We got a dog!
We jumped off the deep end in puppy parenthood this week–and we are so thrilled to introduce Robin, our female standard poodle puppy who is now 9 weeks old (born April 26). She is a mix of Chocolate brown and white underneath with a white tipped tail.
Getting a dog
While we were dating B and I discussed many important topics. Lifestyle, values, dreams, hopes, and yes, pets. Cats or dogs? Both? Neither? Was the question.
I was raised in a cat-hating house. Seriously. My parents hated cats and taught us to chase them away and never really encouraged us to get a cat. My dad desperately wanted a beagle and said “It’s either a beagle or no dog at all!” My mom opted for no dog at all. I mean, beagles are nice dogs but after growing up with one next door and it baying and hollering at every moving thing at 6am…. I see where my mom was coming from.
Once my parents divorced a few years later my mom got our family a bichon frise. Nelson was his name, and he was the love of our home for 16 years.
Anyways back to the cat-hating thing. I’m just a dog person. (For those who love cats I hope I don’t offend you––sorry!) But actually though I’m not sure I could ever have a cat. B desperately wanted one but I can’t handle ANY shedding/fur etc and they’re a bit too temperamental for me. It’s funny that both my mom and my sister have cats themselves now… sellouts? Nah they love them.
When B and I were dating he kept going on and on about cats, I finally said: “Listen, when you marry someone you have to accept who they are. This is who I am, I don’t like cats and I never will! If this is a problem, decide right now and this relationship doesn’t have to continue!” A tad dramatic, but he got the point.
I probably wouldn’t say something so extreme if I went back, but I still never want a cat. So we settled on a dog. But couldn’t agree on what kind. I needed a dog that didn’t shed. For many, many reasons I don’t need to get into here. B grew up with a mini-shetland shepherd. A gorgeous dog who is still living back home in Hong Kong.
What B loves about Dau Dau, is that her facial hair is short and doesn’t get long, gunky, and gross. Her eyes don’t water and get crusty, and she always looks clean. But she sheds… Anyways he insisted that we needed a dog with a nice, clean face. I was on board with that.
On Easter Sunday this year we were walking on some trails–along with everyone else in the city because the weather was amazing–and we saw so many dogs! We asked everyone we saw about their dog. Finally we saw a dog from a distance. It looked like it had hair (not fur), so thus didn’t shed, and had a nice face. I ran the lady down and shouted at her from a distance, “I love your dog! What kind is it?” It was a standard poodle! B agreed that the short curly hair was cute and as long as you trim the face it worked. I was THRILLED. Growing up with a bichon frise (in the poodle family), this would be a great fit for us.
We looked into poodle mixes which are super popular right now, but there can be a lot of unknowns based on the mix and the generation (1, 1b, 2 etc). For instance, they can either be low shedding or no shedding but it’s not guaranteed. After looking into breeders and doing a lot of research we settled on a standard poodle.
Here’s what we love about the breed:
No shedding
Easily trainable
Very smart
Sociable with people
Standoffish to strangers
Gentle with kids
Medium size (Robin will be 50lbs)
Energetic and playful
Curly hair
We picked Robin up on June 20 and she was 8 weeks old. We had such a great experience with our breeder Guarded Luck in Niagara. They breed purebred toy and standard poodles for temperament and personality. Robin’s lineage includes many working dogs–we’re considering doing advanced puppy training and potentially training her to be a therapy dog.
The cost of a dog was also a huge factor. It really all worked out because Robin ended up costing half of what usual breeders charge. We felt super blessed. We did look into potentially getting a Guardian Dog (we are the forever home but it’s bred annually by a breeder), but I’m thankful we just have our own dog.
Robin’s first week
This first week has overall been amazing. The first 48 hours was a huge adjustment for everyone but Robin is feeling at home and is quite settled in our apartment. She’s also barely had any “accidents” in the home which is great. The first few days we would take her out for the bathroom around 4am, but now she’s sleeping through the night from about 9:30pm to 7am. Glorious!
Working from home helps too, we’re available but also able to keep her on a schedule. We are also doing clicker training with her, reinforcing good behaviour. So far we have her learning:
Crate training: going in her crate and staying calm (puppies also need a lot of sleep!)
Basic commands like: sit, stay, down, paw, come, off, settle
The best resource so far has been Zak George Dog Training videos on Youbtube. Seriously we’ve learned SO much. He has a whole series where he takes you from day 1 with his new puppy, but he has content for training older dogs too.
Robin had a great first vet visit this week as well, we are thankful as we develop a team and community around helping raise our puppy. From new friendships at dog stores (we love Bone & Biscuit in Guelph!), to our vet, family, friends, and even a Facebook dog group in our city––we feel so well supported.
Many people say getting a puppy is good training for having a baby! While I’m not sure if that’s fully true, our lifestyle has dramatically changed already and it’s been fun working as a team and experiencing all this together. If we have kids one day, I’m excited for what that will look like as we grow our family.
So Robin: we love you! And we are so hopeful and thankful for the coming days, weeks, and years ahead!