Hello, My Name Is.... Skylar Hops

It's been 6 days since we've adopted our puppy, Skylar. And boy, let me tell you, I forgot what puppy training is like. And if you don't know from experience, it is A LOT of work. But that's an understatement. I don't regret adopting her for a minute, because I know it will be worth it. She is is absolutely adorable (which makes her puppy behavior more tolerable). Here, see for yourself! I've only taken a million photos of her.

(Side note: Drew thinks I've overwhelmed the social media platforms of pics of our pup. He's probably right, but who doesn't love pics of puppies? If you don't like them, unfriend me... We probably aren't meant to be friends anyways.)

The name Skylar came to me while I was driving home and it just popped in my head! I wasn't even trying to think of names, but for some reason my brain randomly bursts out the name! I thought it was perfect. It fits well with the name Luna, and stays within a theme without being to blunt and naming my kids Moon and Sun. 

As for her middle name. Had to keep the theme going again. Luna's middle name is "Vino" because we are big wine afficianatoes. We also like beer. Let's just say we like to drink. When we were thinking about what Skylar's middle name we knew it had to be booze related. So, we came up with "Hops" (the flower that makes beer, beer - read more on Wiki). And that's how we came up with "Skylar Hops".

You might wonder WHY we decided to get another pup. Why would we add chaos to a scenario that was finally settling down? The answer is quite easy, why the hell not? We love Luna and want a companion for her and obviously the more the merrier! We knew we were going to eventually get another dog sooner or later, so why wait? I sold Drew on getting another dog by laying out the pros and cons. Here's my list:

Pros:

• Playmate/companion for Luna
• Distract me and keep me busy
• We both can walk a dog.
• Easier to train since Luna will be there
• More dogs = more love = happiness

Cons:

• Double the cost:
• food
• crate
• vet/medicine
• leash/collar, food bowls, toys
• camp bow wow or overnight stays
• lot of work, more overwhelming, more responsibility
• might be completely different than training luna
• might not get along with luna
• Harder to find baby sitters for 2 dogs
• Double the loss

Although it seems like there are more cons than pros, the one that sold Drew on getting a second dog was bullet #2 of the Pros. For me it was the last one. But to each there own, and who cares since I got Drew to say YES to getting another pup!!! I'm now BEYOND excited and searching PetFinder every day about 5 times a day (at least). Then when I was about to give up, I found a dog named "Bailey" who looked like the light brown version of Luna. I contacted the rescue, and they got back to me super fast and I talked to the adoption lady for an hour just talking about dogs.

"Bailey" was being fostered in Danville and we met her to make sure that Luna and her got along. At first they didn't want anything to do with each other: Luna was too interested in the senior dog that the foster family had adopted. And "Bailey" was very timid and scared of Luna. She was watching Luna from behind me. But after 20 min or so, the pup got some confidence and started messing with Luna. And they played great. That's when lady running the adoption looked at me and asked if we wanted to adopt her and pull the trigger. I immediately said yes (without consulting with Drew–but I figured he was getting the same impression I was).

She got spayed, and we took her home the next weekend. The first couple days Luna was having a hard time adjusting, but she soon came around. And now Skylar and Luna are two peas in a pod. Skylar LOVES following Luna around and tugging at her tail, paws, ears, or whatever else she can nibble on.

Potty training. Oh boy. I forgot how much of a pain in the ass potty training is. It doesn't help that I'm now on the third floor and have to go down 3 flights of stairs to get Skylar to grass. I have to admit, my calf muscles are looking pretty lean, though. So, thank you Skylar!

Overall, everyone is adjusting well, minus a couple little hiccups that one dog verbalized that they were not happy and the other immediately stopped. I'm sure there will be more obstacles to come and fun things to post about how awesome 2 dogs are. Luna now has a great companion to be a big sister to :)

Peace and Blessings!

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Hump Day: Why Should I Spay/Neuter My Dog?

Easy answer: it is the most socially responsible thing to do as a pet owner. I could end my post here, because the answer is that simple. I really don't know the answer to why you wouldn't spay/neuter your animal. Besides of course, if you want them to reproduce and you can be a backyard breeder. And even then, honestly, I don't think it's a very good reason to keep your dog's lady parts (or man parts). 

Source

The US has a huge problem with Pet Overpopulation. And do you know why we have this problem?  1. Animals are not spayed/neutered. (Only 10% of animals that are brought into shelters are spayed/neutered)--that means that 90% of animals are able to reproduce and so they DO reproduce causing more and more animals to be born, causing this overpopulation. 2. Animals are left and abandoned by owners to become strays. If these owners did NOT neuter/spay their animals then there we go again, more strays. If they were neutered/spayed (again only 10% are) then woohoo, cutting down the amount of strays ever so slightly. 

Do you know how many strays there are in the US? No, you don't. No one does. THE NUMBER IS TOO HIGH AND TOO QUICKLY CHANGING! According to ASPCA, "It is impossible to determine how many stray dogs and cats live in the United States; estimates for cats alone range up to 70 million." Homeless animals OUTNUMBER homeless people 5 to 1, says DoSomething. So why is it a big deal that there are so many stray animals? Well, where do you think these strays go? They go to shelters, and if they aren't adopted, then they (approximately 2.7 MILLION animals per year) are euthanized.

I can not believe these statistics (or lack of one because of the rapid constant increase). It truly makes me sad that most of the problem is us as owners, not being responsible enough to either spay/neuter our animals or just surrendering them because of what ever reason we can think it's okay to do so. (Clearly owner surrendering boggles my mind and that's a whole other tangent that I can go off on).

If you are still unsure about spaying or neutering here are some Pros and Cons that I found:

Benefits to Spay/Neuter:

• Unable to get pregnant or get others pregnant (this IS a pro, because of the many statistics of OVERPOPULATION of animals in America)
• Reduce the amount of animals that are euthanized each year.
• Healthier pets. You reduce a lot of reproductive cancers out there and even (especially) mammary tumors. Even this writer who is completely against spay/neuter says so himself. Other health related reasons to spay/neuter you can find here.
• Save money. You can save money if you spay/neuter your animal. This may seem a little backwards since you have to pay to get them the surgery, but in the long run you are cutting down many cancers and other health issues they might run into. Also you can save a little on their license (spayed/neutered pets are cheaper to license).
• "Less Aggressive." I hesitate to put this on here because I think aggression doesn't always have to do with sexualization (which is the only aggression that spaying and neutering would stop). There are many types and reasons dogs become aggressive, and it's up to the owner to stop it and train the dog appropriately.
• "Improves Behavior." Another one that I hesitate to put on this list, yet so many vets say that it will help. Again, I think your dogs behavior has a lot to do with the owner and how you are training he or she. If you are really having serious problems bring them to a dog trainer.

Disadvantage to Spay/Neuter:

• If your dog is too young, and you get them spayed/neutered it can result in many different problems, which can get controversial. Here are more reasons "pediatric spay/neuter" can cause problems.
• Your animal may gain weight (not become obese), but gain weight.
• Your dog will not be able to reproduce (this can be a disadvantage if you are trying to breed your dog, but again is that really socially responsible? Remember the stats)
• Can affect bone growth. When your dog has it's surgery, hormone production is interrupted and can cause bone growth to be affected.

Know of other Pros/Cons that I should be aware of and add to my list? Comment below!

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