Dogs and Toddlers

I adopted a one-year-old shih tzu over the weekend and I've learned something very important in the short time I've had him. There are a lot of similarities between young dogs and toddlers. They need attention often, they get hyper, they need naps, and they need to be taught everything. My favorite is the fact that if either the dog or the toddler is quiet, you better find out what they're getting into.

I love this little dog who's the size of my cat (he weighs about four pounds more than the cat, so he's a little stockier). It would be nice if he'd sleep later or go back to bed, though. I am not a morning person. I've never been a morning person, I've always been a night owl. My new dog likes to go to bed about eleven and get up at six or seven. This morning, I woke up to a furry little attack of licking and snuffling because my dog needed to go out. There are worse ways to wake up, I admit. But did he want to go back to bed when he came in? No, of course not. I tried to go back to bed and the little fuzzball had a massive hug attack. When I finally gave in and got up for the day (at 7:20...grr...), he was the happiest pup alive.

Obviously, we're going to need an adjustment period to get used to each other. I love this little dog, though, and he seems to have become my dog almost instantly, so it's all good. Now I just have to get used to early mornings, hug attacks when I'm in the middle of something, and checking to see what he's getting into when it gets quiet. Boy, does that last sentence sound like something I once said when my two-year-old niece came to visit.

I figure I'll be in great shape when my niece comes to visit again. My little dog should have me well-trained to deal with a toddler again. Hopefully, I'll have him just as well-trained by then and he'll know the meaning of the word "sit."