We Swore We Wouldn't Get Another Dog...
 

...until we stopped homeschooling and I had less on my plate--since I'm ALWAYS the one who gets stuck with the pet care, regardless of who the pet belongs to. It's a little difficult to give a dog enough attention and care when you're homeschooling, cooking, cleaning, doing lesson plans and of course, quilting/sewing/crafting. And, our last dog bit our youngest daughter in the hand--the daughter who has a medical condition that has serious consequences for hand injuries. Finding a new home for that dog broke my oldest DD's heart since it was her dog, but she knew it was for the best. All this made me very leery about getting another one. Then my wonderful brother (said with dripping sarcasm) told my DD about a friend who had inherited his mother's dogs and since there was 8 of them in their house now, they would have to put some of them down if they couldn't find homes. I'm a sucker for rescue pets. I just can't bear to put down a pet for such a poor reason.

That's how Bitsy came into our lives. All the pets we have ever had have been rescued pets, except for two. We initially said no, but our oldest, age 9, came to us with a plan to take full responsibility. She assure us that she would bathe the tiny dog, clean up any messes, walk her and feed/water her. When she found out what was going to happen to this pup (only 6 months old!), her heart began to break all over again. We couldn't stand that so now we are dog owners again. So far, so good. She definitely a lap dog and sleeps most of the day. My only complaints are that we were told she was house broken, which she's not, and she whines when we have to ignore her to do school.

The picture of her with my oldest DD was when she first came to us a few days ago and she was very nervous. The other picture is of her, in her glory, owning the couch beside DH.

Aw she's so cute and probably scared to death being the only dog after being used to 7 others around. Maybe she's just nervous and that's why she seems not housetrained. Probably when she gets used to you all she'll be fine. Maybe if you give her a soft toy when you can't be with her it'll help. Good luck. bless you for taking her in. Sue

Oh, what a precious puppy! I've had a dog all my life, but I swear the current one--a yellow lab--is the last. The one before was a sheltie and I was also told he was housebroken. He might have been in their house, but I had to train him all over again. It was well worth the effort though. Good luck with your new doggie.

We have 4 of them and the last one was a rescue from our shelter 2 days before they euthanized the entire population.

I am so happy that she has a forever home now, your daughter and her make a cute couple!!! I can tell she will be VERY spoiled like ours are. Good luck and happy new years!!


Billy

She is adorable (and so is the little girl!) I am sure Bitsy will become more comfortable in her new surroundings and not whine when she is ignored. She is used to having many playmates! We rescued a 4 yo shepherd in September and he is awful when we don't give him our full attention! But, he is getting better. Give the sweet baby some time and I am sure she will settle right in!!

How could anyone say no to that face! haha Reminds me of a dog my husband and I got after we were first married. His name was Sam and someone stole him from my inlaws house.

Aww what a sweet pup, and that smile is worth a million words on your daughters face. I have a bulldog that can be a pure brat when he wants attention and that can be most of the time lol . I would suggest crate training to help with housebreaking and to limit distractions during school time.

What a sweet face. How could you have possibly say no to that, lol? You are so had, lol. Good luck reminding the pup that it is housebroken. Remember you have to watch for signs. I have one that will still potty in the house if we don't pay attention to her signals. Our fault. But the love they give us in return.....worth it.

I have a little chihuahua who thinks she is an 85# rotweiller !! I got her when she was 5 weeks old (she's now 5 yrs) and she is like a shadow. No matter where I am in the house or what I am doing she has to be right there. We have spanish tile floors in all but the bedrooms in our house and she refuses to set her little bottom on the cold floor, so have dogs beds in the Kitchen, hallway, living room and under my sewing table in the dining room. We get so attached to them that they are just part of the family. Your sweet little one is so adorable and the look on that child's face is priceless....

So cute-how could you resist? LOL

She is an adorable dog! Hopefully, she will remember her training soon. She's still very young.

