Meet the cast

This is Kafka.

She is probably about 16 or 17 years old. She literally followed me home one day and cried outside my window until I let her in. She was a very young kitten, likely lost from her litter mates too soon, and as a result she is an exceptionally needy cat.

She loves to be held and carried around and given half a change she will suckle you. People that meet her think it's adorable when they meet her, but it gets old real quick. But still when I am sad she's always just pure love and affection like a living stuffed animal. Except when you put her in a cat carrier, then she turns into a foaming at the mouth she-beast. The vet will not see her unless she's been properly sedated first (she's scarred her fair share of vet staff)

This is Kona (aka "Fatty")

Kona is 8 years old from a litter of feral kittens found in my in-laws woodpile in the backyard. She is remarkably well socialized all things considered. Very social with us (esp during her kittenhood) and with people who are over a lot, very wary of strangers, not much of a lap cats but likes to be close by to where we are. She's been more reclusive since we moved to the new house, but gets along well with Kafka.

This is Pigwidgeon (aka Stinker)

Stinker (she responds to that name) is probably one of the most socialized cats I have ever known. She was from a litter of a barn cat belonging to a co-worker. she'll be a year old this fall. Not only does she come when called (85% of the time which for a cat is amazing) she lets us now when she wants windows open, when she needs to go downstairs, and will even tolerate a leash for short periods of time. Yes, she has trained us well. She is very outgoing, friendly, active and fearless. And spoiled. She doesn't get along with our other cats so much (Kona still hisses at her) and in fact she loves to taunt them (which is how she earned the name Stinker) but she is very very closely bonded with us.

And finally......

This is Bauer

Bauer is a purebred Coton de Tulear puppy we adopted from a breeder in the AZ/NV area. Since we just brought him home Aug 8th 2009 we don't have much else in the way of background on him, and naturally this blog is about his transition into our family.

Why a coton de tulear? and what is it?

Coton de Tulear (via Wikipedia)

Why? Well, because of the cats and our lifestyle. We have a small house with 3 curious cats and a fairly laid back lifestyle. If a dog was going to fit in he couldn't be overly aggressive or athletic. Cotons have been bred as companion animals, unlike other working breed small dogs. Everything we researched told us their temperments were very easy going and they got along well with other dogs and animals, and would be comfortable in small enviroments like apartments or small houses the size of apartments.

Cotons are also hypo-allergenic and since they have hair rather than fur will not shed as much as normal dogs. Also being a rarer breed not commonly known in the United States, they tend to not be plagued by some of the same health issues seen in more popular breeds.

But the clincher was this face

Why a puppy?

When we finally became homeowners, we had talked about getting a dog someday. We had a yard to let in run in, no upstairs or downstairs tenants to worry about, and were situated in a quiet section of a suburban neighborhood with plenty of other dog owners. I worked within walking distance of the house meaning most days I'd be able to stop home mid-day to check in on a dog and let it out for a break. Our work schedules overlapped in such a way as to ensure that a dog would never have to be left alone for more than a few hours at a time.

But did we want a dog? Or more importantly, did I want a dog? My husband's parents have always multiple dogs and cats living with them (maximum of 3 dogs and 8 cats at one point) so he was OK with the idea, and knew what to expect. I had my reservations.

When I was 6 years old my Grandparents on my fathers side decided to surprise me (and my parents) with the gift of a 6 month old collie/golden retriever mix puppy. Obviously, I was instantly in love (and my poor parents were put in a very awkward position). We were not prepared in the slightest.

I don't remember alot about that time, only that I loved the dog but was also very scared of it. The little puppy became huge, agressive, and unmanageable. He destroyed furniture, walls, car tires. He pounced on people and knocked them over, and ran away a lot. Eventually he was adopted by a "family in the country" . Whether or not this is true, I'll probably never know. I just remembered being heart-broken and feeling like I had failed and was not good enough for even a dogs love.

From then on my parents had a cats only attitude on pets. And we had great cats, but none of them bonded with me. Our first cat Muffy, bonded with my Dad, who still gets misty eyed when talking about her. Hobbes came along as I was about ready to head out on my own, and bonded with my sister. I moved into my first apartment and had a serious of rather unfortuante relationships. However, my doomed from the start affair with a goth Peter Murphy look-a-like, did give me a great cat named Sebastian, who was the love of my life and is now forever immortalized by his tattooed likeness on my left shoulder.

Since Sebastian I've been firmly in the cat-person camp. People argue that cats are cold and unfreindly and cannot provide the level of compainionship that dogs can. I disagree wholeheartedly. Cats, if handled correctly can be socialized and be very affectionate animals indeed.

So why get a dog, if my cats are so outgoing and bring me so much happiness? Fair question and I wish I had a simple answer or at least one that makes it seem like it's all about having a dog. I want to get a dog because my husband wants to get a dog, but also because I've always wanted to know what bonding with a dog is really all about to get over my early experience with my first dog, because it will take me out of my comfort zone, and because it will be an adventure for all of us.

How it all began

My husband and I lived together for a little over 10 years before we got married. People ask me from time to time if getting legally married changed the nature of our relationship. I've always said no, because I believe that marriage is a process more than a status. But I follow up by saying that buying a house together did cause some big changes in our relationship. So I guess you could say that going and getting legally married didn't really change our relationship because our lifestyle was still the same the day after as it was the day before.

However, owning our own home after years of renting was a significant change in our lifestyle which caused us to see parts of each other that we hadn't encountered before. In our rental days house issues like the plumbing or the electric were things we lived with or jury-rigged to work. After all this wasn't really our house, so the object was to make it as comfortable to live there as we were willing to afford (or bug our landlord about). Having our own home, now the leaky faucets and cracked driveway could lead to lengthy and expensive projects, multiple trips to the hardware store and lots of frustration. I saw in my husband a need to do things "correct" not like all the half-assed stuff he had to deal with in our old apartments, this was his house and a reflection of him. On the other hand I wanted all the cool features I liked about everyplace I had ever seen or lived combined into one kick-ass oasis away from the rest of the world. Sometimes these visions clashed and so it goes.

But was does this have to do with cats and dogs you ask? Well, the recent entrance into our home of this pooch signifies a big lifestyle change, perhaps even bigger than owning our first home. The idea for this blog is to document those changes and perhaps learn a little about myself in the process. A google blog search for coton de tulear didn't bring me much that wasn't either breeder blogs which were way too cutsey and fawning for my tastes (and mostly to advertize their new litter offerings) or in french. So maybe this blog will be of interest to those who

• Haven't owned a dog before (or had a bad experience owning a dog before)
  
• Are introducing a dog into a household of cats or vice/versa
• Own or are thinking about owning a coton de tulear
• Want to see cute pictures of puppies and cats (thus saving those on my social networking sites the constant barrage)

So, if you're out there let me know!