reluctant, regretful and dog owners

Preface: I am not an animal hater. As proof I've made a list of places I like animals.
in a particular order:
1. in theory
2. in books
3. in cartoons
4. in my imagination
5. in my neighbor's yard
6. in the wild (and not begging for food)
7. in well designed zoos



8,000. in my home

And yet, meet Scooter McGavin.

Our skateboarding bulldog in training.

Why did we get him?

Please, refer all your questions to Rocky. It was a team decision. Really. I keep telling myself this and it will be true.

Three years ago Eliot and I were walking Rocky home from work in Zug and she was rambling off horrendous baby names for, then, unborn Violet. As a group of kids zoomed past on their scooters, she resolutely announced, "Scooter!" She was set. She fixated on the name for months. 

When we brought Violet home she was devastated we has passed on her 'oh, so great' suggestion. To console her we told her, when we got a dog, she could name him Scooter. This discussion quickly snowballed away from us and before we realized what had happened, we had agreed to get a dog when she was six.

'No problem,' we thought, 'In three years, we will be back in our fenced yard in PG.'

Nope. We're still in Bangkok. Though we do have a yard, it's so small I hardly think it counts. As her birthday rolled around, we were brought to the attention of this small, unforgotten promise. I reminded her (and Rocky) that she was six for a whole year and that we had promised it "when" she turned six not "before" or "at the moment" she turned six. I was quickly forming all sorts of fine print arguments and explanations for not fulfilling this offhand, nonchalant commitment.

Unfortunately, Rocky keeps his promises. He spent three months researching dogs and then bulldog breeders in Bangkok. English Bulldog is not necessarily the dog we would have chosen if we lived, well, anywhere else. But it's a good apartment dog (should we ever be in one again), great with kids, looks scary enough to deter trespassers and after bulldogs turn two they just sleep 23 hours a day (also--super short lifespan).

A few weeks before her birthday we went to look at some puppies. We took all our kids along because we're crazy. They were cute but looked like a lot of work. I went back to the car with the kids to feed the baby and when Rocky came back he asked me quietly which one was my favorite. I said, the one with the tiger stripes seemed the most friendly. And he replied, "Good, because I just bought him."

After my initial response, which will remain undocumented, he promised to take the dog out at night and in fact, assured me he would take full responsibility for all its needs.

We gave it to her at her birthday party.

Two days later he left for Singapore for a week and Winston came down with a nasty case of Roseola.

Do you feel overwhelmed? Like you don't give enough attention to the things you have to do? Like you always forgetting or ignoring something or someone?

Get a puppy. You will instantly realize, you used to have everything together.

Bonus: you have to clean up their poop and they wake up multiple times at night. Yes, like real babies--but not nearly as easy to love or fulfilling.

But here we are, with a dog. In our house. And occasionally in our stroller. (The me of a month ago openly mocks the me of today.)

I've been making a mental list of the pro's of having a dog. Besides the obvious: teaches responsibility, entertains my kids, scares away intruders etc. I have discovered puppies are revealing about our own character (not necessarily a good thing for me). Scooter poops on the floor when I let him in but forget to watch to him. He gets destructive when I don't give him enough attention. If he is not trained well by me, he will not be an obedient dog. He is dependent on me and my clearly imperfect training abilities. So we better get with the program, because we are now dog owners, albeit reluctant one(s).

Now that he lounges around chewing on slippers, he has reached his potential as a bulldog.

Another bonus, puppies come with these awesome child-size cages.

His favorite toy is Vi's diaper. Preferably while she's attached to it. He chases her around the house, clamps on and gets dragged around until we detach him. If anything could potty train her--it might be this. 

It's blurry but I feel the dog and baby's spots are mixed up. I'm not sure what's happened to Rocky, the once avowed dog hater, but he looooooooves Scooter. 

It was at this point when I realized I had turned into my mom.  I patted myself on the back. (How cute is her signature.) In case you were wondering, if we were really holding her to this contract--we would have given him away the next day. Luckily for her, Violet loves feeding him, though if she keeps up with her feeding style, he will weigh 100 pounds in two weeks. 

Also, he doesn't walk, he prefers to stroll. I hate myself.

But he is cute. Not as cute as Winst, but cute.