Charming Charlie

So far, I have told you Gracie‘s story and LuLu‘s story. Well, we have one little white dog left: Charlie.

After having Gracie and Lulu, I thought we were done — as far as dogs go. My daughter and I (before Topher got involved also) volunteer at the humane society.  One day when we were working, we passed a kennel with the tiniest, snow white, 5 month old, fluff ball inside, jumping insanely and barking unbelievably loud for a dog that size.

We opened his cage and picked him up and he instantly fell silent … he just wanted to be held. My other dogs weigh about 10 lbs (which Topher thinks is too small), but this little fella only weighed 5 lbs. So without hesitation, I snapped some pictures and went home to convince the hubby (oh, and I might have stopped by the front desk to put him on hold).

“ABSOLUTELY NOT” were his exact words (but being married as long as we’ve been, I knew that really meant “maybe”). Then my daughter and I began to plead our case why we NEEDED him.

Topher argued that getting 3 dogs groomed every 5 weeks was too expensive (he did have a point). He said if I could find a way to offset the cost, he would considering increasing the pack. That’s all I needed to hear.

I started scouring our monthly expenses and was having a hard time figuring out where to pinch further. Then I heard a Verizon Wireless commercial about cutting the monthly phone bill and having home phone service through them for $20 a month. I looked at our phone bill with the current provider, and voilà, problem solved!

So we loaded up the car and drove to the humane society to visit the newest family member. Like a good boy, he instantly bonded with my husband! Before I could begin pleading my list of reasons, Topher had him nestled in his arms and was heading toward the front desk.

This pup’s surrender papers told us the person who had him before named him Baby Boy (that had to go), so after a little deliberation, we chose Charlie. The previous owner paid $1,200 for him from an area breeder (he was born a registered Maltese), kept him locked in a room by himself for up to 12 hours a day, and then dumped him off because he wasn’t potty trained. <Start Rant> If you don’t let a dog outside, how is it going to get potty trained? They’re not born housebroken!  You have to work with them! If I paid $1,200 for a dog (which I couldn’t imagine with so many perfect dogs available from shelters), I probably would have put a bit more effort into training him. <End Rant>

After having him for 3 days, he was good-to-go.

I hadn’t had a puppy in a while, and it didn’t take long to remember why. He is a wee-bit insane. He wants to play all of the time. Gracie and Lulu are constantly exhausted, and looking at me like “Moooom, you have to do something about him”.

The only time he is quiet is when he is held, which is what he wants all of the time.  It’s the craziest thing.  When you pick him up, it’s like he is in a trance. He’s motionless. So he managed to train us to carry him a lot. (please don’t repeat) I even bought a sling at a pet store that goes over my shoulder, and you just stick him in there, and he’s happy as a clam. (You don’t have to comment below to tell me that it’s ridiculous, and that Charlie’s running the show … I know that — classic case of the tail wagging the dog).

So Charlie and my dear hubby have become BFF’s. He is home with me all day, and sits by my side when he’s not being carried, but as soon as Topher opens the garage door, I am no longer any use to him. I’m not sure if it’s because he’s a boy or what, but he follows Topher everywhere and my hubby loves it.

You should see the way he babies that dog! He walks around talking to him, and carrying him all the time. If anything ever happened to this dog, I swear, my husband would crumble to pieces.

Topher was recently out of town on business, and he would send me texts to check in — not asking about me or his daughter, but how was Charlie doing.

They are in love with each other. A total bromance.