Why Did I Keep This Dog?

Well, I’m gearing up for Riley’s birthday on Thursday.  I can’t believe she’ll be a year old already!  I bought her a bully stick, a new collar, and some new balls.  My mom got her a couple of treats off of the treat bar at Petco, a toy tire from Old Navy, and some Frosty Paws for her and Chloe to enjoy.  Shhh…don’t tell Riley what she’s getting!

It seems like it was just yesterday that I went to pick her up from the farm.  We couldn’t catch her in the puppy pen, she kept running away.  The breeder’s elderly mother was about to fall in the pen while she was trying to catch her.  She did a high pitched yip the whole way home.  All 2 hours of the trip.  I had to keep talking to keep her quiet.  I started reading all the papers they gave me with her out loud to keep her from yipping.  She barfed twice on the way home.  But finally, she was home.

The first night I had her, I had to take her out in the middle of the night and fell coming up the stairs with her.  The second night I had her, she fell off the bed…thump!  The third night I had her, the stupid back door locked after I took her outside for a middle of the night potty break.  I had to throw rocks at my parents’ window then leave her in the backyard and come around to the front to repeatedly ring the doorbell.

After about the third night I decided she could no longer sleep in the bed with me…she just wouldn’t ever settle down to go to sleep.  So she started sleeping in the bathroom (“The Pen”).  She would wake up at 5:30 every morning and start her high pitched yipping until we got up with her.  So we let her yip for 45 minutes to an hour every morning for about 3 weeks until she finally outgrew that phase.

She used to pee in the house before she was potty trained.  Luckily it only took her about 2 weeks to catch on and be housebroken.  She used to try to chew the rungs of the chairs but thankfully left them alone after we told her no a few times.  She used to try to chew the carpet.  She used to destroy things and turn water on in the bathtub.

SO glad she’s outgrown all that!  She still flops over like a dead fish if she’s in trouble and I try to drag her by the collar into her crate.

Why exactly did I keep her?  I guess because I love her even through all her faults.  Here’s to you, “Skeeter Lapinsk!”