Meet Fendi!
I have a ton of catching up to do, but first I wanted to share about how we ended up with a new addition to our family. It's kind of a long story, but it's a big deal for us!
My whole life of scary bad asthma I had to avoid homes with dogs and cats. I had friends get very mad at me because I had to miss a lot of birthday and slumber parties. Animals could easily put me in the hospital. I did have a dog growing up, but in the mild Seattle climate we could have her as a strictly outdoor dog. I grew to think of animals as something to avoid, and if I did come in any contact with them I had to wash my hands and clothes as soon as possible. Now as a mom, of course my two kids have felt like it's not fair that we couldn't have a dog and have always wanted one so badly. I remember telling Brayden when she was probably 4 or so that unless I died it could never happen. I then would hear her talking excitedly about the dog she would get when I died, ha ha! Nice! We went through every type of robot, electronic, or virtual dog out there. I've always felt so bad and guilty about it. Then as my kids grew, each of them developed some allergies to certain animals too. I thought for sure it would never ever happen.
One little light of hope...it was a fear of mine before going on my mission of teaching in homes with animals and getting so sick. I prayed so hard that I would be okay. Somehow, on my whole Spanish-speaking mission in California, I only ever came across homes with chihuahuas. I came to find that they didn't affect me at all. I had mentioned that to Mike, but having grown up with a Great Dane Mike was in no way going to have a little yappy chihuahua! So to me that was off the table. So here we are years later, the kids still begging for a dog. We have tried out a few other supposed hypo-allergenic breeds, including a cute little shitzu we owned for 2 days in the first year of our marriage. I don't think there is such thing as a hypo-allergenic dog. Those almost killed me too.
Knowing what I knew about me and chihuahuas, and being tired of all of the begging, this past July, Mike and I decided we would do a week trial with a little chihuahua puppy from the Humane Society, 1 - to see how I felt, and 2 - to show the kids all of the hard work that goes into it. We found the cutest little 3-4 month old chihuahua puppy named Bijou. She was the sweetest thing, and so much fun to have around! The kids did great cleaning up all her accidents and messes all week, I barely lifted a finger. However, I had some (not bad) allergies (but I think it's because we weren't allowed to bathe her) and also I wasn't ready to commit. We had the option to adopt her, but we chose not to. After bringing her back though, we all felt so sad, guilty, and as if we made the wrong decision. We had fallen in love with her. Mike and I wanted to surprise the kids and get her back permanently, but sadly she was adopted within 2 days of taking her back. Good for her, but sad for us. She still holds a place in our hearts, even just having her a week!
Our fun week with Bijou...
This might sound weird, but we really felt strongly that we needed a dog in our family, so the search started. We decided we wanted a (female) long haired chihuahua, which are supposed to be even less allergenic than short haireds, but they are hard to find. We had a certain type and color in mind which made it even harder. We wanted a puppy since chihuahuas need to be trained and socialized young to not be the stereotypical timid and yappy. For 3 weeks I looked at classified all over the country and every breeder website I could find. We were willing to pay whatever if we found just the right puppy. I would refresh our local KSL classifieds page a couple times a day just in case but didn't see much hope in that since I wasn't having much luck around the whole country. One Saturday morning I had just told Brayden it could be awhile before we found the dog we wanted, and just minutes later I refreshed KSL like I sometimes would, and right on top of all the listings was a new ad for an 11 week old female long haired chihuahua with the exact look we were hoping for! Then I worried that it was too good to be true and that she would be snatched up too fast, I tried to not have my hopes up as I texted, but then found out she was still available! And only 45 minutes away! As soon as we met her we were in love. She looked like a little tiny stuffed animal! We already had a name picked out...Fendi! Here are some pics from the day we first got her...
She was so shy at first, she just stood with her paws in her food bowl and ate nervously!
Already trying to bling her out! It was hard to find a collar small enough...this one had to go back!
Tiny little girl!
She made Mike's shoulder her favorite resting spot!
The next day we took her to PetSmart to get her a tag and the workers loved her so much they took her back to get a nail trim for free, and she came out with these cute bows in her hair! I guess it pays to be cute!!
A few weeks later...
It's been 5 1/2 weeks and she's now potty trained as of 3 weeks ago, knows sit, lay down, stay, leave it, high five, and fetch so far, and we are working on rolling over! :) As of today (when she had her last round of puppy shots) she is exactly 3 pounds. She's only gained 1/2 pound since we got her. Her parents were both only 3 1/2 pounds, so she most likely won't be gaining a whole lot more. She's very healthy and hearty for such a little thing though. It's been so much fun, and a dream come true for the kids, and fulfilling something Mike and I didn't know or think we needed or wanted. I'm still having to re-teach myself that I don't need to wash my hands every second, but I'm getting there! And no allergies!!! It seems like a miracle. I do feel a little like a hypocrite though...I have a dog, but I am still very allergic to all other dogs out there. I have heard that having this little girl could actually help me get immune to other dogs eventually, so it would be so awesome if that happens!
(I take more pics of her than of my kids nowadays! Ha ha!)
