Dog-Hating Nazi's

Yep, that's what we were called when I told my family about our new puppy.
"What! The dog-hater's got a dog? What on earth came over you!?"

"Well isn't that interesting, the dog nazi's got a dog."

Those are just a few of the comments we got when I told my siblings about our cute little puppy "Twinkie". She definately looks like she has some German Shephard in her, and who knows what else. She is a mutt, but is a very pretty color. She is a light brownish-blonde, which is why we named her "Twinkie". I was even a little surprised that Javier wanted this dog, after our kids have both been bit by my parents rat terrier, Tootsie twice. Poor Cassie was bit right on the cheek when she was only 15 months, and we had to take her to the emergency room in Sonora because we were at the cabin when it happened. It was totally unprovoked and happened so fast there was nothing I could have done even if I was right there with her. So needless to say, we have both been weary of dogs because we don't want our children's faces scarred for life. So whenever we are around dogs we remind the kids to not get close to the dogs, because we are scared that any dog will bite unprovoked like the last time. Our protective comments have made us be perceived as "Dog-hating Nazi's" by my siblings. Naturally we just want to avoid the tip of a nose bit off, or a lip, or something worse. Javier had to get some landscaping materials out in Paicines, which is about 10 miles away from Hollister and very rural. A mother dog and her three puppies, about 4 months old, had been dumped out there, which is a common tactic to get rid of animals you don't want. People drive out into the country and dump them off, because if you take them to the pound you get interrogated. Twinkie was one of the puppies, and she was so sweet. She came up to Javier and was nudging his leg and licking his hand. Needless to say he wanted to bring her home, but was worried about whether I would want one or not. He told me she didn't even bark or jump up on him, so I was willing to listen to his plan. He wanted to take me back out there and meet her and then I could decide if we wanted to bring her home. I went back and saw her and yes, she is a mutt, but she was so mild-mannered, I thought if he wants her and agrees to clean-up her poop, and feed her, why not? I like dogs, I just don't want a tore up yard and my children bitten. She's a female, mellow-even for a puppy, and we'd be rescuing her from the pound or certain starvation our there. So I agreed to take her home and try her out for a few days and see if she was going to stay mellow and not start those annoying dog things like digging everywhere and chewing everything up. So far, she is a playful happy puppy and we still have her. I just don't know what to do about her farting! She stinks soooooo bad! I have to put her out because my eyes start to water. Hopefully she will get used to her food, otherwise she will be mostly an outdoor dog.