Ok, so he really wouldn't say that if he could talk. It would be more like, "Huh? Is someone talkin to me? Doe dee doe". Not that he's dumb, he's just lazy. Seriously. Laziest puppy I have ever met, which suits me just fine. Eats and drinks laying down. No joke.
Here is the story of how Stan became our newest addition...
One Saturday morning, we received our local newspaper on our driveway. This was obviously by mistake because, well, we don't read the paper. I will forever blame our neighbor, Jack, for us buying this dog. That was supposed to be Jack's paper.
We have been wanting a dog since Bear passed away but I've been trying to restrain myself for the mere fact that toddler+puppy+working mommy and daddy= more exhaustion than necessary. But, low and behold, there was an ad in the paper (ZOMG, WITH A PICTURE!!!) for a litter of American Bulldogs.
"Hmmm", I thought, "Those are the cutest dogs and they are so good. Maybe I should look into this breed". (I based this thought of of our neighbors at our old house who had one. Patch, was her name, and she was so sweet and so cute.)
I immediately asked Dustin if we could go look at them. I truly just wanted to expose Lily to the idea of a puppy since she is not too keen on dogs in general. I had zero intentions of buying one. Zero.
"NO. If we go look I will want one, so no way". His answer was final, but I still began researching this breed, you know, just in case.
Then...
3 days later. Lily went for a walk with my aunt and my mom and saw a few "goggies". She was intrigued by them this time and started asking, "Where did goggies go???", as soon as she got home from that walk, and asked this for 3 days straight.
"Babe! This is a perfect time to go look at a dog! She's interested", I said on Tuesday, just three days after the newspaper incident.
Long story short, Dustin consented and we packed Lily up and took her to see the litter of pups. Only it wasn't a litter. Stan was the last one. He was $150. His paws were huge. He was clumsy and lazy. I mention all of this because this was the EXACT way that Bear happened upon my life. Same.exact.scenario. So, of course, THIS WAS A SIGN. Isn't that the way the universe works?? Signs?? Of course it is. In my world.
We stayed and played with Stan for about 30 minutes. Lily did so well with him which really surprised us. Dustin was ready to take him home, like, right then and there. Me, not so much. I was honestly just using this as a gage IF we should decide to get a puppy.
But...then there were all of those signs. Maybe we should get him?
So, we put a deposit down on him and said we would think about it, but as I looked at Dustin on the way home, his mind was already made up. He was so excited. I was, too, but I had this mini voice in my head saying, "You're a fucking moron. A puppy is like having a newborn child. Do not do this right now". That voice was pretty harsh...but...Dustin looked so happy and excited. He wanted a dog that was his. Bear was never his. He was already smitten.
So, the next day, Dustin went and picked him up. The "breeders" (I use that term loosely because that whole house/situation was very odd and chaotic, to say the least) were calling him "Kyzan", which we weren't a fan of, so we named him something that rhymed with it since he appeared to be responding to it.
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It's been two weeks and it's been...interesting. He's a good puppy. He's very smart. He's respectful of Lily. He's learning his place quickly. But he is a puppy.
He chews on everything. He has separation anxiety from Dustin so he spends his nights with me whining, barking and pissing all over the place. He's lazy, which can be a good thing, but I really wish he liked walks. Oh, and....he's not Bear. He makes me miss Bear more, which is the exact opposite of what I thought would happen. This too shall pass and I will grow to love him and bond with him. I know this, but right now we're in the trenches.
Do I regret the decision? Not really, only because I do believe in the cliche that everything happens for a reason, but I do wish we would have waited about a year so we weren't dealing with an almost-two-year-old and a puppy, but hey, they'll grow up together and be best friends (I hope). She is already loving bossing him around, which is a plus, right?
More pictures to come, along with plenty of "adventures with Stan" stories.
Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, I'm pretty sure that this experience has pushed us from, "we're not sure if we're going to have a second kid", to, "there is no way in hell that we're having a second kid". Judge away. I'm too tired to add more work to this mix.