The crate training is why she's whining! :LOL: I know it must be hard on her to be all alone after having so many playmates but I can't let her run loose while she's not yet housebroken. So, she's in her crate and she'll just have to learn that school hours are nap time for her. There's 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon so I know she can hold it. I think she's just lonely because she's more than happy when my DD is right beside her crate.

What a cute pup. What breed is she? She reminds me of Erin Russek's dog, Rio. Check out this pic - makes me wish I could feel the soft fur!

http://erinrussek.typepad.com/one-pi...g-is-that.html

They are both adorable.

There was no way to resist that story was there? I'm betting things work out great. They both look very happy.

OH she has the most soulful eyes!! so cute.

Your daughter looks soooooooooo happy with her new best friend. She is such a pretty dog. I am so glad that you gave her a second chance at life. God bless you all. :thumbup:

Her mother is a cockapoo with papers and her father was a dotson (weiner dog). Thankfully, though, she looks nothing like her pop, lol! Her hair resembles a wire hair terrier but it's so soft to the touch.

Thank you for taking in this precious pup. Your daughter is adorable and will hold up her end of the bargain - she looks so happy and she'll remember this forever.

cute pooch! glad you rescued her and hope the housetraining comes along quickly

She is adorable!! what a face!! I swear by Kennel training. Maybe get a kennel she could go into when you are doing your lessons. Everyone in the family has to be very consistant with comands. She probably is nervouse and once she get used to you all, she will be fine. Our dogs loved their kennels when they were puppies, all we would have to say is "kennel up"" and they would go right in there (with a treat of course for reassurance they are a good dog for obeying) good luck!!

Thanks! We also swear by kennel training. All of our dogs have been kennel trained since we normally get big dogs. And big dogs tend to chew so we crate them at night. We also find kennel training helps with the housebreaking process. She's not used to one so she whines all morning before recess. In the afternoon she seems to nap so that's good. It's heartbreaking but I think it will be better in the long run if she gets into our schedule quickly. In nicer weather she'll be able to stay outside in a pen during school but I doubt even that will help. She whines even at night, before we go to bed when she's still running around but DD is in bed. She just keeps staring at DD's door and whining, lol. Fast friends!

So beautiful. Give him a stuffed animal to snuggle. If he's still skittish when full grown consider a thundershirt. Mine is skittish and it helps

There have been articles about the benefits of dogs at school. Teaching a dog is a good skill, supports responsibility, helps with empathy, teaches all kinds of lessons.

Plus he is as cute as a dog can be. Good for you.

NEVER, NEVER,NEVER were we getting another dog after my Daisy passed almost 2 years ago...until Guinness was dropped off!!! LOL....Moira (7 year old lab) and Jagermeister (8 yr old pit bull) were gracious enough to share their home with the new little baby...but we have to kennel Guin during the day....she was chewing and eating EVERYTHING!! I say "go to work" and she runs right in and sits....She used to hang out under the kitchen table but now she has found a new "den". Kenneling is NOT a bad thing! Good luck on your new family member....

I have one word for you -SUCKER !! LOL don't feel bad I am there too !! My kids call me sucker all the time when it comes to animals. LOL They give you unconditional love, and ask for little in return: fed, walked and attention! But yet so many are put down each year or even worse. So I think your puppy really did get the better end of it all by the grin on your daughter's face!! A loving family, a warm house and someone to take care of it and a very precious person who will love it also !

After thinking I was out of the dog rearing business and installing light carpet throughout the house, I now am the proud caretaker of 3 chihuahuas (one of whom thinks he's a pit bull) and a shih-tzus/schnauzer. Each has a pet bed and all sleep with us at night. They love to travel with us in our motor coach usually fighting for the right to sit on my lap. As a matter of fact, all 3 little ones climb onto my lap at times so I'm trying to invent something I can use to hold all three so one doesn't have to lie on the others. Any suggestions?

She looks like a keeper to me.

She's adorable.

Aw such a sweet puppy! The puppy is probably house trained, but you have to remember, she's in a new place now and has to get used to so many new things, she might be scared. Give her some time and she'll be back to normal. Rember, it does take time for such little things to get used to a new envirnment. Bless your heart for taking the puppy in when the present owners didn't want her. I can't imagine that they said the puppy would be put down if they couldn't find a home for it.

