Life with a dog
Today is Thanksgiving, and I have so much to be thankful about. I'm a child of God, happily married to my husband, life is wonderful and relatively stress-free, we have a great church community, and we finally got a dog!
Life with a dog is wonderful.
It's definitely been an incentive to come home/stay home and to wake up earlier in the mornings (to let Jasmine out). And I love how she's such a snugglebug. We make her sleep in the dog bed at night because there simply isn't enough space on our bed for another creature, but in the morning she gets on the bed and snuggles up to us. If you've never had a dog snuggle up to you quietly, you don't know what love is. =P
I also like taking her out on walks and seeing people smile at her (because she's such a cutie). I used to go all mushy with other people's dogs and now I have one of my own for others to go gaga over! The other day at Duke Gardens, two girls came up to us to asked to pet Jasmine. I was only too happy to oblige and make their day. =D Everyone who's met Jasmine has fallen in love with her because she's so sweet and friendly. How can you resist a dog who cuddles up to you contentedly?
One of the best things about adopting an older dog is that she's fully toilet-trained and knows her manners. I also don't have to worry about her chewing my shoes or destroying our furniture - she knows better than to do that. I haven't even had to discipline her yet because she doesn't have any offensive habits. Even when she begs for food at the dinner table, she does so quietly with her puppy eyes and isn't obnoxious or pushy about it. Her previous owner must have trained her well because she sits very nicely while waiting for the harness to be put on her before we take her on walks. In a way, I feel like having an older dog comes with trying to figure out her mysterious past : What commands did her owner use? Does she know any tricks? What used to be her daily routine and diet?
I also wonder if she misses her previous owner(s).
I know I make Jasmine sound like some quiet, old dog, but she's really perky and playful as well. She loves going on long walks and her body is lean and lithe. I believe she's fitter than we are because she seems able to go on and on. Perhaps her previous owner used to be a jogger and took her along for jogs. I was also unsure if she'd be interested in toys, but I bought her a cheap toy for a dollar and she plays with it often. Having never really trained my own dogs, it's pretty neat to have a dog fetch a toy and bring it to you without being told to. It's like I'm reaping the benefits of all the prior training she's had without any of the effort.
Anyway, having a dog has been a really positive experience so far. I'll end this post with a picture of her (and her toy) because you all deserve some cuteness in your lives. =D
Life with a dog is wonderful.
It's definitely been an incentive to come home/stay home and to wake up earlier in the mornings (to let Jasmine out). And I love how she's such a snugglebug. We make her sleep in the dog bed at night because there simply isn't enough space on our bed for another creature, but in the morning she gets on the bed and snuggles up to us. If you've never had a dog snuggle up to you quietly, you don't know what love is. =P
I also like taking her out on walks and seeing people smile at her (because she's such a cutie). I used to go all mushy with other people's dogs and now I have one of my own for others to go gaga over! The other day at Duke Gardens, two girls came up to us to asked to pet Jasmine. I was only too happy to oblige and make their day. =D Everyone who's met Jasmine has fallen in love with her because she's so sweet and friendly. How can you resist a dog who cuddles up to you contentedly?
One of the best things about adopting an older dog is that she's fully toilet-trained and knows her manners. I also don't have to worry about her chewing my shoes or destroying our furniture - she knows better than to do that. I haven't even had to discipline her yet because she doesn't have any offensive habits. Even when she begs for food at the dinner table, she does so quietly with her puppy eyes and isn't obnoxious or pushy about it. Her previous owner must have trained her well because she sits very nicely while waiting for the harness to be put on her before we take her on walks. In a way, I feel like having an older dog comes with trying to figure out her mysterious past : What commands did her owner use? Does she know any tricks? What used to be her daily routine and diet?
I also wonder if she misses her previous owner(s).
I know I make Jasmine sound like some quiet, old dog, but she's really perky and playful as well. She loves going on long walks and her body is lean and lithe. I believe she's fitter than we are because she seems able to go on and on. Perhaps her previous owner used to be a jogger and took her along for jogs. I was also unsure if she'd be interested in toys, but I bought her a cheap toy for a dollar and she plays with it often. Having never really trained my own dogs, it's pretty neat to have a dog fetch a toy and bring it to you without being told to. It's like I'm reaping the benefits of all the prior training she's had without any of the effort.
Anyway, having a dog has been a really positive experience so far. I'll end this post with a picture of her (and her toy) because you all deserve some cuteness in your lives. =D
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