I'd like to share my story so far with raising two littermates. I'll try to be concise.
Mac & Tasha are almost 2 years old. We've had them since they were 7 weeks old. It has been a difficult ride in many ways, and I'd like to share my experience and hopefully, this will help others. I am not a dog trainer, or dog expert. I am an everyday dog owner who learned the hard way.
THE BEGINNING: My husband really wanted a German Shepherd. We did our research and found a breeder, paid the deposit, and anxiously awaited our boy. The day before we were to go pick him up, my husband saw on the breeder's Facebook page that there was one female that had not been spoken for. "That's so sad!" my husband said. "Somebody will get her," I reassured him. My MIL (an avid animal lover, but not so much a great animal owner) saw the Facebook post as well and said, "If I give you money, would you like to purchase that last female, too? She looks so lonely." My husband turns to me and says, "Sweetie, what do you think?" Here is where I made my big mistake. I wasn't thinking. I didn't do my research on owning two dogs. I didn't even have a clue what it was like to own ONE dog. I was trusting my husband, who had more experience owning dogs than me. So dummy me, I just went with it. "Well, I guess if she's willing to help pay for the up-front costs, why not? Isn't owning two dogs the same as owning one dog?” Famous last words.
THE TWO MONTHS OF Hades: The first two months of owning two puppies were awful. I was living in purgatory. Potty training was a nightmare. The nights were sleepless. I had no time for myself. All I thought about were the puppies and their schedule. Everything was revolved around them. I stopped taking care of myself and gained 20 pounds. I wasn't working and all I had to do all day was be with these terrible, loud, obnoxious, biting, chewing, fighting puppies. I cried all the time. I wanted to rehome them. I begged my husband, "Please! Can we please rehome them? If not both, what about just one? Please. I'm miserable." Husband wouldn't hear of it. "They're family now. You wouldn't rehome your child if they were being difficult would you?" Then my ability to be a parent to children came into question. "If you can't handle dogs, how can you even hope to handle kids? Maybe we shouldn't even have kids." The arguments went basically like that. Only then did I read forums like this and articles that said basically the same thing. If you're inexperienced, don't raise two puppies of the same age. It was awful.
THE YEAR AND A HALF OF Hades: When they were 3 months old, we both got jobs in the city in which we were hoping to build a house. Obviously, we didn't have a house yet, so we had to move in with a family member... who had 2 dogs of her own at the time. That was Hades x2.
Our room was tiny, no room for a crate, barely room for a full size bed for us and one dog bed for them. It was terrible trying to get our schedules to work where I could leave them safely while I was gone. The question of whether to separate them while I was gone during the afternoon came into question, even on this forum. Can I leave them together in the same room? Would they kill each other? Would they bond more with each other than with me? Is it safe to leave them with the roommate's dogs? Etc etc. Then it got worse. The roommate decided to get not one, but TWO puppies of her own. The house smelled of dog pee and poop for months because her puppies would have accidents that wouldn't get cleaned up for hours, sometimes days. I constantly had to avoid the accidents, and really supervise my dogs so they wouldn't have accidents inside too. Her females weren't spayed, so I had constantly watch my male around them when they were in heat so he didn't hump them. All the while, trying to go to a job in the afternoon, keep an exercise and training routine with my dogs, and keep my sanity. I have been very brief here with the horrors, but there are so many more stories.
THE PRESENT: I have gone through the lowest point in my life raising these dogs. It was really and truly the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I guess I should consider myself fortunate that so far this is the hardest thing. I contemplated suicide many times, and I've never done that before. I even (please forgive me) contemplated killing the dogs. Because I truly felt there was no other way out since I was forbidden to rehome them. It was truly awful.
But somehow, here I sit 2 years later, wondering how on earth I made it. Mac & Tasha are great. They are very bonded to me, as well as to my husband, more so than to each other. They have basic obedience training (all training done only by me). They know tricks and different commands, they don't have potty accidents, they don't chew or bite anything they aren't supposed to. They're learning how to walk on leash better and to not bark so much at strangers. They love to lay their head on my stomach or leg and follow me around while I do chores. They sit beside me while I work on my computer, and are comforted by their routine.
And by golly, that is all me! I taught them everything they know. I set a routine for them so they know when to be calm and when it's time to play. I have to toot my own horn a little bit because of the low points I went through to get to this place. And to think my ability to be a mother to children was questioned.
THE TAKE AWAY: Everybody should do research before owning a dog. EVERYONE! Even if you just have one dog. Because it's not easy if you want to do it right. It's very hard and takes a lot of sacrifice and work. You have to learn to understand their patterns and their cues, and because they aren't human, that's really hard to do! You have to learn a whole other species' way of thinking and behavior. And it is compounded when you have two of them.
I'm truly humbled if you made it all the way through this post. I really needed to pour my heart out today because I'm so grateful I've made it this far. I hope everyone has a blessed day!
