Our New Family Member

 

During the past couple on months my family and I have been actively searching for an addition to our small family. Several times in our search we found many potential family members.  However we got our hopes up and we got let down every single time.  We have always wanted to have a Bulldog, they are absolutely adorable.  The way they snort, snore and even the way they wag their nub of a tail and rear end when they are excited.  Even though finding a Bulldog puppy or adult is easy through breeders or rescue groups, we were not looking to spend much money at all.  We had discussed that instead of spending the money on a purebred; we could easily look for someone who was in the market of adopting out their dog and use the money we saved on vet bills and etc.  It was so heart breaking finding out every time we had a potential dog someone else snagged it. 

 

On one occasion I had went online and saw that a young woman was adopting out her two year purebred Olde English Bulldog and American Pitt Bull Terrier due to she had just given birth to a baby boy.  She unfortunately was unable to keep them due to she couldn't give them the attention they deserved.  Which is understandable since a baby is a huge responsibility and it is not fair to the dogs of the family.  Even though she was 45 minutes away I decided to email her and inform her that I was looking to adopt her Olde English.  Well about an hour later I received a phone call from her and made an appointment as soon as possible to come and see the dog.  Well the soonest was 2 days away.  On the day of the appointment I called her to confirm and she had told me that she had two appointments before mine for people to come and see the dog, however if I wanted to I could come earlier before anyone else showed up.  Well it was a Saturday and my nephews T-ball game was today as well as I told my sister that I would take her so she can get a tattoo.  I knew that if it were meant to be the dog would still be there at my scheduled appointment time.  After I was done with everything I went home and she left a message saying the dog went with the first family.  I was so sad and heart-broken, but I got over it soon.

 

That same day an associate my better half works with told us that he works for the local Humane Society and that a 6 month old English Bulldog puppy just came in and only he and his boss knows about it.  He informed us to call him on Monday to come in because the puppy was being fixed and we should see about adopting it before it goes in for surgery.  Well we got there 30 minutes before they opened so no one else had a chance to get the puppy.  It turns out the puppy already was adopted, the Humane Society was open on Sunday and someone snagged it before we had a chance.  We woke up early for nothing. So, now here is the kicker.  I went back online a week later to see if anyone else was adopting out a bulldog and the lady who was adopting out the Olde English, re-posted the add.  I talked to her and apparently the other family said that he didn't work out with their other dog.  She tried to call me but she deleted my email and couldn't find my number.  Five minutes later I was on the road and in 45 minutes I was there.  I brought him home and I recalled my thoughts a week earlier.  If it is meant to be, it'll happen.  His name is Dominic and he is a 2-year-old puppy.  He climbs into our laps and sleeps/snores.  He's a great dog and we are happy he's part of our family. In fact right now, he is lying under my coffee table front paws resting on my feet.

A Strain on the Relationship

Eight out of ten couples have a dog; nine out of ten have a pet of some sort.  I am one of those eight out of ten and I have to admit that the relationship between us every time a pet is involved there is more stress than our normal stress we give each other.  Obviously the dog is not to blame at all.  It's us the owners, the lovers, the couple and the sweethearts.  We tend to forget that it's not the dog's fault that he chewed up the house while we were gone or the fault of our sweetheart.  It's the fault of the entire couple at hand.  Of course you can tell I'm speaking from example.  We just got this new dog, Dominic an Olde English Bulldog. Let's just say he has a few behavioral issues that we must change.  Now I know that I've done quite a bit of blame not only on Dominic but my sweetness as well.  An example would have to be the other day Dominic had really bad gas; he also went to the bathroom (#1 and #2) in the house earlier that day, than he spilled his water all of the kitchen until he finally ate his dog bowl.  I knew I forgot something; he also ate my papers for work.  That night when I went to bed I was pissed off and I made sure my partner in crime knew it.  When asked I simply replied your damn dog has issues.  Out of anger I ignored the dog the whole next day as well as everyone else.

 

I guess it takes a couple of days to realize that my anger should be redirected to how I can ensure these issues do not reoccur.   I guess the lesson of this article is, it's easier to blame the dog, your partner and everyone else.  It's just easier to get mad and seclude yourself rather than just taking care of the issue at hand.  What can I say, some people just like to be mad at times.  So it is true that owning a dog adds strain to a relationship, but not because it's a dog but because it's more responsibility and when neglected it'll come back to bite you in the rump.  After all if a responsibility is not taken care of you can bet your partner will tell you. But what you both have to remember is that a dog is both of your responsibility, to blame the other you must blame yourself as well.  Unless you were gone all day. Than it's the one who was home, who is to blame. :)

 

"To err is human, to forgive canine."

 

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