The latest addition to our already large family is a Shitzu puppy we named Koosh. Koosh Ball Jacobs. We met her in our backyard when the little neighbor girl was playing with our children. The girl said her family needed to get rid of the puppy as they didn’t have the time to care for her. In hindsight, this should have been a clue, but instead, I saw an opportunity. We purchased the pup and had her in our home that night.
The shitzu puppy
She’s hard to see in pictures. I’m not entirely sure why. So, home came Koosh and we called her the children’s dog because our family of 6 already had a dog. Her name is Oakley. Oakley Ann Jacobs. My husband and I bought her when we married in 1997, so that makes this old lady 13.
Best damn dog ever
Oakley is a pure-bred mutt. We found her at a flea market for $50 and we treated her like our child for four years. Then, we had a child and we started to treat her like a dog. She adapted to babies #1-4 and she’s lived on three different continents with us. Because of all the relocating, we call her the $3,000 mutt. But, she’s so worth it. She’s smart, loyal, and personable. She’s what you think of when you think “good dog.” We love her. And she loves us.
Since we’d had no problems training Oakley, and she was the best damn dog ever, we knew that we could train dogs and we applied our knowledge to Koosh. At her age, and coming from her former owners, she could’ve been house trained by then, but she wasn’t. We started our house training methods and took her out every hour. She walked around the yard several times, and then came inside and pooped on the carpet. She also humped everything. And peed everywhere. Despite our very best efforts, this went on for months.
You know how people with little dogs act? You know, they act like their dog is so outrageously courageous because it barks down the biggest dog on the block? Well, that’s because the dog is dumb. It’s not unique to one little dog, it’s all little dogs. Let’s be honest and call a spade a spade, their brains are probably about the size of a peanut. It’s only brave because it’s not clever enough to size up the competition. Oakley? Never barks at a dog she couldn’t beat. Does that make her cowardly? Or is it a sign of intelligence?
Koosh doesn’t stay in the yard, because it’s not fenced and she can’t figure out boundaries, and she eats poop. Hers or any other dog’s, as long as it’s fresh, warm, and steamy. We chase her everywhere. And clean up her accidents when she comes back inside.
Puppy wrangling
It got to the point where Koosh was so dumb, she was making me feel dumb. I was browsing titles like, “Puppy Training for Dummies.” Finally, I realized that comparing Oakley and Koosh was like comparing apples and oranges, even though they were both dogs and they were both females. We started taking Koosh on daily walks, something we really hadn’t been trying before because our yard is pretty big and offers her more than enough room to roam. On her first walk, Koosh peed on every sign and mailbox. Aha! She wanted to mark. So, we added these walks to our routine and sure enough, house accidents have gone down remarkably.
Best dog walker there ever will be
She’s the most high-maintenance ball of knots I’ve ever met, but that’s a whole other blog. Once we figured her out a bit, it was easier to see her as a friend. Once we became her friend, we started to see what a friend she was back at us. Turns out, dumb can be pretty darn adorable.
Koosh Ball
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