Mom vs. the Dot: Making it COUNT!

Look how sweet and innocent he is when he's sleeping!   Let's get him.  It'll be fun! When I said, "Yes" to this new puppy, I thought I knew what I was getting myself into.  I've had a puppy before.  Had one when I was a child.  No problem! I knew he would chew things, but I didn't remember he would chew every blessed thing in the house, including our fingers, toes, shoes, pant cuffs, and anything accessible.  The lever on the air vent cover, the wood on the baby gates, clothes or shoelaces that have snuck under the bottom of the closet door.  Just everything! I knew he would have potty accidents on the floor,                                           Go in the grass, not the carpet!! but I didn't remember it...

After posting Puppy Trouble about our fateful trip to the local animal shelter, my daughter told me, "Mom, I have a puppy-shaped hole in my heart!"   What mom could let that puppy-shaped hole remain unfilled? So, for the last month, I scoured www.petfinder.com and our local shelter websites to check for any new dogs that might be available.  Puppies preferably.  I think every kid should have the experience of raising a puppy.  It's an important part of childhood.  Learning to take care of someone other than themselves, growing up together, and being there for each other in sickness and in health.  Together, they will experience things like sleepovers, team tryouts, first love, first breakup, braces, zit cream, and eventually, college. My husband and I have logically discussed this numerous times.  I have to wait until I find the right one.  This dog will be with us for its' lifetime - we had better make a good choice! So I...

I admit it.  I made a big mistake. I took my wants-a-puppy-more-than-anything girl to the local animal shelter. My original plan was to line up some way for her to volunteer working with animals for two reasons:  1) to see how much work they require and 2) to become comfortable around animals. We read up about volunteering at our local animal shelter - the only requirement I saw was that volunteers under age 18 needed an adult with them.  No problem.  I was going to do that anyway.  It took me all week to reach an actual person on the phone to ask a few questions before we went over to the shelter.  In the meantime, my daughter and I were psyched up for our visit to the shelter.  We were going to help take care of the animals.  Yay!  During my phone conversation, I was informed that all volunteers must be over 13 years old.  Oh - major bummer!  She cried when she found out we couldn't volunteer with them. So I did the n...