I Think We Might Be Crazy
By Glinda
Listen, I had this idea long before the Obamas (shaking fist in the air, “Oooobaaamaaaas!”) went ahead and stole my thunder.
I had pitched the idea to my husband, preparing for a really hard sell. But surprisingly, he had been thinking the exact same thing. Great minds think alike, I tell you.
You see, the Munchkin has all the toys a child could ever play with. And he will be getting many more when Christmas comes, even with the seasonal culling that is necessary to keep the house from being completely taken over by Legos and K’nex and various musical instruments in differing states of disrepair and stringless-ness.
The way my family celebrates the holidays, Christmas morning here with the three of us is a bit anticlimactic. He’s already opened gifts the day before from three different sets of relatives, and so the paltry offering from us Santa seems to be merely an afterthought. Like he forgot that a few presents for the Munchkin were at the bottom of the sleigh and just tossed them of down the chimney on the way back to the North Pole. There is no way we are going to try and match the number of gifts. Well we could, but we would go bankrupt trying.
So, dare I say it, I think we are actually getting my son a dog.
I don’t necessarily want a puppy, nor a purebred. It has to be a dog that is on the smaller side (but lordy, not a yappy toy breed) easy to care for, needs minimal professional grooming, has a great disposition and is good with kids. Being able to pick up after itself and clean the kitchen would be a big bonus as well.
Yes, I know it’s a lot of work. Yes, I know I’ll be doing most of it. Yes, I know it’s expensive. Yes, it will be from a shelter, we have someone we know on the “inside” who can get us any type of dog we want.
But you can still call me crazy. I totally understand.
November 20th, 2008 at 9:06 am
I would never call you crazy. I think it’s a great idea. I always had a dog and various other pets growing up. My kids have always had them too. Cats, dogs, goats, you name it. I think dogs and other pets just add to the family.
November 20th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Getting a dog is a genius idea, but at Christmas? Never mind keeping a pup quiet overnight, they eat the decorations off the tree and the turmoil of the season isn’t conducive to bringing a pet into the family smoothly. I know Munchkin is a little young for gift certificates, but could you not work something like that out?
And if I may make a recommendation, border collie crosses are great dogs. Smart and protective, but sweet and loyal. Purebreds are way too high-maintenance, though. I taught my border collie left/right and several letters of the alphabet just to see if she could do it. I swear, she probably has her own blog out there somewhere.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:39 am
I have to agree with raincoaster that waiting until after things settle down a bit is a great idea. Getting a pet for you kids after doing research to make sure that it will fit in with your life is never crazy. I am sure that he will love his dog.
November 20th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
As an owner to 2 dogs, I would say wait to pick up the dog until you won’t be travelling anywhere for more than half a day for 2 weeks straight. When a new dog is brought into a new living arrangement, they can get pretty stressed out and act out. Therefore, to provide it with a stable schedule and environment is extremely helpful in helping the dog transition and adjust to you and your family. To get the dog in the morning and then up and leave it home alone for the entire afternoon to the night because you’re at a relative’s or friend’s house can traumatize the dog, especially if it’s sensitive or a super people dog. This may sound ridiculous, but a dog is not just an animal – it has feelings and emotions and it’ll for sure let you know. You wouldn’t take in an adopted child on Christmas morning and then leave him/her alone for most of the day while you are out and about, would you? I guess there we’re talking about a human and you can bring him/her along, but would you subject him/her to all that chaos and newness so soon?
With that in mind though, have fun! Dogs are sooooo wonderful.
November 20th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Ahhhh, see this is why I need your advice.
We would be gone for most of Christmas Day, but I would never leave the dog alone, we would bring it with us to my Mom’s house. But that might be too much for the dog? It wouldn’t be a big deal for anyone else, but maybe for the dog? Christmas Day is actually fairly low key but I don’t want to traumatize the poor thing.
November 20th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
How old is the Munchkin? No matter how good a dog is with kids, you also want to make sure that the child is old enough to learn to not torment a dog.
If Christmas at your place is a quiet-ish affair, then you should be okay bringing a dog into it. But if it’s big and noisy and full of bustle, then you might want to wait. (You could always give the Munchkin a framed photo of his new doggie, saying that he’ll be coming to join you soon.)
As far as breeds go, you really want to do your homework to make sure that the dog will fit in with your lifestyle. There are some good dog breed selectors online. Even if you don’t necessarily select what they recommend, it’s still a good exercise to evaluate and rank your desired traits in a dog.
At any rate, I think it’s a lovely idea — I always felt sorry for kids who grew up without any pets around.
November 20th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
How would your mom react to a dog that broke housetraining? That’s fairly common in dogs that have too many exiting stressors in one day. Not to mention that the dog would become confused about which place and which people are its new permanent ones.
I would give the Munchkin a portrait of the dog and then pick it up the next day or something.
November 20th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
My parents actually already have a dog who has made her fair share of messes, so I think she would be fine. Their dog is old and mellow, and loves young dogs, so there would be no territorial issues there.
My son has never been a tormentor of animals, even when he was younger. He just isn’t wired that way. All of our families have pets, so he has grown up around them and knows how to treat them. We had our own reasons for waiting, but it was never because we thought the Munchkin would mistreat a pet.
November 21st, 2008 at 6:46 pm
You might check out the information for kids and dogs on the AKC site:
http://www.akc.org/kids_juniors/index.cfm?nav_area=kids_juniors
You can contact an all-breed rescue group where the dogs are evaluated while they live in foster homes. They will know if the dog is kid friendly, has issues of any kind, health status etc.
November 24th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
If you’re not planning on doing much of anything in those twelve days between Xmas and New Year’s, it might actually be a great time to bring home a new dog – plenty of time with his/her new ‘people’, and lots of supervision for establishment of good housebreaking behavior. It will require a lot of vigilance, though – mind the ornaments and the poinsettas and the odd cookies left around!