Owning Yoshi was one of the biggest changes to our lifestyles this year. When I was first told about the plan to purchase a dog for a present for my wife’s father, I was dead set against it. I wanted nothing to do with a plan I knew was doomed to end up with us in care of a puppy. Sure, at the time I thought dogs were cute, as long as they were confined to being a puppy in a window. I had no intention of taking care of one. I didn’t know what being a pet owner entailed, and I certainly didn’t want an animal running around destroying things in my apartment, or worse yet, the apartment itself.
Now, after living with a pet for about eight months, we are a pretty inseparable pair. Yoshi has integrated himself into our lives, and now having him around makes both me and my wife happier than simply being alone. One of the reasons for this is the fact that while he might be a little naughty, overall he’s a pretty good pooch. He’s learned some ground rules for living with us, and he’s not terribly difficult to take care of when we work together. He’s gone from a pile of defecating fur to a nice dog since we’ve owned him.
This means that I’m usually in charge of walking Yoshi around, while the occasional bath or trim is handled by my wife. I usually head out in the morning for a lap with Yoshi around the block. If we have time before lunch, I’ll head down to a park or near the river to let him run. He’s tightly supervised, but this serves as exercise for me. Right now, it’s starting to get cold, but we can still take him outside.
One function of these walks is to keep his funky dung out of the house. He’s gotten very good at bowel and bladder control as he’s grown. While there was a 1 and 3 chance that Yoshi might do something undesirable in the house when we purchased him, now he almost never makes a mistake in the house. He’s pad trained and usually waits to go outside. This was a major concern of both of Yoshi’s owners, so he’s gotten lots of praise for his regular actions.
On walks, he’s starting to control himself around strangers. Right now, it’s a 50% chance that he’ll sit down and patiently wait for the elevator. If someone gives him attention on the elevator, it’s tough to keep him from wanting to jump. He doesn’t bite strangers, but if he got the chance, he’d push every toddler down and lick their faces until they surrendered. Some kids like this, some do not. Keeping him away from the little ones is usually fairly easy. Other people on the street either get ignored, or get lots of attention. Anyone that stops to pet him probably will get jumped on. He can’t be trusted without a leash, because he’ll simply run thinking he’s free. This works in a safe park, but on the street it’s much too dangerous.
He’s smart enough to chase balls and toys, but doesn’t like disc like objects. It’s very gross. He usually keeps people on the computer or couch company while they do their thing, hoping to get their attention long enough for someone to play fetch with him. Since he’s a little dog and our apartment has some places he can run, this helps him get a little exercise even on rainy days. He wears clothes on cold days, and recognizes his leash. He knows never to step in our bedroom, and to wait when we feed him food in a dish until we give him permission to eat. He’s on a no protein diet due to a skin allergy, but on the plus side, will never shed his hair because of his breed.
All and all, having a pet is very rewarding experience. I don’t think I would have been capable of properly taking care of a pet before this year, but now that I’ve had the experience I’m very glad we’ve taking care of Yoshi since purchasing him. Hell, even the security guards don’t mind him. He’s been a constant and loyal companion for these months and I wouldn’t want to live in Korea without him now.
