Still Searching...

C and I are still on the hunt for that perfect pug. Well, any pug, really. Everyday we watch the Post's classifieds, craigslist in about four cities, and newspapers as far away as Philly and Richmond. We are looking for an older pug (older than one year) because we don't have the time to devote to housetraining a puppy. We are going to see two dogs this week, and I can't wait.

This past weekend we drove to North Carolina to see some friends. On the way down, we read a book that covered all aspects of dogs: training, feeding, health care, and more. It certainly helped calm me down and reassure me that we might actually be able to be parents to a pug. The book is awesome. It points out so many things that I had never thought about and so many things I have previously done wrong. In fact, I think many of the things learned from this book can be applied to raising children. Here's a sample:

• I am the boss (along with C, of course). The book tells us that we must show the dog that we are the alpha animals in the house. This is not cruel, and in fact, it is actually in the dog's nature to show deference to a more powerful being. And for kids? While I like the idea of being friends with my kids, I think it's more important to be the boss. The friend part can wait until much, much later.
• Dogs love schedules. They thrive on knowing what is going to happen and when. And as far as I understand it, so do children. This is a good thing as I am about the most schedule-oriented person I know.
• Dogs want praise more than anything. Current housetraining theory says that instead of punishing dogs for their wrongs, owners should give praise when they do something right. This should be obviously transferable to children. They will remember for much longer the one thing for which you chastise as compared to the 20 things for which you praise.

Given all this new-found information, maybe I won't need a book on parenting. Honestly, how much more to it could there be?! (To all parents: this is a joke, albeit a bad one. Please don't comment with a whole bunch of things that I'll have to learn before having kids. I do, in fact, realize this. And don't worry; I'll be doing far more research on raising kids than I did on raising pugs.)