Buddy

Richard and I recently made the decision to give my tiny toy poodle up for adoption.  We loved Buddy, but he was he was too much maintenance.  We want to get another dog after the carpets and laundry is done to minimize the smell of Buddy in the apartment.

Buddy was much loved in our house but poodle coats require constant grooming, and their eyes require constant washing.  I knew I had to let him go when his hair began to get matted, his eyes were draining onto his face, and his coat began to look yellow rather than white after a bath.  I gave him regular baths and even attempted to keep his hair cut and his eyes washed out, but I was seeing the effects of my neglect and gave him to a stay at home mother of two little girls.  She and the girls will have more time to tend to my baby than I ever did.

I really wanted to get a Yorkie or a Yorkie poo as a replacement, but both of these breeds also require a lot of maintenance.

We quickly ruled out Maltese as well for the same reason, but I insisted I wanted a long-haired dog, while Richard insisted we needed a short-haired one.

It only took him seconds to rule out Pomeranian for the same reason.

Richard suggested something like a Boston Terrier or Pug, but I quickly ruled out those two breeds for their relationship to the bulldog.  Their more stout with a strong jaw, so they're not much for me to cuddle with, and they might be able to break skin if they got nippy with the kids.

I'm not much for the Jack Russell Terrier either, because I think they're too hyper for an apartment, and we had already ruled out all large breeds due to size and room restraints.

When Richard suggested Chihuahua, I was ready to make a compromise, but I was still favoring the look and feel of long-haired dogs.

 Then I did a little research on long-haired Chihuahuas.  Their coat is longer, but does NOT require constant grooming, only bathing and brushing.  Their jaws are very weak, sometimes too week to consume hard food, so even though they're known to be nippy dogs, he won't do any damage if he bites.  They have proven to be trainable pets.  They are very self-centered dogs who love attention.  So, in a few months, after we gets things here back in order after the holidays, we've decided to get a long-haired Chihuahua and I'm already so excited.

If you have any suggestions about a pet that might fit our needs better who we didn't consider, let me know!