A 4th

Two weeks ago, we got our fourth dog. He is now eight weeks old and is a Morkie Poo. That is a Maltese Yorkie/Poodle mix. He is all of two pounds completely full. If doggie genes prove correct, he should never get more than 15 lbs, unless we let him get porky.

Since I post pictures of the puppy cuteness on IG, a lot of my friends have said how cute he is. He is way cute! Not only that, but he is super smart. I don't say that like a parent thinks their baby is Einstein. We've had some dumb dogs. This little dog is intelligent.

At eight weeks old, he is almost potty trained. He knows when it is time for all the dogs to be fed. He isn't afraid of anything and he thinks he is a big dog already. He has even had a couple nights of sleeping for 5-7 hours straight.

Me on the other hand, I haven't slept much the past two weeks. Thankfully, I get to sneak in naps in the afternoon. I wouldn't trade it though. He has been such a joy for us. Oh my goodness, we laugh all evening long.

I have been quite puzzled by a few people who have questioned our need/desire for a fourth dog. Really? Yes, I've had a few people even go as far as to tell us it was a bad decision.

It isn't that I feel overly compelled to defend our decision, but it is quite simple.

We have looked at puppies since the end of last year. We have three perfectly happy dogs. However, they are all aging. Unfortunately for us, they are all about the same age. That has been great because they have all grown up together. They all require the same kinds of foods and care.

We do not want to get a few years down the road and lose all of our dogs within a short time and be left with none. We love our dogs and can't imagine not having at least a couple. We wanted a puppy and not a rescue this time, so we have a chance to train it to be the way we want. Rescues are great, but they come with bad habits that are hard to break. Rescues are usually not well loved before you get them and your focus has to be on earning trust and loving them instead of training.

With that being said, we know our aging dogs are getting a bit crotchety the older they get. They become less playful and more snippy. We wanted to bring a puppy in before it was too late. A puppy can also energize a middle aged dog as they play and try to keep up. The time was right for us.

The timing was really right for us or we wouldn't have done it. I am home all day, almost everyday. That is making potty training much easier. We also have the space. We never felt over run by three dogs in our KC house. Our KC house was about 600 square feet smaller. So, we definitely felt like we had plenty of space with a fenced yard.

Not that I took the time to explain all that to the few people who questioned our choice. I think each time, I was a little shocked. I wasn't hateful, but I did change the subject.

Here's the thing. I don't mind friends questioning my choices. I appreciate the chances to think through things or even hear a different perspective. I don't ever think that I make perfect choices every time. My husband and I both just make the decision we feel is best for us at the time with the resources we have.

There's another side to that. Not everyone gets to do that. If you are going to question my choice about getting a dog, you had better be a good enough friend to have questioned me on things that mean something. If you don't know me well enough to question my thoughts on faith or major decision in life, then you probably don't have any validity in questioning a dog choice.

Like I said, I am respectful at the time. But your opinion doesn't go very far in encouraging me to consider my choices.

There's a reason to bring that up. I had a conversation recently with someone I respect. It was about how you really have to get to know someone before you speak into their lives. That's hard to do when you see them making mistakes or have genuine concern for them. Your voice has no validity if your relationship isn't any deeper than surface.

I think that is a valid point in any confrontation that you have with anyone. The key to really making a difference in anyone's life or learning to be a friend has a lot to do with developing that relationship first.