Mac & Tasha are almost 2 years old. We've had them since they were 7 weeks old. It has been a difficult ride in many ways, and I'd like to share my experience and hopefully, this will help others. I am not a dog trainer, or dog expert. I am an everyday dog owner who learned the hard way.
THE BEGINNING: My husband really wanted a German Shepherd. We did our research and found a breeder, paid the deposit, and anxiously awaited our boy. The day before we were to go pick him up, my husband saw on the breeder's Facebook page that there was one female that had not been spoken for. "That's so sad!" my husband said. "Somebody will get her," I reassured him. My MIL (an avid animal lover, but not so much a great animal owner) saw the Facebook post as well and said, "If I give you money, would you like to purchase that last female, too? She looks so lonely." My husband turns to me and says, "Sweetie, what do you think?" Here is where I made my big mistake. I wasn't thinking. I didn't do my research on owning two dogs. I didn't even have a clue what it was like to own ONE dog. I was trusting my husband, who had more experience owning dogs than me. So dummy me, I just went with it. "Well, I guess if she's willing to help pay for the up-front costs, why not? Isn't owning two dogs the same as owning one dog?” Famous last words.
THE TWO MONTHS OF Hades: The first two months of owning two puppies were awful. I was living in purgatory. Potty training was a nightmare. The nights were sleepless. I had no time for myself. All I thought about were the puppies and their schedule. Everything was revolved around them. I stopped taking care of myself and gained 20 pounds. I wasn't working and all I had to do all day was be with these terrible, loud, obnoxious, biting, chewing, fighting puppies. I cried all the time. I wanted to rehome them. I begged my husband, "Please! Can we please rehome them? If not both, what about just one? Please. I'm miserable." Husband wouldn't hear of it. "They're family now. You wouldn't rehome your child if they were being difficult would you?" Then my ability to be a parent to children came into question. "If you can't handle dogs, how can you even hope to handle kids? Maybe we shouldn't even have kids." The arguments went basically like that. Only then did I read forums like this and articles that said basically the same thing. If you're inexperienced, don't raise two puppies of the same age. It was awful.
THE YEAR AND A HALF OF Hades: When they were 3 months old, we both got jobs in the city in which we were hoping to build a house. Obviously, we didn't have a house yet, so we had to move in with a family member... who had 2 dogs of her own at the time. That was Hades x2.
Our room was tiny, no room for a crate, barely room for a full size bed for us and one dog bed for them. It was terrible trying to get our schedules to work where I could leave them safely while I was gone. The question of whether to separate them while I was gone during the afternoon came into question, even on this forum. Can I leave them together in the same room? Would they kill each other? Would they bond more with each other than with me? Is it safe to leave them with the roommate's dogs? Etc etc. Then it got worse. The roommate decided to get not one, but TWO puppies of her own. The house smelled of dog pee and poop for months because her puppies would have accidents that wouldn't get cleaned up for hours, sometimes days. I constantly had to avoid the accidents, and really supervise my dogs so they wouldn't have accidents inside too. Her females weren't spayed, so I had constantly watch my male around them when they were in heat so he didn't hump them. All the while, trying to go to a job in the afternoon, keep an exercise and training routine with my dogs, and keep my sanity. I have been very brief here with the horrors, but there are so many more stories.
THE PRESENT: I have gone through the lowest point in my life raising these dogs. It was really and truly the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I guess I should consider myself fortunate that so far this is the hardest thing. I contemplated suicide many times, and I've never done that before. I even (please forgive me) contemplated killing the dogs. Because I truly felt there was no other way out since I was forbidden to rehome them. It was truly awful.
But somehow, here I sit 2 years later, wondering how on earth I made it. Mac & Tasha are great. They are very bonded to me, as well as to my husband, more so than to each other. They have basic obedience training (all training done only by me). They know tricks and different commands, they don't have potty accidents, they don't chew or bite anything they aren't supposed to. They're learning how to walk on leash better and to not bark so much at strangers. They love to lay their head on my stomach or leg and follow me around while I do chores. They sit beside me while I work on my computer, and are comforted by their routine.
And by golly, that is all me! I taught them everything they know. I set a routine for them so they know when to be calm and when it's time to play. I have to toot my own horn a little bit because of the low points I went through to get to this place. And to think my ability to be a mother to children was questioned.
THE TAKE AWAY: Everybody should do research before owning a dog. EVERYONE! Even if you just have one dog. Because it's not easy if you want to do it right. It's very hard and takes a lot of sacrifice and work. You have to learn to understand their patterns and their cues, and because they aren't human, that's really hard to do! You have to learn a whole other species' way of thinking and behavior. And it is compounded when you have two of them.
I'm truly humbled if you made it all the way through this post. I really needed to pour my heart out today because I'm so grateful I've made it this far. I hope everyone has a blessed day!
Show this to hubby.
