A tale of two "puppies"

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness" .... and it was eventually the right time for us to add a dog to our house family.

The girls (and DB) have wanted a dog for ages. When Buglet was about 8 they had obviously been talking about it because I came home one day to the following proposal: "We need to get a dog, Mummy. You won't need to do a thing. Daddy will walk it,  Tink will feed it, I will pick up it's poo, and  Pixie will love it very much".

In case you couldn't tell, my argument for not getting a dog had been that I didn't need a pet, I had DB and the girls, and I didn't need something else to look after. I let them practice on crazy crabs, and they were the best looked after crazy crabs in the world.

Later, the girls got a rabbit and the friend who  gave them the rabbit got the girls to sign a contract saying they would look after her, which they have done and Misty is a very loved bunny.

DB got a budgie which eventually ended moving in with the girls and me, and we were all devastated when he died.

Then, Flip-Flop came into our lives. A friend of mine put on facebook that she needed to re-home her dog, and I decided it was the right time for us to get a dog. I was a bit nervous about having something else to look after, but it was the best decision I have made for a long time.

Buglet was pretty right with her prediction. The deal with the girls was that if we got a dog, she was going to be their dog and it was their job to look after her, and they do a wonderful job. They feed her and love her and clean up her mess. I walk her (which I knew would happen she is too strong for the girls, but walking her is good for me too), and I feed her when the girls are at their dad's house, and I love her too.

Buglet also got one other thing right. We all love Flip-Flop, but Pixie and Flip-Flop are what we call "puppy-people twins". Since we got her they are inseparable. Tink described it as "it's like they are joined by a lead. Where one goes, the other follows, but I don't know who is holding the lead".




When you leave them alone for five minutes .....

There are some things they don't agree on however .....

• Eating meat: Pixie doesn't think you should eat meat, Flip-Flop disagrees.
• The trampoline: Pixie thinks it is for jumping, Flip-Flip thinks it is for sleeping.
• Shoes: Pixie thinks they are for wearing, Flip-Flop thinks they are for eating (luckily she's mostly grown out of this one).
• Who is the Boss: Pixie thinks she is the boss, Flip-Flop doesn't recognise Pixie as being any more senior in the pack.
• Being a sneaky ninja: Pixie thinks they are sneaky ninjas, Flip-Flop doesn't understand this concept at all (Pixie isn't actually very sneaky either but that is ok).
• Snapping: Flip-Flop doesn't snap, Pixie has started since we've had the dog.
• Licking people: Flip-Flop knows they are puppy kisses, Pixie licks the air at people (this is a good thing!)

Time for me to go! Flip-Flop and I have a Saturday date with the beach!