Being a Havanese, Dusty’s hair grows fast and long.

After a haircut, within about two months, we can’t see his eyes.

So, one of the best parts about a haircut for Dusty is that we can see his eyes again!  Its amazing how much communication there is with our eyes.

When his hair gets long and is flopping over his eyes, it is difficult to know what he’s thinking, unless he’s greeting a visitor with his welcoming barks. (we know then that he’s trying to protect his homestead with his very intimidating 9 pound frame)

Check out how cute he looks…….  🙂

 

Little Dusty is breaking our “no jumping on the kitchen table” rule, and I think he knows it.  🙂

Well, almost.  This furry pet is a precious guinea pig named “Ginger” that is staying with us for a week, while her owner is off at Summer Camp.

Ginger’s owner is a friend of Broadway’s and brought Ginger home a few months ago. Imagineer has been desperately hoping we will relent and say “yes” to her constant requests for a guinea pig, so when the opportunity came up to babysit a guinea pig, we jumped at it.

What better way to learn the daily responsibilities than than babysitting for a week?

Imagineer has already learned how to clean the cage and re-stuff it with bedding and hay.  Guinea pigs enjoy eating hay – who knew?  I learn something new every day.

Will Imagineer finally become an owner of a cute guinea pig?

We have been hesitating because we do not feel that Dusty gets enough attention.  However, Imagineer is showing quite a bit of maturing these days, and I am warming up to the idea of another furry family member.  Imagineer is brushing Dusty’s hair more often and giving him daily walks.

Imagineer will be 9 in a few months, and it really is quite amazing how that number seems to be a turning point for many kids.  She just seems to understand responsibility more.  For example, she will remind me when it is time to go to swim practice, instead of complaining.  She will make her bed without much prompting.  She wants to know what the list of items is that she will need for third grade , which she will begin in August.  These are all excellent signs.  🙂

The question is, “Are Mountain Man and I really ready for another live thing to enter our house?”  I have a difficult time just keeping my plants watered.  And they are the type of plants that need watering every few weeks.  Yes, I’m talking about succulents.

About two years ago, we let Broadway adopt a hamster, and she promised us up and down that she would take good care of him.  Well, the excitement lasted about 3 months.  It then became a battle of wills when it came time every week to clean Beary’s cage.  Not fun at all.  Especially since I had a two year old at the time, Bam-Bam.  He is 4 1/2 now and much more manageable.  🙂

About a year after bringing Beary home, we had a friend babysit Beary while we went to Disneyland for the week.  When we came back, we noticed that this friend and her family loved Beary.  So, I spoke with Broadway and we agreed to offer Beary and the cage, food etc… to our friend.  They were thrilled and loved little Beary for a good year and a half or so, and gave him lots of attention, which made us all very happy.

Anyway, it does not seem fair to not let Imagineer try out having her own pet just because of her sister’s experience.  So, we’ll see…..

Benefits of Guinea Pigs over Hamsters

• Guinea Pigs are nocturnal – love this!  Hamsters typically are running on their wheels all night long.  The quiet wheels help, but still….
• Guinea Pigs live 5-6 years – Hamsters live about 2-3 years, which is just so sad.  Its so hard to say goodbye to a loved pet, and every 2-3 years would be very stressful.
• Guinea Pigs are cuddly – Since they are much larger than hamsters, you can really cuddle with these little guys, and they do not feel as vulnerable and weak.
• Guinea Pigs are social – They really enjoy being taken out of their cage and handled.  They love being fed carrots, romaine lettuce and apples in particular.  At least, thats been our experience this week.

As you can probably tell, by reading between the lines, I think the guinea pig is a pretty cool pet.

Still trying to decide if Imagineer is ready for the responsibility.  We’ll see….

Have you ever had a guinea pig in your home?  What was your experience like?

 

Broadway was terrified of dogs from the age of 3-8.  She wasn’t just scared of large dogs, but small dogs and medium sized dogs too.  Basically, whenever she saw an animal that barked and had a tail, she ran the other way.  I know this sounds extreme, but it was true.

When we would go to a new house to visit friends, I would have to go to the front door while my daughter watched me ask them if they had a dog in the house.  For our friends that Broadway already knew had a dog, I had to request that he/she be put in their kennel while we visited.  NOT FUN!!

I felt like we were the only parents going through this, so it was difficult to find anyone who understood.  I even hired a dog whisperer to come over to our house to try to shake this fear out of her with his gentle bernese mountain dog.  DIDN’T WORK.

We did make progress in those two hours though – Broadway was able to pet the top of the dog’s head.  Keep in mind, this was the calmest dog you have ever met and she was basically just laying on the ground and did not move as Ms. Broadway petted her.  Nevertheless, progress was made.

An End to the Fear was Near

Finally, at the age of 8, Broadway came to her senses and realized she would have to kick this fear to the curb because it was becoming quite disruptive to her life.

She started to do some major research of dogs in that big encyclopedia of dogs book that you have probably seen around.  She decided that it would have to be a calm dog that was not territorial.  She was addicted to the encyclopedia and one day made a ballot for the whole family to write down our top five dogs.

She had been talking about several breeds, so we were familiar with what she was considering. Also, Mountain Man and I had finally come to terms with the fact that we had agreed to bring another living thing into our home.  We knew, in our heart of hearts, that this was truly the only way to get Ms. Broadway past this irrational fear.  So, we were ready to start listing our top breeds.

I knew I wanted the dog to be on the smaller side and I knew that I did not want a dog that shed its fur constantly.  At the time, I had an 8,6, and 2 year old, and was just not up to vacuuming every day, so I requested that Ms. Broadway look into the breeds with hair that do not shed.

The Havanese kept coming up at the top of our list, and after a few weeks of deliberation, we decided that this was the breed for us.

We researched local breeders and found a great one.  We saw a picture of Dusty on their website and instantly fell in love.  When we went to visit him, the kids were instantly comfortable with him and connected immediately.  Even Ms. Broadway, who at first was reluctant, still fighting her fear, was able to have him in her lap after about 5 minutes.

After bringing Dusty home, it took about 3 days for Broadway to have zero fear around dogs.  It really was quite amazing to witness the quick turnaround.  I was expecting this to help, but not to completely eradicate the fear so swiftly.

I believe that once Broadway could see what it was like to have a dog of her own who she loved so much, she could better understand other dog owners and their dogs.  She understood almost immediately that special bond and the fact that these furry creatures become one of your family members.  🙂

So, if you have the same problem we did, I highly recommend thinking about finding a dog that would fit in well with your family. You might just get the quick result we did!