This is one of the most difficult posts I have ever written…

After much consideration and thought, we have decided to give away Comang, our beloved shih-tzu.

When I first became pregnant with Claire, I swore to myself that I would never become “one of those people” that give away their dogs after having children. I consider dogs — all pets, actually — part of one’s family and I still consider Comang to be J and my first child. And while it was difficult at times, we managed to successfully take care of both a baby and a dog after Claire was born. We would walk Comang with Claire in a stroller or in a carrier. We would devote our full attention to Comang once Claire was asleep. And while he would seem jealous and even a bit sad at times, we believed that this adjustment period would be temporary, and that Claire and Comang would grow up to be great friends.

Then I unexpectedly got pregnant with Aerin just 3 months after Claire was born. I had an extremely difficult pregnancy with Aerin, so Comang was forced to take the back seat more and more frequently. He began to get moody. He gained weight. And I knew that he was not nearly as happy as he was before.

Comang has been spending the majority of the time at my parents’ house since Aerin was born. And while they are glad to help take care of him, they are away from home 14 hours a day and he — a dog who loves and craves attention and interaction — became even more surly. I wanted to take him back full-time, but I can barely take care of both girls as it is…there was no way that we could add a third “child” into the mix without my going completely bonkers.

We also had to consider the fact that Aerin has extremely sensitive skin — although shih-tzus are generally hypoallergenic, all dogs carry small amounts of allergens or can pick up allergens from outside in their fur, and each specific dog within a breed may cause different allergic responses. We have never gone as far as to actually rub Comang up against Aerin, but I did notice that every time that I held her after having had some contact with him, she seemed more itchy and her eczema would flare up.

So with a heavy heart, I posted an ad on Petfinder, a site I had used in the past and knew for a fact to be adoption-friendly with the animals’ best interest at heart.

This is how I will always remember Comang — lying next to me with his paws in the air.

As I have written many times in the past, Comang is one of the best-behaved dogs I know, and no one can deny that he is adorable. Requests began to pour in, and I was eventually able to find a family I knew would give him a great home.

Comang’s new family has three boys, ages 3, 5, and 7, and the mother is a SAHM so I know that someone will be around to keep Comang company at almost all times. I was a bit worried that the boys would be too rambunctious and/or even violent for our timid little guy, but they were all very well-behaved with great manners, and were absolutely smitten with Comang. The oldest had actually been saving up his chores money so that they could get a dog, and paid for the adoption fee himself! (Petfinder requires an adoption fee in order to help ensure that the pets will be going to good homes.) I spoke at length with the mother and it was apparent that this family would be able to give Comang all the love and attention that he deserves. In fact, they asked sooo many questions about him that it even bordered on being annoying at times!

The family was willing to sign an adoption contract I drew up, which included a stipulation stating that if, for whatever reason, they were no longer able to take care of Comang (whether one month from now or 10 years from now), they would return him to us. They also agreed to periodically send us emails and pictures with updates. And when we met in person, they even invited us to come visit them anytime we want!

The decision to give away Comang was obviously one that we did not not come to easily. But knowing that he is going to such a great home made the process that much easier. I wanted to cry when Comang’s new family came to pick him up yesterday, but seeing how happy the boys were put a big smile on my face instead. I felt even better still when, before we headed to bed, I received a text message with a picture of Comang in his new home with a note thanking us for making them so happy.

My cousin told me that when her daughter first entered preschool, and her teachers were attempting to teach her the concept of “sharing is caring,” she began to use it for her own advantage.

In other words, whenever she saw another child playing with a toy she liked, she would march on over, tell the poor kid, “Sharing is caring!” and take the toy for herself! 

Since Claire and BebeDeux will only be 13 months apart in age, we have been hoping that they will learn to share at an early age without much intervention from us. But recent events are leading me to believe that perhaps Claire is already starting to grasp the idea…

A few days ago, as Claire sat on the couch playing with her toys, she got ahold of a nearby container of puffs and pried it open.

Since a bunch of the puffs spilled onto the couch before I could get to her, I decided that she might as well eat what she had spilled before I attempt to clean the mess.

Now, long time readers will know that one of the reasons we love Comang is due to his lack of interest in human food. Even if we place a plate of ribs in front of him, he will just sniff it and let it be (see the proof here).

