We did it. We got a new dog

Teddy Bear Oreo joined our family a couple of days ago and he is really fitting in so far.  He is a 13 pound shih tzu, 3 years old and was an owner turn in.  (original owner got sick and couldn’t care for him.)  My husband and I decided to make the switch to a small dog for a number of reasons – stuff like being able to take him on trips with us when we fly, not having to use the car top carrier for luggage due to the dog taking up the cargo area of the SUV, him being able to cuddle in bed with the kids, a longer life expectancy… We really had to think about it since we both consider ourselves to be “big dog people”; but long before I started having dobermans (more than 20 years ago…) I had a shih tzu and he was a great dog.  I tried to consider terriers.  I tried to like them.  But I have to confess that their bark was just something I couldn’t get over.  It is kind of high pitched or something.  I don’t know, it drove me nuts with all of the terriers that we met and many different weekend visits to PetSmart.  In the end, I kept coming back to shih tzus.  I had found a tripawd one that I had hoped to meet; but then got delayed due to a bad ankle/foot sprain.  He was adopted by someone else while I was waiting to get better (needed a week to get to where I could get around on the boot – there was just no way that I was able to get around for all of the walks that would be needed that first week of my injury.  But it all worked out.  This week a new listing came up on Petfinder for a pup and we went to meet him.  The kids all fell in love, I don’t mind his bark, he fit right in with us.

We have now had Teddy for about a day and a half (picked him up late Wednesday night).  He does have worms, which he is being treated for.  Other than that he got a clean bill of health from our vet.  I think we are going to have to work on his “big man on campus” issues – if he sees a bigger dog (so anything other than a Chihuahua, a yorkie, or similar) he has to bark and show everyone he is tough.  We’ll be working on that.  In fact, we are about to head out to work on socializing right now.  🙂

Author: justjac

Spencer is our 5.5 year old Doberman. He was diagnosed with an aggressive fibrosarcoma on 8/22. He had his left front leg amputated on 8/24/11. Finished 15 weeks of chemo on 12/22/11 (mytox and vincristine). Lung mets found 12/28/11. Fought hard and lived a full life right up until the end. Went to Heaven 2/28/12. View all posts by justjac