He's Sensitive

So you've all heard stories about myself, my husband, my kids, and even our chickens.  Well, this one is about Max.

But first, because this is me telling the story, a little bit of background:

Toffee is my dog, isn't she pretty?  She's a 5 year old German Shepherd mixed with whatever.  Could be Hound, because she bays and howls all the time.  Could be Pit because of the white spot on her chest. We have no idea.  

All we know for sure is that her mom was a German Shepherd and her dad was very sneaky.

Well, my hubs wanted a dog of his own.  Toffee is most definitely my dog - eventhough I tried not to have her bond primarily with me.  She's just spoiled.  But it kept her from being the kind of dog that J wanted.  He wanted a dog who was going to follow him around the house, jump in his lap, sleep on the floor on his side of the bed.  We tossed the idea around a few times, because I'm the one that is home all the time, and I really didn't want another dog.  But, marriage is all about compromise, folks. And when I saw how important it was to J, how could I do anything else? 

So I started looking around for dogs.  I looked into getting one through the VA system, since J is a Veteran. I looked at the Humane Society, I looked at private breeders (something I really didn't want to do - adopt if you can, please!)  Finally, one day I was browsing around on Facebook and I saw a post from a woman in Tucson who had a Brittany Spaniel that she was trying to rehome. She said that this dog had been left at her house by some friends, and since she already had 4 dogs of her own, she really couldn't keep him.  She was hoping that he would go to a good home.

Well, we're a good home.  

I thought I would check this out a bit more and saw the price.

FREE

Ding ding ding. We have a winner! 

This was the dog for us, I just knew it!

Plus, I mean, look at his little face!

So we met them, introduced him to Toffee and the kids, and decided that Max would be our newest family member.  J was in love instantly, so I was satisfied.  

Max quickly settled in to the house and began to make himself at home.  At the time that we got him, he was about a year and a half old.  And (this is important) not neutered.  Yes, I hear all of you animal population control people gasping and screaming at the computer screen telling me to neuter my dog.  It's on the list.  But you know what? It's expensive.  And you know what else is on the list?  About a million other things.  But he is 2 now, and deciding that maybe he should own everything that is standing still in the house, so it is the NEXT thing on the list.  Our vet grabbed hold of his goods at his last appointment and said, in a maniacal voice "Next time you're here, these are MINE!!"  Weird. But funny.

But I digress.  Max did just fine for the first few months, and then he began trying to dominate *ahem* Toffee.  Who IS spayed, and does not want to be dominated, thank you very much.  He has the sweetest personality, and genuinely JUST wants you to pet him.  he just wants pets.  All the pets.  All the pets that you can pet - he wants them.  He paws at your arms and legs when you stop.  He squirms his way up into your lap to get you to pet him.  

And... here's the interesting part of the story - he also would like to sleep on the bed.

Now, Max also sheds.  No big deal, really.  But I hate it.  White hair everywhere.  Little clouds of white dog hair along my baseboards.  Little white dog hairs floating off the shelf when I grab a book.  Since I am battling the dog hair CONSTANTLY in my life, I do not allow him on the bed.  The distinction here should be made that I do not allow him on the bed.  But, someone else does sometimes.  It has become an everyday phrase in my life to say "Max, get down".  

Another interesting thing that we learned about Max is that he has a sensitive stomach.  J likes to tease me when I'm fussing at the dog and say "It's not his fault, he's sensitive."  But to be clear, the dog isn't sensitive emotionally, he is sensitive gastrointestinally.  Specifically - if he eats anything other than the food that we have to buy especially for him, he has horrible gas.  I mean, he can clear the room out with this gas.  It is rank.  He also gets diarrhea, and at the point that we discovered his sensitivity we had to take him to the vet to have an exam because he was just feeling so yucky.  

Poor guy.  

So we got him on this special food and now he is much better.  Seriously, this food was a life-saver.  And we can order it online HERE and it is delivered right to my door (much to my postal carrier's chagrin) in 2 days.  And not exhorbitantly expensive.  If you have sensitive tummies, or dogs with gas, you NEED some of this in your life. And it's good for Toffee too, so they can both eat the same food.  It has made such a difference in Max.  Back to his usual spunky self - pestering Toffee, stealing things from the house to bury in the backyard and trying constantly to find a way in to the chicken coop.  The life of a dog.  

On Christmas Eve, his sensitive stomach and desire to get on the bed played a major role in my evening.  Both dogs had been let outside before bed so that they could potty.  Then we shut them in our room with us and went to sleep.  Max kept trying to get on the bed - I'm not even exaggerrating when I say that it was at least 12 times that I had to get him off the bed.  And then... I kid you not... I fussed at him and said "Max!  Get down! Bad dog!" and he looked me right in the eyes... and pooped all. over. my. room. 

Why do they walk in circles?  Why did THIS dog have to have stomach issues?  Why did someone feel the need to sneak Max some people food from the table?

I do not know.

But I do know that I spent the next hour scrubbing my carpet, giving him some medicine, and trying to air out my room. I do know that someone got to sleep on the bed that night because he didn't feel well.

It's worth it.  We love our dogs.  They're adorable, and add such joy to our lives. 

Those lazy bums!