How I Somehow Accidentally Bought A Puppy …

I’m a cat person. I am. I have to confess that right off the bat.

I never grew up with dogs, only cats so when I was old enough to make my own decisions I ‘encouraged’ my now husband that we needed to get a dog. In all honesty, I’d just come back from a big overseas adventure in Europe and was quite possibly just bored and looking for something new to inject a bit of excitement into my return to an everyday mundane routine.

So armed with no knowledge of the ins and outs of what to look for in a puppy, we got in the car and traveled up the line to a pet shop that we knew had Labrador puppies. There we chose the male puppy with the biggest feet because I decided I wanted a big dog. I then decided after a few months that I was right all along – I preferred cats. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Shimano. My husband especially loved him. He was a big black bundle of energy but he wasn’t the smartest cookie in the box. He’s what I would describe as a lovable rogue!

Mutty-and-Yeti

Some dogs can be smart, in fact I’m sure many of them are super smart but we chose one who was ruled by his tummy and had no ears. Much like my children come to think of it. But Labradors are renowned for there ability to eat until they burst (apparently horses can be much the same I’m told, some would eat until it killed them). One time my husband came home from fishing, he’d got a great haul of snapper and spent the next few hours filleting them all. He set the freshly filleted fish on the bench and instructed me to bag it up. Then the phone rang. When I got back to the kitchen every last fillet on the bench had mysteriously vanished and I had a very sly looking dog. Despite all this, he was a beautiful creature with a lovely nature. Sure, he occasionally stole food, was kicked out of puppy training school for being unruly and disrupting the class, was always jumping on furniture (and people until he was about 5!), couldn’t be trusted off a lead (you know how some dogs stay with their masters? Not ours! Once he went swimming in the ocean after a stick and just kept swimming and wouldn’t come back! My husband had to go rescue him because the damn stick just kept drifting further out to sea and he just kept chasing it!) and he was riddled with health problems. Here’s what I was saying about doing research. Now we would know never to get a pure bred dog from a pet shop but at the age of 22 we had a lot to learn.

Our Shimano was diagnosed with hip dysplasia as a pup and we were warned it would cause arthritis later in his life. In the end that’s what took him from us. His hind legs started wasting away the older he got until he could barely walk and would hop about the place. He had an ok summer but as soon as the first cold southerly hit us this Autumn he was whimpering in pain and my husband knew he had to make the tough decision to take him to the vet and potentially say goodbye to his best friend. And say goodbye he did. The vet nurses said there wasn’t a dry eye in the clinic seeing the devastation on my husbands face. It was, I think, only the second time in our 14 years together that I have ever seen my husband cry.

I then pronounced no more dogs. I was a cat person. I didn’t want another dog. Ever. I didn’t like dogs (not in a ‘I really hate dogs’ way but in a ‘dogs are needy and like children whereas cats are independent and can look after themselves’ way). I liked cats!

Cat

But my husband was adamant that we would one day get another dog. Apparently little boys NEED to have a dog. Cos they do. Apparently. So I thought I would start doing some research on the kind of dog that I wanted if we were to get another dog. Not big. Not too small. Not purebred. Not too needy or too ruled by its stomach. Happy to be left alone. And cute! It had to be cute. And cat like. Basically a cat dog.

I decided on an oodle.

I wasn’t sure what kind of oodle but I wanted an oodle cos oodles are generally damn cute! And half cat. At least, they look that way! So what’s an oodle? An oodle is a dog that is half poodle. There are lots of oodles. I had no idea. Spoodles, Labradoodles, Groodles, Cavoodles. Turns out you can cross pretty much anything with a poodle! Labradors, Golden Retrievers, Cavalier King Charles even a Bernese Mountain Dog (Google Bernedoodle, so freakin cute!). I started looking on Trademe (the NZ equivalent to eBay) just to see what was on offer. Just to look. Honestly. I didn’t WANT another dog. I didn’t LIKE dogs.

Then I saw her.

