Our Bundle of Joy

We have a new addition to our family!

This is Roxy!  She's a Lhasa Apso Poodle Mix.  Which means she's nice and she doesn't shed.  She is 20 weeks old, born Feb 25, so still a puppy and despite what her previous owner said, she still needs some training.  She loves socks (I'm hoping to train her to pick up sock around the house and deposit them in the sock basket - instead of dragging them out as she does now), she loves to play, she doesn't bark much, she sleeps through the night, and from what we can tell, is pretty smart.

You may be asking yourself why we have a dog after, as you may know, I have been vehemently opposed to owning such a creature.  Here are the reasons:

1. D.J. has been wanting a dog for quite a while now and while he likes the Lily, the gerbil he got last year, she is just not as interactive as he had hoped.  

2. The other two boys can make a list a mile long containing their birthday wishes, but D.J. doesn't really know what he wants, which makes him hard to buy for.  He really wanted a dog, so that narrowed down the gift issue instantly, and I was at a breaking point.

3.  I've been thinking about the dog issue for 2-3 years now and my reasons for not owning a dog seemed to decrease as the reasons for owning one increased.  

4.  This last one is sort of a petty, selfish reason, but it's really nice to have a living thing happy to see me at all times.

5. My heart melted when I saw her and I wanted her even though she wasn't as fully trained as I had originally hoped and planned for our dog prospects.  She just felt right for our family.

There are many other reasons, but I'll leave it at that. Spencer and James are doing tolerably well with her, though they are still a little timid and worried she may attack at any given time.  I'm hoping obedience classes will give them a measure of security and control.  Spencer's allergies have not been a problem with her, which is great.  Mark likes her and she likes him. All in all and so far, a good addition to our family!