Hi there everyone! This being my first post on YT, I will do a bit of background info. You will have to excuse my language uses as I am a southern born lady, and I tend to type like I talk. I firmly believe that Stark's past is his past, and all that matters is his future, but this is his story.
I despise our local shelters. I do. The past 3 kittens we have adopted from there died within 2 weeks and the very last time I was in there, they had a cat with a missing leg, VERY infected and pus-like, and also out mixed in with the other cats licking away at it. It was horrifying. We actually had a vet confirm one of the kittens we had was definitely infected from this staph and probably the others had been as well. We asked the workers there if they realized this animal was in this state, and they just looked at us like we were stupid and said, "uh, yeah". I KNOW for a FACT vets work with this shelter. Vets we do not use, now or ever, but still... how can they miss that??? To make a long story short, my DH and I decided not to put my children through that again, and only adopt from animals already in fostering homes or from breeders, or people we knew. Hence how I got my 3 Ragdoll mix cats.
Another long story short, we moved from a 12 acre farm house to a .90 acre subdivision home for my DH's job. I have had several people come to my door and I did not know it, and I felt uncomfortable without any warning system that I had a visitor literally looking in my front door. I am a country girl at heart and I am trying so hard to adjust to living in a "neighborhood". Add to that a slightly stalker-ish dude that has some sort of strange man-crush on me, and well, you get the picture. Enter the decision to get an inside dog (the cats are useless, my DH reminds me lol).
So we searched for a while until we found Stark. We decided on a Yorkie because my grandparents had one up until she passed away a few years ago, and I always loved that dog. Stark came from an older couple that "raised Yorkies". They were not breeders. But were they running a puppy mill? NO. They were simply an elderly couple that had 2 registered Yorkies and allowed the female to have a litter every year. I got the feeling that somehow they were old fashioned and did not think dogs should be fixed. I suppose some would call them "backyard breeders", but it really wasn't even like that. The dogs were very well taken care of, socialized with cats and kids, and Stark was in good medical condition, except that he was a bit younger than what they said (only 6 weeks according to the vet, instead of 8), not really eating solid food great because he didn't have the necessary teeth yet, had a few fleas (they are BAD this year!) and probably not 100% ready to leave his mother. But all that aside, he is eating better now, but has to have food access round the clock for the next few weeks to make sure he is getting enough. Which is not really helping the night time housebreaking. But anyways....
My husband and I love Game of Thrones, and that is where he gets his name. He loves playing and fighting with his rope, going outside and (much to their displeasure) stalking the cats. My 5 yr old son treats him like a baby, literally! My 3 yr old son ignores him until Stark steals one of his toys and runs off with it. LOL I am curious as to why he likes stealing underwear though. If my boys or DH leave any in the floor, Stark takes them and adds them to his "collection"! He jumps around like a rabbit, which is, let's face it, the cutest thing in the world! But we really do wish to train him at some point. I cannot allow him access through the dog door all the time, as my cats are not allowed outside. I do have a programmable dog door attached to my sun room which is a closed off room that the cats do not go into, as it exits into the garage. I have considered allowing Stark to come and go in there and bring him in the main part of the house when he is done outside or when I am home (which is the most part of everyday, since I stay at home and home school, and have 2 side craft things I sell). But how hard will it be to train him to go outside (which he does EVERY time I take him out regardless of how many times he pees/poops on the pads/floor) AND inside on the pads if he can't get outside? I have even considered littler box training. LOL I have a small crate that he refuses to stay in no matter what is in there. He doesn't like being confined in small spaces, he freaks out (can he be claustrophobic?) I am also wondering when it will be a good time to introduce a leash? He seems so small to have that extra weight on him right now.
Anyways, if anyone actually takes the time to read all this rambling and has any suggestions, I would gladly welcome them! Thanks a bunch! Brandi
