At the beginning.

Sat in bed listening to my puppy Betsy snoring so loudly.  I was wondering if the lady next door would be able to hear her as the window in our bedroom was opened.  

I live in an apartment on the 5th floor with Charlotte our daughter and Martin my dear husband.  Betsy has been with us for 11 weeks now and what a wonderful experience it has been so far.  Before Betsy came on the scene it had taken me months to decide to get a dog and I knew in my heart that I wanted one but actually getting a dog was a big decision.  I thought of reasons why not to and then the reasons for getting a dog.

Reasons for not getting a dog:  

Expense - not just the cost of the puppy, also vet bills, food, toys and possibly kennels.

Time -  a dog takes up a lot of your time they need a great deal of attention.

Potty training and dog training in General is hard work.

Long Term Commitment.

A dog is completely dependent on their owner.

Sacrifice's in your own life style.

Reasons for getting a dog:

Companionship they are so loveable and give so much.

Socializing great for meeting new people.

Good exercise.

They make you laugh and do crazy things.

They are part of a family unit.

  In the end the reasons for getting a dog really appealed to me. I remember sitting at my computer scrolling through the adverts of different breeds.  I decided on a Shih Tzu and read as much about them as I could digest. I contacted a lady who advertised a female black and white puppy for sale.  We arranged to go take a look.  Arriving at the house we were greeted by the owner who took us to see the puppy.  We took one look and knew she was the one for us.  So thats how things started with Betsy.  She was so small, a cute bundle of fur.  Life changed so dramatically from that day on.  It was like having a new baby in the apartment. 

We had bought her a crate for sleeping in but Betsy was not having any of it.  Eventually, she slept in our room on a red rug at the side of our bed.  Who needed an alarm clock not us.  Puppies need to go out about every 3 hours so Martin and I took it in turns.  We got into a good routine and the hours got longer and longer in between. Now Betsy sleeps through most nights.