Puppies vs. Babies

Not to be outdone by the Marrs, K and I got a puppy last night. Actually, we'd been working in a very half-assed manner to get a second dog for a few months now. Bubba is a very social creature, but has never been allowed in the house for long periods of time, so he's been a bit lonely since our other dog slipped away and disappeared one night. I like Bubba, and wish K would let him be an inside dog (he's such a sweetheart of a dog), but she doesn't like the idea of a dog his size being in the house.

Because of Bubba's loneliness, we actually jumped at the chance to get a puppy when our babysitter was helping a friend get rid of a bunch of puppies. The friend had two female Llewellin Setters who had had litters at about the same time and he didn't want to go through the effort of getting them registered and sold, so he was just giving them away. He's one of the wealthier men in the county, so it really wasn't that big of a loss for him. That makes me sound like I'm bragging about the quality of the dogs, but I'm not. Honestly, I'm not so sure the dogs would have fit the AKC style for English Setters, but I'm not usually keen on pure bred dogs anyway. I've not had good experiences with them in the past and the bloodlines that are high enough quality to be worthwhile are more money than I really want to spend on a purchasing a dog. I'd rather waste my pet-related funds on vet bills and food than on the actual purchase price, but, in this case, the price was right so I'm not really risking much. That's a picture of little Bosco, by the way.

He spent the night in the tub. K made him a little bed and we closed the door. He didn't whine too much until after our alarm clocks went off this morning, and that's not bad. We left the TV on a Sirius music channel during the night to mask any puppy cries in case he did start up, but it wasn't really all that necessary.

Of course, he pooped in the tub during the night. That was nice.

He also seems to like E a lot, and E is occasionally interested in him, although puppy claws and baby skin don't make for a good match. E actually outweighs the thing by probably 16-18 lbs, and the puppy hasn't gotten to the hyper stage yet, but just leaning on him was enough to start the cries.

Actually, babies and dogs have a lot in common. First, they can't use the toilet, hence the diapers for E, and the sleeping in the tub for Bosco. Second, they aren't really that interesting as conversationalists. Some dogs are good listeners, but they suck at keeping the conversation going. Babies usually aren't even good listeners. Both babies and puppies smell bad. Don't let anyone fool you into thinking babies smell good. That's only a few minutes out of their day. E smells great when he's just out of the bath, but it's not long until he's a mix of urine, poo, formula, baby food, and stale drool. This puppy has a unique aroma of hay and uncleaned kennel. Sure, you can wipe the face and change the diapers, but that stale drool and sour milk smell never fully leave until bath time. The puppy is probably getting a bath tonight, actually. He'll actually stay sweet smelling a little longer than E will. Both animals cry when left alone. Luckily, no one's going to call me a bad dog owner because I let poor Bosco cry it out last night. He's got to learn to be by himself sometimes, although as soon as he's big enough, he's going to be with Bubba all the time. People might call me a bad parent if I just let E cry it out at night. Plus, E's got like 100 times the lung power. His cries aren't going to be masked by alternative rock played softly enough that I can sleep through it.

Finally, have you ever noticed how many similarities there are between most baby toys and dog toys? The main difference is that baby toys have more writing on them, but then, the baby has as much use for that as the dog does. When the kids get a little older, the toys start getting a little more complex, but as an infant the toys are stuffed or rubber animals with squeakers, chew toys, and blocks and balls. Dog toys are stuffed or rubber animals with squeakers, chew toys, and ropes and balls. Sure, a lot of people use sticks to play fetch with their dogs, but I have a baby. Babies would really be just as happy with a stick as anything else. A box and a stick to hit it with is just perfect. E actually gets a lot of enjoyment from unopened junk mail.

Honestly, I would have preferred an older dog that is already out of most of the puppy stage. There's a lot of annoying things you have to put up with from puppies, just like with babies. Still, if I were to be asked by a young couple (or an old couple for that matter) if they should get a baby or a puppy, I'd tell them the puppy without hesitation. Overall, puppies are much less annoying and only remain children (the worst stage of any animal's life) for a year or two before becoming wonderful companions. Babies remain children for almost two decades and just trade one annoying set of tendencies for another the entire time. Plus, you don't have to send your dog to college or pay for any weddings or have to worry about them going to jail.

I've never really figured out why more people don't understand this.