Sunday, April 27, 2008

Stanley's first year with us

I was giving Stanley his weekly bath today and it brought back a lot of memories to me. Last year we had a very nice Spring. The weather got warm end of March. One fine weekend hubby suggested that we go to the shelter to see if there are any dogs we liked there. I've never had any pets in my entire life (yes I live a very sheltered life) because my parents thought that it'll be difficult to take care of the pet since we're always traveling here and there therefore it'll be troublesome to have a pet since we'll have to feed them and take care of them. Anyway we went to the shelter near our house and actually found a pug name Ruby that hubby really likes but I was really hesitant because Ruby sheds a lot. So the next day we decided to go to the shelter in the next town and that was where I saw Stanley...Stanley was really hyper but he was so cute and I decided to take him out to get to know him. MIL and FIL was with us at that time and Stanley was all over FIL. FIL just got along so well with Stanley that I thought that he should adopt him instead..
Anyway we didn't make the decision to adopt him straightaway because I was really afraid of the responsibility etc. That week I was contemplating whether we want a dog at home..Hubby was asking me almost everyday because if we wanted him we got to tell the shelter as there might be some body else that might be interested in him. Finally we decided we'll adopt him..That was a huge decision for me because it meant responsibility. I started buying things for him and we could not get him until the end of the week because he had to go to the vet to get neutered and some of his shots. When they day finally came we were like new parents adopting a child; we had everything all set up and we bought everything we could think of. I was a happy mom and I could not wait to take him home with me.
It was hell the first two months when we first got him. The poor boy, he was used to going to the bathroom outside but the stubborn me wanted to train him to go to the toilet on the newspaper. He got all messed up and he was having accidents everywhere. I was distraught because I felt like I could no longer do it; cleaning his mess and trying every remedy out there to train him to go on the paper. Hubby and I were getting irritated cleaning his mess. After many many months we gave up..He wanted to go outside we'll take him outside. So he had to be "retrain" to hold and only go outside. He would still have accidents here and there at the beginning but because we were training him again we were ready for that and he wasn't having that much accident that he had before.
Next was because of his nature he loves to dig and chase rabbits, squirrels or any animals out there therefore when he's not leashed properly he'll run away and we'll have a difficult time asking him to come back. One weekend when daddy was out of town he broke his collar and ran up the hill opposite my house. That was when daddy and I decided that we should send Stanley to school to be discipline since we have no idea at all on how to discipline dog. I really had a lot of fun with him at school although it was in the middle of winter and having to rush from work and get him ready for school I think it was worth the time and money. I think he learned a lot and if we have time I think he would be better (we haven't really been practicing with him).
It's going to be almost ONE year since we've had him in May. I'm so glad that we decided to adopt him and have him in our lives. We had to adapt to having a puppy and the responsibility but I think it's all worth it to me. The year that we had him we've taken him to the cabin and most recently Texas with us for SIL's wedding. He started sleeping with us every night end of last year when we were sure that he would not have any accident during the night. He's been my little pride and joy since then. I used to have my profile pictures or my desktop of pictures of hubby and me but everything has changed to Stanley now. Every profile out there has a picture of Stanley, My desktop has a picture of Stanley even my cell phone's desktop is a picture of Stanley. Hubby said that it's now all about Stanley. He don't even need to take any pictures with me anymore because all I care about it Stanley..lol..
Everyone around me tells me that Stanley is a really lucky dog to have us. We have spend a ton of money buying him tons, upgrading his food, buying him a bigger and more expensive crate, taking him to the vet and the list goes on and on...I think it's worth every penny to me as I hope that he'll stay with me longer. I am hesitant to even have any kids because I don't want Stanley to feel left out but that might change some day. We agreed that we'll just have another person to play with Stanley since he's so playful..:P...I'm also considering on getting another dog so that Stanley can have someone else to play with since we're not home about 9 hours a day on average but we'll have to see with that. We found out over Christmas that Stanley actually lived with another dog before he was given up for adoption and so happen hubby's cousin actually adopted the other dog. His cousin's wife was actually considering between Stanley and the other dog. Thank god she didn't pick Stanley (I guess he's meant for us :}) and if we ever have a chance I want to take Stanley to play with the other dog to see if he remembers which I doubt because he just loves to play doesn't matter who or what. I asked hubby the other day if his cousin didn't adopt the other dog and we were at the shelter and we knew that Stanley had someone that came from the same house with him whether he would consider adopting the other one and he said he would seriously consider it (hopefully that means he'll seriously consider getting a friend/sibling for Stanley).
This past year Stanley has brought a lot of work and problems in our lives but most importantly he's brought us a ton of joy and happiness not only in our lives but to our parent's lives. Both of our parent's loves him because he's such a good dog. I don't regret choosing him and having him in our lives. We just need to work harder so that we can spend more money on him I guess :P..If ever in future when we are too busy with our lives with other things I will always be able to come back here and read this post and remind ourselves that he'll always be our number ONE boy and we'll always love him.


2 comments:

Leena said...

That's an interesting post on Stanley . I can sure tell how much the both of you love Stanley. So very very much. He's such a lucky dog.

No surprise that people who come read your blog actually think that Stanley is your son, and not a dog. You just have so much love going on for him.

Sunshine said...

haha..actually a lot of people really think that Stanley is my kid!
I hope that in future my kid will treat him well too because he is our first..LOL..Actually my hubby sometimes complain that he is a dog and I should not treat him like a kid!hahah...

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