Hubby and I have both always had a dog in our life. We both grew up with them as kids and now as a married couple we can't imagine life without them. Right now we have two. We have Parker - a Shih Tzu/chihuaua cross and Zina a minature pinscher.
When we moved close to his parents we had to leave my puppy behind until we found a new place. He got very depressed and one day just after Thanksgiving he slipped out the door at my parents. I was heartbroken and angry that we had not been able to bring him with us in the first place. Hubby felt horrible and got Parker the day we moved into our new place a week before Christmas. He weighed half a pound and we carried him in a shirt pocket so we didn't lose him. His first toy was as tall as he was! As he grew up we noticed that his hair did not grow like we had expected. Most Shih Tzus have a thick undercoat and a coarser top coat that flows over it. Parkie got the shallow end of the gene pool unfortunately and while his hair does grow long, very little of it is coarse and flowy. This makes him look like an oversized cotton ball at times. Most often though, his hair is kinky and wildly out of control!
We quickly devised a plan of action after realizing not only that his hair is out of control but that Parker seems to prefer it and will fight tooth and nail to avoid a brush. We let his hair grow through the year and by summer when he looks his worst we spend a tortuous half day shaving him for the hot weather. I know we could go to a groomer, but in our tiny town there isn't one and to be honest I'm afraid if we ever did take him to one, he would be banished for life for his grumpy behavior!
Last week we finally had as much as we could take with his horrific locks and a whole grocery bag of hair later he is.....
Cold!
He spends a lot of his time curled up in his new favorite spot - the closet! He hangs out there curled up on a blanket in the corner. If he isn't there he is snuggled up as close as he can get to us and if there is a blanket, you can bet he is under it!
I don't know what we would do without these guys! We love them so much and truly treat them like our kids a lot of the time. Mom even calls them her granddogs!
What do you do or have (or did or have in some cases) that helps you live in a home without children?
A shot of Zina so she doesn't get jealous!
10 comments:
Parke just looks cold, You guys did a great job shaving him. Kim
Aw, poor Parker! What a cutie though! I used to have a cat that was my surrogate "child". I had to put him down two years ago due to kidney failure and advanced thyroid disease. Hardest thing I ever lived through, aside from infertility was putting him down. Now I fill my time with knitting and reading. LOL
How cute, I just bet he feels cold now!! While I don't see my Phoebe cat as a replacement for children, she certainly manages to annoy me as much as a toddler might - she woke me up at 5am this morning demanding food and I told her that she could jolly well wait!
Waaaay too cute your guys. I never grew up with pets neither did my husband. But we are recent owners of Florenzo that showed up at our house and has been here for awhile now. I Showed & Telled it today. I totally agree that a pet brings so much joy, especially when we there are no kids around....yet. Someday huh?
They are both so cute. I think you did really good on the shave. Thats an art you know! :0)
Dogs are a must- always have been in our family, and when we had to put dog our families first dog in the fall, we couldn't wait till spring to find another one.
A grocery bag of hair, LOL!! That's hilarious!!
My S&T
Stopping by from Show and Tell.
Poor naked Parker :) He looks beautiful.
When we brush our St Bernards during their summer shedding we get a grocery bag full of fur every day.
What cuties. I love Parker's new do.
I think dog's get embarrassed with the new hair-do! Our Salty Dog does the same thing when he gets his summer cut.
We have two grown kids (I have been stepping for 23 years) and two grands. So much fun! We are also adopting so more kids to play with!
But our favorite child is Salty!
Alyson LID 01/27/06 IA China
S&T
David and I are also animal lovers. Took us 6 yrs to finally get pregnant, but when we got together we started out with 2 cats, one female, one male... then he 'got her' literally the day before his surgery to be fixed. So lest to say we had a litter of 3 kitties, 2 of which we kept lol, so that leaves us with four. Now we have a shihtzu, her name is Gypsy, she's 9 mons old now. We also have a bird named Sky.lol So yes instead of human kids we've always had our fur babies, so it should be an adjustment in Nov when our miracle arrives. :)
You're fur babies are beautiful though!:)
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