Shihpoo
The photo that had me falling in love at first sight

She wasn’t an oodle by name but she was crossed with a poodle all the same. She was a Shihpoo. Shih Tzu crossed with a Toy Poodle. NOT named a Shitpoo. Which would be unfortunate! Pronounced Shy-poo. I fell in love with her photo. I text the breeder. We hadn’t even discussed getting another dog this soon and I didn’t want another dog. But somehow I bought her. Somehow she was on a plane and we collected her 3 days later. Somehow. Ahem.

Teddie

This dog is really too small to be a real dog. This dog is a teddy bear. She looks like a teddy bear from the front and a bear cub from the back. She’s just gorgeous.

Her name is Teddie and I’ve decided perhaps I am a dog person after all! She’s soft and fluffy and pretty and loves cuddles. She’s basically a cooler version of a cat. She follows us around, wants to sleep on our knees and pisses on the floor (sorry to ruin the illusion but puppies. PUPPIES!). The kids adore her and she adores them, in fact the other morning I’d taken her outside to go to the toilet (not that she listens mind you!) and my youngest got up and came in the lounge promptly bursting into a flood of tears because she was GONE!

F-and-T

So I’m guessing it’s too late to change my mind?! Even if I did want to. Which I don’t because, hello! CUTE! She’s a little Ewok (I had to google it ok, I didn’t get it but now I do!). So I’m thinking that she’s here for keeps. Much like my children. Occasionally they piss on the floor but I still love them.

So yep, I may be converted after all! I think I’m now officially a cat and oodle person. Cat dog. I’m softening in my old age.

Are you a cat or dog person? Do you own a dog? If you could choose any dog breed, what would you choose?

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30 thoughts on “How I Somehow Accidentally Bought A Puppy …

  1. I have three doodles! Two 72 lb doodles (one goldendoodle and one labradoodle) and one minilabradoodle who is 15 lbs. I love them (obvs) and am smitten with the breed but having said that – all three are completely different dogs – but all wonderful! I am 100% a doodle person!

    1. Took me ages to figure out what a minilabradoodle was! Haha. Didn’t know you could even get mini Labradoodles! What’s that? A toy poodle crossed with a lab? All doodles are so cute! I’m totally sold on the oodles 🙂

      1. Yep a toy poodle crossed with a lab! Well, mine’s actually a toy poodle crossed with a small labradoodle – making him extra curly, and actually more of a “micro” because he’s only 15 lbs. They consider mini’s to be up to 40 lbs. I know…oodle politics…LOL

  2. Oh she is adorable! Have you ever read “Marley and Me?” It’s a heartbreaking but heart filling read and Shimano sounds just like Marley! I bet you could write a book about his stories too. I am totally a dog person and desperate for a dog but our strata doesn’t share my enthusiasm. Little Teddy is making my poodiness (like broody but for a dog) go into overdrive! I’m looking forward to more puppy posts! 🙂

    1. I watched the movie and yes, Shimano was a black male Marley! Lol. Always mischief in his younger years but mellowed as he got older. I cried my heart out at the end of that movie and at the end of our own story. Does your husband not like dogs?

  3. We had a Lab who died three years ago. We all bawled our eyes out for days. Everyone has wanted another dog since. I am loving the freedom of not having a pet, but yes … apparently boys NEED a dog. The decision for us is which one? My daughter would like a small one, my son would like a big one, my husband wants one that can fetch a ball and I want one that looks like a puppy forever (am thinking a Corgi because they are basically Labradors with no legs aren’t they?) So we’re stuck. Oh, and then there’s the small issue of my son having pet hair allergies so perhaps we need an Oodle too ….
    It’s all too hard!
    Leanne @ Deep Fried Fruit recently posted…NAPLAN and why it’s a no go zone for us this yearMy Profile

    1. We bawled for days too, it was horribly sad. Labs are so big that there presence in a house is hugely noticeable and when they’re gone you can feel what’s missing. More so than a cat for example. Corgi’s are ruled by their stomachs too apparently, my workmate has one and they get fat easily! Haha. How about looking at an oodle?! You could get a Labradoodle! Or a Cavoodle. Cavoodles were my first choice before I laid eyes on Teddie.

