Introducing Rocco

Who knew a little furball could make my heart so full of love? I know I have discussed Rocco and posted pictures in previous posts but I wanted to write a post that was completely dedicated to him. I’m smiling even now as I write about him. That is how much happiness and affection he provides.

The Big Decision

I never had pets growing up (not even a goldfish). I don’t remember ever desperately wanting a pet either, except for those few times my neighbor’s daughter (who is a breeder) would bring puppies with her to sell. My parents always said I could get a pet as soon as I moved out and lived on my own. And that’s exactly what I did…

Shane grew up with beagles his whole life. When we moved in together getting a dog became the big topic of discussion for us. Should we? Shouldn’t we? Let’s wait a while? Why wait? When we finally decided the time was right we were left with even more decisions to make. What type of dog do we want? Should we look for a breeder or rescue? Should we get a big dog or a small dog? And so our journey began…

One day we were passing a pet store and decided to stop in. We played with several different small breeds and were able to narrow our decision down to three breeds: a teddy bear, a cavapoo and a puggle.

As soon as we got home we researched these breeds. They are all mixed breeds so we researched the individual breeds as well. We spent many hours doing this, making pros and cons lists, and covering every little detail. When it comes to a big decision like this I need to know I am making the right decision!

To answer some of the questions we posed above, figuring out the size of dog we wanted to get was easy. Since we lived in an apartment at the time we decided on a small dog. I also decided I wanted to find a breeder rather than rescue. This is a huge topic of debate, but without getting too much into it my reasoning was pretty simple. I decided not to rescue because this would be the first pet I ever owned and I had no experience with dogs. Sometimes when you rescue a dog you just don’t know what you’re going to get. At least with a breeder I would have more clarification and information regarding the dog we finally decided on.

After tons of research we decided on a Teddy Bear (TB), also known as a Shichon or Zuchon. A teddy bear is a mix between a Shih Tzu and Bichon. Our research provided us with the following pros that eventually led to our decision:

Hypoallergenic – TB’s have hair instead of fur so no one should be allergic to them.
Shedding – This goes along with the first bullet point. Since TB’s have hair they don’t shed. We just have to do our “brushies” every day 🙂
Personality – A few sites we found said that TB’s are bred and trained to go to hospitals to cheer up patients and are great with children. While we haven’t brought Rocco to a hospital and he hasn’t really been around many children he does have a very sweet disposition and lovable personality.
Longevity – As with most small breeds, TB’s live longer than larger dogs.
Training – TB’s are quick learners and smart dogs. They are easily trained.

With our decision made, the last step was to actually find a TB breeder. This was probably the hardest part of our research. I wanted to try to find someone within a few hours of where we lived so I could meet the dog (and breeder) in person. We came up with zero results. Eventually we found a breeder in Wisconsin and after several phone calls and reviews and research decided this was the right place. But the decisions don’t stop there…

The breeder posted pictures of all the dogs available on his website. We kept narrowing down the dog based on gender and “cuteness”. We literally picked our dog from a picture. That is SO UNLIKE ME! This part definitely made me a little nervous. Finally, FINALLY, we chose Rocco from this picture:

The breeder posted pictures of all puppies next to an

A&W Root Beer can for size comparison.

Then the torture began. We had to wait until he was eight weeks old which was over a month away. Rocco was born January 3, 2014 and we didn’t get him until March 4, 2014. (Fun fact: Our puppyversary was yesterday!) While we waited for our precious cargo to arrive, Shane and I had fun getting the apartment ready for him. (I imagine getting ready for the baby will be somewhat similar. I should get on that…) We bought dog beds and gates and toys and blankets and bowls and food and leashes and collars…

The Arrival

The day we were supposed to pick up Rocco at the airport I was so anxious I had to leave work early. We checked the flight status minute by minute to see when his plane landed. I remember every second of it… we walked into the airport pet pick up/drop off room and he wasn’t there! But his plane landed – where was he? I remember panic setting in until the lady at the desk pointed behind me and said, “That must be him”. Shane and I turned around to see a man bringing a crate toward the pet room. Excitement rushed back in.

I remember opening the crate and finding our little guy all the way in the back, terrified and smelly. It was love at first sight. I wrapped him up in a towel and Shane grabbed the crate and off we went to bring the little furball home.

The first few nights were rough. My wonderful husband stayed up with Rocco when he cried and let me get my beauty sleep. We quickly fell into a routine. Rocco was crate trained because I wanted him to have a “home” when Shane and I were at work. I also didn’t want him to have free range of the apartment in the beginning. Today, we still have the crate with the door open and Rocco will walk right in if he is super tired.

How does that even happen!?

The hardest part in the beginning was training Rocco to go pee/poo outside. We took him out every few hours and after a few months he learned, though he still had an accident here and there. Rocco quickly discovered to stick his butt to the side of his crate to poop outside the crate. He also figured out that if he stood by the door long enough we would take him outside because mommy and daddy thought he had to pee/poo when really he just wanted to play outside.

For a year, I took a picture of Rocco with an A&W Root Beer can to compare how much he grew each month. I figured since the breeder did it for size comparison, why can’t I?

My First Baby

Some may call me crazy and others will understand – Rocco is my first baby. I love him with all my heart. He is a part of me and my family. He drives with us to Florida every year, he has sleepovers at his grandparents’ house, he runs errands in the shopping cart with us, and he has a car seat!

Shane and I are always coming up with nicknames for him and he responds to all of them, though sometimes he gives us the stink-eye like did you really just call me that!? He has freedom to roam the house when Shane and I are not home, he sleeps in our bed and he loves his toys. He has never chewed our furniture or anything he shouldn’t (other than the occasional sock). Rocco is just a GOOD DOG.

The best feeling is coming home after a long day and having him run up to you with excitement. He is always willing to give lots of kisses. Shane and I call them kiss attacks. If Rocco hears one of us say “kiss attacks” he jumps up and literally attacks us with kisses.