Puppy!

Lowchen puppies. Born May 5th, 2012. Photo taken May 14th.

We have some very exciting news to report from our household. On Friday of last week we officially committed to a puppy from the litter pictured. Our new little girl will be coming home sometime during the week of July 1st. 


For several months now we've been discussing, researching and making decisions about whether or not to bring a new dog into the family. I've been having lots of heart to hearts with Asher about getting a sibling, but he has not given me any sort of definitive answer about his feelings on the topic. 


What started the search and the desire for a new dog is my desire to have a companion animal for emotional and physical support. I spend my days at home, mostly quiet and resting, and feel that the snuggle time with a dog would be very therapeutic. Asher is always near me, but he isn't into a lot of cuddling. Getting a new dog is part of our way helping me to live the best life I can with my illness. It's been so helpful to focus on the puppy search in the midst of everything.


I'm so excited to finally be able to say we are getting a new family member! Some history indicates that the Lowchen used to keep princesses company in the middle ages. I think I will just wear my tiara while I hang out with our new dog! :) Oh wait, I don't have a tiara! :P  Searching for our new family member has been a very time-consuming but exciting process...and we know the adventure is only beginning!  

The puppies sunning on May 14th. Two girls and one boy.

Here's a little more about our journey to this dog for those of you who are interested. I'll try to answer the most frequently asked questions I get when I tell people we are getting a new dog! :)

Do I have a name picked out? No. I am carefully looking through my Jewish baby name book and the name will be a surprise. When we adopted Asher I had two names picked out and did not decide on a final name until the moment I met him. 

What breed are we getting? A Lowchen. 

Why did we pick this breed? We first fell in love with the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel but after a couple of visits with acquaintances who had them, we found the shedding to be too much for us. We knew that this time around we wanted to focus our search on dogs bred to be companion animals. We needed to find a dog that was non-shedding, good for allergy sufferers, and small (but not too small) in size so that both of us could lift it for the entirety of its life. This pretty quickly narrows the breed choices! 

Our biggest focus was to find a breed that was well-tempered. The Lowchen is a companion animal that is a good fit for the elderly (hence a good fit for me! :)), good with children, good with strangers, good with other dogs, playful and joyful, not excessively barky, and very adaptable. They enjoy walking, but do okay if they miss a walk. Basically our focus was on Temperament, Temperament, Temperament! Another plus about the Lowchen is that, because it is fairly rare, it is generally a very healthy breed. The coat can be kept in a puppy cut and the dogs don't mind being fussed over and brushed.

What does a Lowchen look like? Cute! :) They come in a variety of colors--it looks like ours may be gray and white, as the puppies will lighten and change as they grow. When used for show they are  presented in a lion cut, which we will not be using. We will keep our dog in a puppy cut to keep it manageable for us. You can also leave them long. Here is a link to a video of a full-coated Lowchen in action (not from the breeder we are using). You'll fall in love, I promise. They are about 9-18 lbs.

Why did we get a puppy? Why didn't we rescue a dog? Ah, if I could only express how much and how carefully we weighed this decision. We ultimately felt that, after advice from others, Asher might respond better to a puppy than an older dog. We also found it hard to find rescue dogs that were small and non-shedding. Mostly, we had to decide what we could handle and what would most enhance our lives right now. We felt that we had the most chance for success in choosing a puppy from a breeder that we truly trust. Making this decision was not easy and I do still feel guilt over not rescuing a dog. I also know that adding more stress to our lives by bringing in a dog with significant health or behavior challenges is not fair to myself or to Mom. I cannot bear to add things to our lives that add to Mom's stress.

Where are we getting the dog? We will be getting our puppy from a breeder in NY. She has been amazing in emailing with me and answering any question I ask her. After a LOT of dialoging with her, we decided that she was the person we wanted to work with. She is so committed to her dogs, making them homemade food, going to dog shows, only breeding one to two litters a year, etc. that we felt very comfortable with her. She even emails me updates on the puppies as to how they are growing and what changes are happening (i.e. their eyes opened on Saturday!).

When was the last time we had a puppy? Um, 1990. So, if you have any favorite books or DVDs--especially DVDs since reading is so hard for me--we're all ears. We are in for an adventure. Basically we have blocked out the next several months to be completely puppy-centered. :)

Thanks for sharing in our joy and excitement! I'm over the moon!

Blessings,

Emily