  4. SO CUTE!! Looks like an ewok. We’ve been toying around about getting another vizsla. I’m the one who needs to be the voice of reason.

    1. EVERYONE was saying that about an Ewok and I totally had no idea what they were talking about until my workmate googled it and showed me! Totally does! I’m the voice of reason in my household too which is probably why I’m still in shock! Haha. What’s a Vizsla? I’ll have too google that too! Gotta love google!

  5. I’d get a beagle but my other half is saying it has to be some sort of oodle. (shedding thing). I’m pushing for a Bichoodle (something like that) which is super cute with floppy ears. I want to call it Bitchy McBitchface but I don’t think I’ll win that one….

  6. I don’t like dogs either, definitely a cat person but my husband is allergic (so he says) so we can’t get one. The girls are putting the pressure on now to get a dog, I think you are on to something with the oodles but now I’ve seen Teddie I want one like her so cute!
    Vicki @ Boiled Eggs & Soldiers recently posted…In My Kitchen May 2016My Profile

  7. So cute! That oodle is SO CUTE! I never heard of that breed before. I also went blindly into the purchase of a puppy and he has his moments. We were told that half of him (he’s a mixed breed) is prone to hip dysplaysia as well. But, right now he’s 5 and still doing okay. I think it would have been smart for me to do more research instead of just excitedly taking home a puppy when I was 18. Yes, it was less than a year since I’d moved out of my parents home. O.o Haha! But, even though he’s eaten whole cheesecakes I’ve baked, multiple pizzas and has that continuous eating until he dies tendency…I can’t imagine life without him. He has his silly moments where he’s terrified of the vacuum or doesn’t understand that the blinds on the window aren’t trying to kill him. He’s also easily startled. But, I think I’d have a much more boring day without him. 🙂 I’m so happy that even though you’re a cat person you found your little Ewok!
    Gina recently posted…Do You Like Your Child’s Teachers? Have Tea!My Profile

  8. Oh want a squeeze! I am a massive dog person and after loosing a day to old age at 14, thought i would never get another…but we did. Best thing ever! Our boy Coopar is 7 now and our fur baby and so loved and happy. Can’t wait to see more of this cute little bundle!

  9. Oh what a cutie! I am so with you on cats though. We grew up with cats and I love their independance. We had a rescue dog for a while and the guilt you feel when you come home late….eek! Cats are cool, they’re usually sleeping and enjoying the peace. I think we need to get a dog for the kids but my friends are warning me not to – dog poop to clean up etc etc. Don’t know! I see Marley & Me is on Friday night. Chokes me up everytime. I reckon I’ll fold before long xx

  10. This is such a warm, touching and cute story. Growing up we always had dogs and only one cat, but I was allergic to cats so my Mom gave our cat to a friend. I am now dog free, I’m not sure if I want to get one just now, they are a lot of work.

  11. You crack me up! Love this story, it will be so much fun to tell and remember as she ages. I am so a dog person, I love that they love back. So much. And it looks like the boys are in heaven! LOL You are the best mom ever!

  12. Oh she is too cute! A year ago we sadly said goodbye to our beautiful boy Orson the same reason you said goodbye to your boy. 🙁 Orson was a nearly 15 year old Golden Retriever and had a beautiful temperament and personality. My husband and I bought him well before we had kids, so it broke our hearts, not to mention our girls, when he died. We miss him a lot and remember the crazy things he used to get up to with fondness. We would love another pet in our family. The girls have even asked for a cat! While I don’t hate cats, I’m a dog person, and couldn’t imagine us living without another dog in our family. 😉
    Julie @ Off to the park recently posted…Craft: Paper plate flowers for Mothers dayMy Profile

  13. OMG cutest dog EVER! I grew up sausage dogsthen beagles. Now we have a fox terrier cross. Crossed with what we’re not sure (we adopted her from a shelter), but we’re guessing corgi. My boys love her to bits.

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