She is adorable. Looks like a friends JRT KaeJae. She does look a little scared and sad. It takes time for them to settle in. I always tell people to put themselves in the dogs place. Think how they would feel in the same circumstances only unable to speak.

I have one rescue puppy too. She is the black and silver one in my profile.
They said she was house broken too. But a new place, other dogs, and we started over.

I took her out every hour, I went with her, commands were, "go potty now". then " good girl'. When she came in she got to play for about 30 minutes and then she was kenneled for maybe another 30 minutes. Then i repeated this. After a few weeks of being in the kennel, i started with a leash in my belt loop for the same amount of time.

This routine got to be such a habit for the both of us. When se became a year old i noticed I was still taking her out repeating the commands. I decided she was the one that needed to out not me.... but the habit was established. Now I send her out with the other dogs.....whew.

Looking at the look on your daughters face, mom, you have done a good thing. I am sure it will not be without trials. Kids learn a lot by taking care of an animal.

Awww how adorable. Both the dog and your daughter. Pets are so much comfort and joy.

Unbelievable how many true dog softies there are in the world! Both girls are adorable!!!!!

I don't believe it! Bitsy looks like our Teddy Bear....but he is almost all black. Lab/Schnauzer cross is my guess. They give so much unconditional love. Once a dog person...always a dog person. I can't imagine not having a dog or a few cats. Like chocolate....hard to resist or say no to. May you and your new luv have a long and happy life together. Ours was a rescue from a kill shelter in KY. Came north with 9 Jack Russell's and 1 Boston terrier. We rescued him in more way than one. They were the yappiest dogs I ever heard.

What a precious baby. Your daughter looks like she is in her glory. Nothing like a pet to put a smile on the face of a child....Even most adults can't resist. They will be life long buddies.....God Bless You for opening your heart and your home to that baby.....

I know! I couldn't believe my ears when my brother said this guy was going to put the dogs down. They had 3 dogs to start with and then when his mother had to move in with her daughter, he got saddled with her 5 dogs and 3 strays showed up at the same time. I understand that's a lot of dogs but there has to be a better alternative than putting the extras down. He's going to keep 2 of his mother's dogs since she'll be spending each summer in his home. To my knowledge he hasn't advertised around town but perhaps he's going on word of mouth. When he called me about the dog (my beloved brother gave him my number), his first words were, "So, I hear you want to save a dog's life." That pretty much cinched it. I couldn't see this little, terrified cutie being put down after that.

Both of them look so sweet, I imagine they will be best friends before long.

She's a cute dog! Your daughter is cute, too! I'm sure she will adjust and be okay with the housetraining. You might have to do some work with her but dogs are pretty good once trained. I'm sure she's just very nervous right now.

Bless your heart, I bet in no time she will be so adjusted to the family that she will just be perfect. Keep us posted as to her progress. Happy quilting and happy new dog. :)

You are such a kind hearted person! I have a rescue dog and she was 1 or 2 when we brought her home. Stevie only messed in my house twice, the second day she piddle and a couple of years later she was sick and had diarrhea. Can't blame her the second time. When my mom watch her for the first time when we went on vacation she piddle in every room. LOL. Thank goodness grandma was planning on buying new carpet, that saved butt.

When we were looking for a second dog, I was looking for a little older in age - 4 to 6 years old, closer to my black lab Beau age. At the humane society we saw her and asked if we could see her up close. They started asking all the usual questions, but we insisted to see her. I was sitting in a chair in a room when they brought her in. Once they took her off the leash, Stevie ran over to me. She jumped up in my lap with her front paws on my shoulders and layed her head down. Needless to say we brought her home 6 days later.

I truly believe that rescued pets know that they have been saved. Now Beau and Stevie are inseperatable. As I typed this message, the 4 of us are laying in bed, good thing it's a king size; although, I'm thinking of putting two full size mattresses together to make more room. I better start planning on that quilt to cover that size of beds.

Thanks for rescuing such a beautiful dog.