This has changed in the recent months, as Claire began solids.

Don’t get me wrong — Comang still leaves J and my food alone. It’s just that he has developed a taste for Claire’s food (perhaps because so much of it ends up on the floor?): congee, Mum-Mums, puffs, and other various snacks. It is not unusual to find him following Claire as she buzzes around in her walker, dropping snacks in her path, or lurking under her high chair waiting for food to rain down from the sky.

(Sometimes, we will even call to him after Claire has finished eating to “vacuum” the mess on the floor.  )

My new cell phone will arrive Wednesday. Until then, you will need to
continue to put up with my current one which takes bad photos.

Back to the story.

As soon as Claire began to eat the puffs on the couch, Comang walked on over and sat next to her, giving her his “please feed me” look.

And to my amazement, as Claire picked up the next puff, she handed it over to him!

Comang is still a bit scared of Claire, so he wouldn’t take it directly from her hand. Instead, he would wait until she dropped it in front of him, then gobbled it up.

Claire and Comang continued this routine — one puff for her, one puff for him — until all the puffs on the couch were gone.

Then can you guess what happened?

Comang, who was clearly not satisfied, gave Claire a “I want more” look.

Claire then grabbed her pacifier and tried to give that to him!

I could not stop laughing. At Comang’s reaction (which was a look that plainly stated, “What the heck is that? I don’t want that crap!”) or at Claire’s obvious confusion at his refusal of the pacifier.

As I’ve stated before, this tenth month of Claire’s life has definitely been the most fun. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us next.

I guess today is a doggy post day!

I have to say that I completely sympathize with the dog’s owner…and I’m sure I will empathize even more after BebeDeux is born.

(Comang feels the same way too. When Claire is being especially loud or obnoxious, he will let out a big sigh and go into our room — where it’s dark and quieter — to take a nap.)

Via Reddit.

Meet Comang.

An old picture of our shih-tzu, before (like my husband likes to say)
his “manhood was taken away”

He may never pee or poop in the house. But he likes to leave his mark in other ways.

How? By smearing his eye boogers all over our walls and moldings.

I present to you exhibits A and B for your consideration:

We first discovered these markings a few months after we adopted him two years ago. It’s a pretty smart move if you think about it — why use his clumsy and sharp-nail-filled paws to remove his eye boogers, when it’s easier to drag the side of your face against the wall and the molding around each door?

But it’s kinda gross too.

I cleaned our walls and moldings the best I could, and in order to discourage him from continuing this nasty habit I started to diligently clean his eyes every day.

But he continues to do this. I don’t know if it’s become a habit or what, but he refuses to stop (and many times, he’ll do it while we are not looking).

Does anyone have any suggestions on how we can get him to stop?

And  if anyone can chime in with the best way to clean this solidified gunk from our walls and moldings, I’d really appreciate it too. 

No, not for me. I wish I could go on a business trip. I was only sent on 1-2 trips per year when I worked, so I actually quite enjoyed them and would LOVE to go on any sort of trip right now.

The business trip is for J, who will be shipped off to Silicon Valley next week for three days.

I hadn’t realized that “mid-July” is literally next week, so I had been putting off on making any sort of plan for our household while my better half is on the other side of the country.

Option 1: Stay home and stick to my normal routine as much as possible. Comang will have to be walked while I push Claire in the stroller (I hate doing this because he likes to be extra difficult when the stroller is out with us) and I may have to forgo a couple of showers. Also, I tend not to eat much when J is not here (I sometimes forget to eat. I know, it’s bad, but he has to constantly remind me to eat.) which could be a blessing or a curse. J might return to find our condo in disarray, with an attention-starved dog and a stinky, skinny wife.

Option 2: Ask our part-time nanny to come in for some overtime. However, this will depend entirely on her schedule.

Option 3: Go stay at my parents’ for the duration of J’s trip. While I would appreciate the nighttime help (as both of them will be at work during the day), I’m still pretty iffy on whether Claire will be able to sleep away from home. Take yesterday, for example. Girlfriend refused to sleep for seven hours while we were there. She needs her crib to sleep well.

What would you do?

Update, 7/6/11:

Thank you to everyone for your input. A new situation has arose which will not allow me to take Claire to my parents, so it’ll have to be option 1 or 2 (our nanny has yet to get back to me on her schedule).