The one where I talk about impulsive summer decisions and the new addition to our family.
Each summer, I wind up doing something a little bit crazy and impulsive. Two years ago, I bought a brand new car over the internet — sight unseen and no test drive. It worked out great and I love my Kia Soul. Last summer, at the height of the pandemic and tired of being trapped inside the house, I bought an eBike. Again, sight unseen and no test ride. It worked out great and I love my Nakto Cruiser. Can you see a pattern starting to form here? This summer is apparently going to be no different. Another crazy and impulsive decision was made, but this time I can play the part of Shaggy and say it wasn't me. I didn't start the fire; it was apparently always burning in the background. Let's back up a little bit. Eleven years ago, we bought our house. And I'm pretty sure that my campaign to get a dog launched on the day we moved in. I'm a dog person and truly feel like a house is not a home without one (or more) running and jumping on the furniture, and generally just stinking up the joint. I can't ever remember a time when our family didn't have a dog. Squeaky, Herky, Stuffy, Waldo, Dexter, Benny, Boomer, Ziggy — they may not have been blood relatives, but they were part of the pack. And I wanted that for us. The problem was that we had very different ideas about how dogs should interact with a family. Our dogs were inside, on the furniture, and very much integrated into our daily lives. D00d's parents were raised on farms where dogs were more like employees and lived outside. That just wasn't anything I was interested in. So I persisted with my campaign for an indoor dog and we eventually came to a place of agreement. Because D00d is a runner, we began our search for a breed he could run with. There were many to choose from, but we settled on the Hungarian Vizsla. Similar to a Weimaraner but smaller in size, it's a stunning dog with many excellent traits. I found a couple of breeders in the area and was pretty pleased with our decision. Until the day I got to talk to an actual owner. We were at a race and I saw a woman in the crowd with what I thought was a Vizsla, so I approached her and introduced myself. I explained that we were thinking about getting one and asked her what she liked and didn't like about the breed. Her name was also Kim, which I took as a good sign, and she proceeded to extol their virtues. Huzzah! We were making the right decision! But her last words did me in. She said, and I remember this like it was yesterday, "As long as you run these things for at least two hours a day, you won't have any issues at all." Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop the clock. Run them for HOW MANY hours a day? I started doing the math in my head. With my two hours of commuting every day, and all of the chores around the house that needed to be taken care of, where was I going to find that kind of time to exercise a dog? Not to mention the fact that I was feeling like utter garbage all the time. I didn't know it then, but that was the start of my battle with Graves' disease, something that wouldn't get officially diagnosed for a few more years. There were times when it took every bit of strength my body possessed just to get out of bed. I just couldn't see any way that I was going to be able to care for such a demanding pet. And that was how we ended up with our dear, sweet French Bulldog named Bisou. She's going to be 8 at the end of this month, which is just mind-blowing to me. Time has flown by so quickly. If you know anything at all about the breed, you know that they don't have an indefinite lifespan. Generally speaking, you can expect anywhere from 8–12 years, so we're definitely heading into the space where she has more years behind her than ahead of her. At least one of her blood brothers has already passed, and I know that every dog is different, but I need to start to prepare for the inevitable. In addition to believing that every home needs a dog, I also strongly believe that dogs are pack animals and that you should always have two if you can. Even though they aren't the best of friends, Omar loves Bisou and wouldn't function well as an only dog. So I started to do the background research to find the dog we'd add to our pack when the time came. I mentioned to D00d that since I was now working from home and my Graves' was in remission, we might even be able to consider getting a bigger running dog now. And that was all it took. That one little nugget, innocently tossed out, changed the entire course of our lives in less than a week. His reaction stunned me. He's the stoic, non-impulsive, even-keeled one in our relationship. He thinks about things. He weighs pros and cons. He proceeds slowly and cautiously. So when he said, "Well, my only concern is timing. I'm wondering if we just shouldn't do it now instead of waiting. I want to run with a dog before I'm too old," you could have knocked me over with a feather. Let the games begin! So I looked online for Vizsla puppies near us, located some breeders, and found some puppies that were possible options. But I also found something a little bit interesting. Apparently, over the last few years, people started cross-breeding Vizslas with Weimaraners to create something called a Weizsla, and there were some available. A few Google searches to check out the breed and I was on board. They appear to be the perfect blend of both breeds: family-oriented, alert, friendly, super intelligent, and active — but not too active. We put a deposit down on one and he'll be joining our family in about a month. So, yeah, another crazy, impulsive summer purchase. But I'm sure it's going to work out great and that we're all going to love Pike. Stay tuned for pix and posts about life in a small-ish house with three dogs. What about you? Have you made any impulsive decisions that changed the course of your life? Let me know. I'd love to hear about them! Peace out until next time!
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