button and a wee fatty to boot. He waddled when he walked and when we came into the room he immediately waddled over to me and sat himself down on my foot. I was in love!! Caragh was in love and we were oohing and aahing all over the place. I then picked this wee fella up, held him close to me and THEN he puts his head on my chest, looks up at me with his big brown eyes - I mean seriously, I had absolutely NO hope of saying no to having a dog now!

Seb, as he is now known, had me hook, line and sinker. He very cleverly manipulated his way into my affections and knew that he had a home to go to when he was old enough to leave his Mum.

Tiring stuff this moving to a new house

I love every single minute of having a dog. I did have to get used to caring for a puppy when he was younger, it took me back to when I had babies - sleepless nights, potty training, feeding on time and going for walks, but all of that 'work' was worth it. I learned very quickly that dogs are very intelligent, very loyal, very loving and very clean. Mind you, I make sure my wee fella is clean as a whistle with fortnightly baths and that he smells like roses (johnson's baby powder to be exact !!)

Yes he is spoilt, yes every rule I ever had prior to having a dog has gone out the window, yes I am protective of him and love him a lot. He has added a dimension of love to our family that I never knew existed. Dog and Cat owners had told me about this before, but again I simply had no idea.

My favourite spot

Puppies love pillows

Chillin'

Pretending to sleep - maybe she'll let me stay!

So, if you are on the verge of making the decision about whether or not to get a dog, I would absolutely say YES do it.

Of course you have to be a responsible dog owner, take it to training classes, have it sterilised, make sure it is immunised, give it anti flea, worm and heart worm meds on a monthly basis. Learn about your dog's personality traits both good and bad and never forget .. A dog is a dog.. they have sharp teeth and they bite. Always be your dog's boss (ok my dog is boss over me sometimes but when push comes to shove, Karen is the boss!!) and if you do all of this, you will have a friend for life.