Hi All, I thought I should introduce myself. My wife and I are new to the Pom breed, having had Pugs & chihuahua's for the past 20 years, Shepard's before that. On New Years of this year, having a new puppy in the house was the furthest thing from our minds. Sadly, that changed...rapidly. We'd had our "pack" of three Pugs & a chihuahua for over 18 years. We lost our oldest Pug, Wilbur, two years ago at 18. The remaining dogs, eventually adjusted, as did we, and we all settled into a new routine. Late this spring, our next oldest Pug, Amos, became ill and we also lost him. A tough time; he was 16 and the sweetest thing you could imagine. Pugs are not known for smarts, and Amos held up to that trait; slow thinker but very loving. Then in June, our "Mastermind" Fred, the chihuahua, became gravely ill & passed away quite quickly. We were devastated, but none more than our one remaining Pug, Molly, 15. She stopped eating, slept all the time & we really feared we would lose her too. She'd never spent a minute of her life as the sole dog, and did not know how to do that. Enter Frank; our little 3 1/2 pound, snow white Pom puppy. We have no experience with Poms, and he has been an astonishing journey so far. I've owned dogs continuously for more than 50 years. I trained & showed German Shepard dogs for many years, and regardless of breed, I've never seen a better tempered, more laid back & confident, loving little puppy than Frank. He has been an absolute Joy! I'm amazed at his intelligence: paper training in 2 days at 3 months old; crate training after one night. Within a month, he had all basic obedience commands, both voice & hand signal, mastered (sit, down, stay, come & heel) Now, at almost 5 months I can confidently walk him in a crowd at heel, off leash with NO concern that he'll get distracted and wander away. We're adjusting to the grooming side of things, which is new since our dogs have all been short coated, and he's in the throes of the puppy uglies right now, so the hair is incredible. He's already a seasoned traveller, both by car and airplane, and is very relaxed with both. He seldom barks, and when he does, there's a reason; he's taken on his "guard duties" with a great deal of sincerity. He's an absolutely lovely little dog to have & to be around. If there are any regrets, it's that we didn't discover what a smart, loving little dog they were until now. Looking forward to learning from your experiences more about our little guy Wayne
Hi Wayne, welcome to Breedia. Your dogs have all had remarkably long lives, and it is earth shattering when they pass at such close intervals. Some years ago, I lost two fourteen year old Cavaliers within two weeks of each other, the second one being a complete shock to us, as he had seemed so fit. This was followed just three months later by the heart failure of a relatively young ten year old Lowchen, leaving us, like yourselves, with just one dog. It is like losing your soul. I am glad that you are so pleased with your choice of little Frank, his coat is amazing. You clearly enjoy teaching him things, and it is paying dividends. Do let us know what he learns to do next.
Hello and welcome! Its good that you have been able to find joy in another dog after your loss. I have had a few dogs in my life and none of them have ever replaced the other. The more dogs I get the bigger my heart gets to accommodate them all as they are all special.
