I Will Never Own a Small Dog

Cocoa with my father-in-law

If you’re just jumping into reading this series, I’m writing about things I said I’d never do, and now do.  Thanks for joining me!

My childhood was full of pets.  We always had a dog.  My first memories of a dog belong to Frisky, an appropriately named hyperactive Eskimo Spitz.  Next came Max, a fox terrier, that I pretended was my pet horse.  Max had to jump over some high hurdles as I envisioned my horse flying over jumps.  Then, the first dog that really belonged to me was Snickers, a German Shepherd Lab mix who was full to the brim of love and energy.  I have many fond memories of playing fetch in my aunt & uncle’s pond with Snickers. 

When we got married, we both knew we wanted a dog.  My husband wanted a large dog because he said so many little dogs were ankle-biters.  We looked at many breeds, and eventually got two German Shorthaired Pointers, which we were wonderful dogs.  We enjoyed many good years with our pointers, but owing chickens and bird dogs wasn’t always a good thing.  It was during those years when we were enjoying our pointers that we decided we would “never own a small dog.”  However, life has a way of changing things. 

When our pointers passed away, we began looking for a family dog that wasn’t a bird dog.  Someone in our small group from church owned a miniature schnauzer named Frosty.  Our small group would periodically meet in their home.  Frosty always greeted everyone with some friendly barking.  Then she proceeded to go around the room happily greeting the people.  If her owners made her sit instead of socializing, she would peer out from underneath those adorable eyebrows   - obeying, but wishing she could be in someone’s lap.  It was her friendly, confident personality that put the first chink in our armor of never owing a small dog.  Then we learned that mini schnauzers don’t shed.  We had 2 small children at the time, and we thought about how nice it would be to have a dog more “their” size that wouldn’t knock them over all the time.  And, then, we began looking at miniature schnauzer puppies.  Yes, then it was all over.  We had to drive to our neighboring state of New Jersey to get Jolly.  She has been a wonderful addition to our family since that cold, snowy February day in 2013 when we brought her home.

Now we love miniature schnauzers, and we even purchased a second one – Cocoa, in 2014.  She is a chocolate and white parti schnauzer.  Schnauzers are like potato chips – it is hard to just have one.  So, here are a few snapshots of our mini schnauzers.

Jolly

Cocoa

Jolly & Cocoa both enjoy being outside when the boys are playing outside

Cocoa riding with my son on a recent family vacation

Cocoa