We got a Puppy!

I did it. I let my kids get a dog. And this time he's here to stay! This time it wasn't so spur of the moment. Well there was a little spontaneity, but it wouldn't be me if there wasn't a little craziness in the decision.  First, let me introduce you to our newest family member. 

Oliver (Ollie) born May 29

Here's the story behind how we got him.  It started when a friend of mine got a dog, a three year old dog. When I told her she was the best mom ever, she said there's never a good time so she just had to decide if she wanted her kids to grow up with a dog or not.  That made me think.  Then we went up to Utah to visit my parents. Maddox and my parents dog, Jack, are pretty inseparable.  So I started researching dog breads (thanks to an App my brother introduced me to called perfect dog).  After our last dog experience, I said I wouldn't get a tiny dog or a white dog again.  I wanted a dog that Maddox could really play with.  My list of wants was pretty specific. Non-shedding, dark around eyes and mouth, not so big that we would have to take it running or to the park every day. It would have to be inside at least in the summer. good with kids and easy to train.  And I wanted to think it was cute. (there are some weird looking dogs out there). Turns our there isn't a dog bread that met all of my criteria.  I had to compromise.  I thought I had made a decision.  I wanted a beagle. It was the perfect size and looks like a little boy's dog.  The thing I was going to have to deal with was the shedding.  After bumping into a neighbor's dog and getting hair all over my skirt, I decided that shedding was one thing I couldn't compromise on.  So I went back to the app to look at the non shedding dogs.  They are all smaller. After much deliberation, I decided that a Havapoo (worst name ever) was the breed for me. Its half Havenese and half poodle. there were really cute ones that have black white and brown fur and that is what I wanted. (this story is getting to long, so I'm going to start leaving out details)  I found some on the Internet (they are fairly rare) and went to check them out.  They had some little all black ones that weren't ready to bring home and two little brothers from a different litter.  The kids fell in love with one.  He was darling, but was white. I did not want all white!  You can probably tell from the pictures who won.  The kids. We bought him and took him home that very day.

Its been a week and a half and we love him.  The kids have been really good about helping out with him and I learned about some stuff called Angel eyes that will help with keeping his white fur from looking so gross around his eyes and mouth.  He isn't fully potty trained yet but will go on demand outside.  He very rarely barks and is so mellow and sweet.