March 14th, 2007
Husband and I are getting a dog. A miniature schnauzer, if all goes according to plan. I’m so excited I could pop – he’s managing to hide his excitement under a veneer of cool indifference but I know he’ll totally freak out and shit his pants when we get the puppy.
Our journey to a dog has been long, and it’s not over yet. Initially I wanted cats. Actually, I had cats, two fine fellows called Godzilla and Saladin. Husband is allergic to cats, so when I moved to Halifax I had to rehome my babies. Sal is now somewhere in Ontario, which is a good place for him, because he’s the most intensely allergenic cat on Earth, and who likes Ontarians? Godzilla went to Alison, who renamed him Sven (why?), and he lives on the island with a pirate cat. I spent two years having terrible anxiety dreams about abandoning my kitties. And about as long plotting how to get a cat into our lives, clearly in denial about Husband’s allergies.
So I moved on to dogs. Joe and Mel got a sausage, also known as a Boston Terrier, and he’s just about the cutest dog ever. I am smitten. After meeting Loki, I knew I could love a dog. So the research started. Over the last six months or so, I have gone from wanting a Saint Bernard (was I insane?) to a whippet (too delicate and speedy) to finally the miniature schnauzer. I have researched every dog breed on earth. I have carefully looked into breeding practices, pet store policies, and training methods. I settled on a purebred minischnauz for these reasons:
1. A bred dog comes with a guarantee. The breeder I found locally gives a lifetime guarantee to be free of all inherited defects – that’s reassuring.
2. A breeder will let you meet the puppy’s parents, so you get an idea of temperament as well as living conditions.
3. Pet stores are outlets for puppy mills. Don’t buy there!
4. Miniature schnauzers are ideal dogs! Small, non-shedding, friendly, easy to train, cute as a bug’s ear, long lived, and quite robust in terms of health. No major inherited problems aside from things that emerge if you let Fluffy get fat.
In general, I am opposed to purebreeding dogs. It creates all kinds of vulnerabilities health-wise, and is needlessly artificial. I believe in the natural selection method for breeding. But, as a first time dog owner, I want at least a good idea of what kind of animal I’m getting myself in for. I haven’t the experience or the balls to tackle a problem puppy, nor the space for a big ‘un. A bred dog will be predictable in terms of size, main characteristics, temperament, and so on. I’ll know what to expect and be able to prepare.
Now we need to see if we can persuade our landlord to let us have a pet. Technically we’re no pets, but our fingers are crossed. If he says no, we’ll move. Say yes, landlord, say yes!
Be sure to have Rob be the one going to the landlord, passing along the wife’s demand of a dog or else. That’s how I did it when we got Loki.