if there was a mother of the year award, I would definitely be out of the running.
approximately 48 hours ago we picked up our cute, fluffy, adorable new schnauzer puppy, who we christened 'roxy'. we brought her home and played with her and quickly became attached. not long after her joyous arrival, I started itching. all over,but mostly my face and neck. I didn't really pay attention until later that night when I was still itching. suddenly it dawned on me that it might be the puppy.
'I'm not allergic to dogs!' I thought to myself. however, as a child I actually did test positive to dog and cat allergies among a myriad of other things. we had just always had animals around, and I was on allergy medicine pretty much all the time, so either that was doing the job well enough that I didn't notice any kind of adverse reaction, OR my body adjusted to having animals in the house (which I've read can most definitely happen).
'I'm not allergic to dogs!' I thought to myself. however, as a child I actually did test positive to dog and cat allergies among a myriad of other things. we had just always had animals around, and I was on allergy medicine pretty much all the time, so either that was doing the job well enough that I didn't notice any kind of adverse reaction, OR my body adjusted to having animals in the house (which I've read can most definitely happen).
we haven't had an animal (with hair) in the house for 7 years, though, so at this point I'm wondering if I really do have a mild allergy, and having a puppy right up in my face aggravated that allergy.
I sat there on my living room floor Sunday night, wondering what I should do. I decided to give it some time and hopefully it either wasn't actually the dog, or I would adjust like I did as a kid.
fast forward to Monday morning.
wait, let me back up first.....
7 years ago,when Colby was one,we had him allergy tested because he had a mild reaction to eggs, and was just generally a congested kid. we found out at that time that he was indeed allergic to eggs as well as cats and dogs. they cant test for seasonal allergies that young, but I figured he probably had a healthy dose of that as well, just like his momma.
I sat there on my living room floor Sunday night, wondering what I should do. I decided to give it some time and hopefully it either wasn't actually the dog, or I would adjust like I did as a kid.
fast forward to Monday morning.
wait, let me back up first.....
7 years ago,when Colby was one,we had him allergy tested because he had a mild reaction to eggs, and was just generally a congested kid. we found out at that time that he was indeed allergic to eggs as well as cats and dogs. they cant test for seasonal allergies that young, but I figured he probably had a healthy dose of that as well, just like his momma.
we had a cat at the time; mine from when I was about 13 years old. I hated to get rid of her, but as soon as we did, Colby showed a marked difference. (my mom took her, and although very old, she's still alive so I get to see her often. yay!) as he's grown it's very obvious that he can't be around cats or dogs without benadryl coursing through his body.
over the years we've heard about different hypo-allergenic dogs, and have even 'test-driven' schnauzers at different pet stores, always with very mild but still clear reactions from Colby. a family in our church had a litter of schnauzer puppies 6 weeks ago and while Allen and I were in Maine, my mom took the kids over to visit and play with them. they were there for about 45 minutes, and Colby didnt have a reaction! I took them back last weekend (on Friday) to see for myself, with the intent to buy the last one left, a little girl. Colby once again came away hive free, so we happily made plans to come back and get her on Sunday when she was officially 6 weeks old, and clear to go to a new home.
now fast forward to Monday morning.
over the years we've heard about different hypo-allergenic dogs, and have even 'test-driven' schnauzers at different pet stores, always with very mild but still clear reactions from Colby. a family in our church had a litter of schnauzer puppies 6 weeks ago and while Allen and I were in Maine, my mom took the kids over to visit and play with them. they were there for about 45 minutes, and Colby didnt have a reaction! I took them back last weekend (on Friday) to see for myself, with the intent to buy the last one left, a little girl. Colby once again came away hive free, so we happily made plans to come back and get her on Sunday when she was officially 6 weeks old, and clear to go to a new home.
now fast forward to Monday morning.
we wake up, have breakfast, and the kids play with the puppy for about an hour. then it happened. sneezing, eye rubbing, and it wasn't me like the night before (but I was still having some kind of reaction). it was Colby. my heart dropped. were we going to have to get rid of this puppy? the puppy my kids have been wanting since forever??
I very gently told Colby what I saw happening and that I was reacting as well, and that we might have to find her a new home. we all cried, then I made some phone calls. I thought about and talked through the options, namely if we should wait a week or two and see if we would in fact adjust. we decided that if there was any chance that we would have to pull the plug it was better to do it sooner rather than later. I would hate to have the kids get even more attached, the dog gets trained, learns her name, and the after all that we still have to find her another home. id probably rather stick nails in my eyeballs.
a family in our church that we know well and love was able to come pick her up last night and give her a new home. we'll be able to visit and take her on the occasional walk. they renamed her Zoe, which was our second name choice. it was a very long, very emotional couple of days here at our house. we took the kids the gattiland for pizza and games last night, and let them stay up past their bedtime. today we made a trip to target where they each bought two new toys with their birthday money from great-grandma. so I guess it's safe to say that we're getting through it with junk food and, well, junk. :-)
there's talk of a hamster, but I know allergies to those are possible, too, and not altogether uncommon. I'd hate to have to do this again. I think for the time being we're unfortunately going to have to stick to animals of the scaly variety.
they're just not very good cuddlers.
I very gently told Colby what I saw happening and that I was reacting as well, and that we might have to find her a new home. we all cried, then I made some phone calls. I thought about and talked through the options, namely if we should wait a week or two and see if we would in fact adjust. we decided that if there was any chance that we would have to pull the plug it was better to do it sooner rather than later. I would hate to have the kids get even more attached, the dog gets trained, learns her name, and the after all that we still have to find her another home. id probably rather stick nails in my eyeballs.
a family in our church that we know well and love was able to come pick her up last night and give her a new home. we'll be able to visit and take her on the occasional walk. they renamed her Zoe, which was our second name choice. it was a very long, very emotional couple of days here at our house. we took the kids the gattiland for pizza and games last night, and let them stay up past their bedtime. today we made a trip to target where they each bought two new toys with their birthday money from great-grandma. so I guess it's safe to say that we're getting through it with junk food and, well, junk. :-)
there's talk of a hamster, but I know allergies to those are possible, too, and not altogether uncommon. I'd hate to have to do this again. I think for the time being we're unfortunately going to have to stick to animals of the scaly variety.
they're just not very good cuddlers.
even though shes not ours anymore, here she is. cute little thing.
for those of you waiting for allens sermon, i'll have a link up tomorrow.
1 comment:
Oh I am sorry that your family had to go through this. I am glad she is not far for the kids to visit her.
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