The "other" family members! (Part 1 of 4)

Why haven't you seized the boy?? "Because I have a big head and little arms!"

I am obsessed with my goats right now and they definitely occupy a lot of my time, but I cannot forget the other four-legged loves of my life. These fur-babies bring me joy everyday. There is nothing like a dog to greet me when I get home, wag their tails at me even when I am in the foulest of moods, cuddle with me while I am being lazy, and follow me everywhere while I am busy. I am one of "those kind of people" who thinks a house isn't a home until it has a dog in it. If one is good, four are better in my book! Since my wedding day, we have had a cocker spaniel, a German Shepherd, a Norweign Elkhound, an English Mastiff, two Pugs, a German Short-haired Pointer, a Draatharr (German Wirehaired), two Yorkshire Terriers, and a miniature Schnauzer. The last four are the ones that currently are residing at this home. The first Yorkie, Bowe-Man (pronounced Bo-Man) is what we lovingly refer to as Yorkie-gigantus. This is the scientific name the family came up with for this anomaly in the toy breeds! I know better than to buy a dog while on a "schedule", but because I so wanted to get a tiny puppy for my daughter for Christmas, my logical brain cried 'uncle' to my Christmas-mania brain! The breeder I called with an advertisement for "tiny toy Yorkie puppies" took my deposit, promised this puppy would be ready for pick-up the week before Christmas and sent me a picture of the tiniest puppy ever! Two days before pick-up, I got a phone call that this puppy was not going to be ready to go to his home until after Christmas. HEARTBREAKING! Images of Christmas morning flashed in my head: Bright and early, our precious 9 year old daughter looking under the Christmas tree for her gift, seeing nothing, looking back at us with those huge "Cindy-Loo-Who" eyes filled with confusion. Behind her are her irresponsible parents who were counting on a puppy to arrive before Christmas saying, "Honey, your present will be here in a couple of weeks". Unacceptable! My daughter would be scarred for life and I could see her in later life writing her memoirs that would make 'Mommy Dearest' script look like a Mother's Day Hallmark card! Thank goodness this angel of a puppy mill owner, oops, I mean, Yorkie breeder, said she had been holding a very tiny puppy back, he was nearly four months old but had been way too tiny to sell before this time. She generously chose to sell us to him for an additional $200. Can you read the sarcasm in my blog??? We go to pick up our daughter's Christmas puppy and after a five hour drive we were amazed (horrified) with the size of this "tiny" puppy! The lady, and I do use that term loosely, said his larger than imagined size was due to his age and that he was completely done growing. If one looks at the breed standard for a Yorkshire Terrier, one would discover that a Yorkie should weigh anywhere between four to seven pounds. Okay, ready to guess how much our "Tiny, Toy Yorkie puppy" weighs?? Seventeen pounds on a "light" day and only if he had spent the morning walking to the bottom of our street, throwing himself down on the sidewalk for all my neighbors to see, and then "allowing" me to pick him up and carry him back up the street! If Cesar Millan was there to witness it, I would be told in no uncertain terms that I am humanizing this animal, I need to quit believing that Bowe-Man was somehow a victim, and to be his pack leader. Obviously, no one told my pack that this transformation should happen because Dog Whisperer is on in this house nearly every morning and the volume is all the way up! Why aren't they listening?? :) We wouldn't trade Bowe-Man for anything and I suppose everything happens for a reason. If I need to be thankful for the mistakes I have made, he is my favorite! Bowe-Man is one of the very best results of a bait and switch scheme ever!