It's A Boy! (Of The Canine Variety)

Did I ever tell you what finally motivated Bree to potty train? The promise of a dog. I tried everything with that girl: stickers, candy, gum, even money. (I'm actually glad that one didn't take - I tried it in a moment of desperation.) One day I tried, "Bree, once you go poo poo and pee pee in the potty all the time, we'll get you a dog!" I got no reaction.

One day a few weeks later, after Bree had done her business on the potty, she looked at me and said, "Now I get a doggie?" I asked her if she wanted a dog, and she said yes. So I told her that once she used the potty all the time with no accidents, then we'd get a dog.

I knew that we'd adopt a dog. I wasn't going to go through potty training all over again! So I started looking around at the local animal rescues to see what the possibilities were. I started this in December, knowing that we wouldn't be ready for a dog until January or February.

Ideally, Bree wanted Beamer. The only problem there was that Beamer already had a family. And since I didn't really fancy kidnapping a dog, I told Bree that we'd find a dog like Beamer. It turns out that Beamer is a whippet. I found a whippet up for adoption in North Carolina. We don't live that far from the North Carolina border, so I applied to adopt the whippet.

I got the call on Friday that our application was approved, so we drove down today to meet the dog and make arrangements for adoption. The drive took us just around 3 hours - which probably seems like a long way to go for a dog, but keep in mind I was looking specifically for a whippet. Medium size dog with short hair, known for being a couch potato, good with kids and okay with being the only dog in the house. They are also a fairly hearty breed with relatively few health issues.

When we got to the rescue, the director asked us if we wanted to go back to see the dog. We did, so we went to the kennel. Oh my, it was so lound in there that Bree started to cry. She just isn't used to all that loud barking. The lady said, "why don't I bring him out to you on the patio?" It was a nice screened in room with some lawn chairs, so we waited for her to bring out the whippet. He was excited, and larger than what I expected him to be. He was a friendly dog but Bree was scared of him. I knew then that we weren't taking this dog home with us.

I told the woman that it wasn't going to work and she asked if we'd like to see any other dogs since we were already there. I said yes, because I couldn't believe that I just drove 3 hours to see a dog that Bree didn't want. She said that they had the sweetest pit bull puppy that Bree would love, and I said that we really needed a dog that was already housebroken. She then said that they had a Shiba Inu that might work for us. I had never heard of this breed, had never come across it in my research.

The dog, "Sly" (as in sly fox) is a year old, potty trained, and full grown. That said, he looks like a miniature fox, weighs about 12 pounds, and is a small dog. For Bree it was love at first sight. So now we're the proud owners of a Shiba Inu named Sly. I cannot bring myself to call this dog "Sly" and have tried to get Bree to call him something else. She will not budge - she LOVES the name Sly. I will call him Mr. Sylvester.

Obedience training is in our future, although he has done very well with the transition to our house. I was told to watch for signs that he might start marking things in the house. To my delight, he hasn't done it or shown any signs that he will do it. Also, he hasn't barked yet. I'm sure he will at some point, but he's not a barker, which is nice.

So, without further ado, I introduce you to Mr. Sylvester, our new dog:

It's been a long day. It's almost 9pm and Bree is coloring and the dog is fast asleep next to me on the couch. :)