Dogs: Big vs Little

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I have lots of friends with pups and they are all different shapes and sizes. Some are small, some are miniature, some are medium, some are large and some are extra large - like my sweet Kimber (of which this post will be riddled with pictures). 

3/17/13

All dog types have their advantages and disadvantages, but I'm here to advocate the big dogs! Team big dog!

(DISCLAIMER: I'm not saying that all dogs are like the ones I will describe, but in my experience, this is how my opinions have formed of each.) 

The dogs that sometimes don't get as much love as the small dogs. It seems like everyone wants a small dog. Every time a small dog is up for adoption at the shelter, they are the first ones out and the bigger dogs sit and wait for their turn to be adopted, most of the time, sadly, never comes. Lord help them if they are more than a year old, poor things. Small dogs may seem like the "easier" dogs to take car of with less maintenance, but I just haven't seen any evidence of that in the past few years since we've had Kimber. 

5/28/11

For those of you who didn't know, Hubs and I have actually owned a small dog. We ended up giving it away because it wasn't right for us. We wanted a calm, playful dog with the same personality as us. This dog was rambunctious, never listened, always barked (ALWAYS) and super needy. Not good for us. We decided to lay off the dogs for a while and got a cat. I wanted a dog like our cat. Relaxed, never made a noise, easy to take care of, perfect in every way. :) Then, it happened - we found Kimber. 

7/11/11

The day we got her, she literally laid in the grass outside the house all day. Didn't move. We took  her inside and she just stayed in her kennel. She met the cat and didn't even flip out. Today, they are soooo good together. Immediately we started teacher her tricks and kennel training her. I can not stress enough the importance of training your puppies. It makes such a difference. But, don't be alarmed when they have an accident or do something bad - they're still just puppies! 

7/25/11

I have friends with small dogs. They aren't for me. I thought I wanted a small dog. Hubs practically made me get a big dog. I wasn't exactly all for it. I thought it would be so much more work than it actually would be. Now, I will always choose big over little. We never had to teach Kimber to be protective. Never. She just did it. And she only does it at the appropriate times. She doesn't bark at people who come to the house. She doesn't bark at geese or other animals. She barks at people she doesn't recognize who are "threatening" our home. I have no idea how she learned that. But, I will tell you, I LOVE that she basically never barks. She literally NEVER barks in the house. Only once - when the door chime went off and no one came into the living room for her to see. She was alerting me that the chime went off! I can not say the same for the small dogs that I know. 

8/28/11

Another thing about big dogs is that they can hold pee and poo for HOURS. Seriously. Kimber goes at least 12 hours and more if she has to without going potty. Big dog - big bladder. Thank goodness. I would HATE - I repeat HATE - taking a dog out to potty more than 2-3 times a day. Obviously we had to do just that when she was a puppy, but not anymore! It's fantastic! 

8/30/12

Another thing I've heard is that bigger dogs are better family dogs. I can not attest to this first hand because I don't have a family with kids yet, but I have a friend who has a big dog with small kids and her dog is sooo good with the kids! The kids basically torture the poor dog and she just takes it. I've got another friend who has an even bigger dog who has an even smaller child and he basically just rolls over and lets her do whatever with him. It's the most adorable thing I've ever seen. Literally. I feel like smaller dogs would not like having a kid in the house terrorizing it constantly. I know I wouldn't like it if a little human was bothering me all the time. Especially with it being bigger than me already. Know what I mean? 

7/19/11

Another good thing about big dogs? Trespassers won't know if they're friendly or not. If a dog is big enough to pop his head over the fence like that and has enough teeth to tear someone to shreds (even though all she really wants to do is play...) they aren't coming into your yard. No way. Would you? 

Also, many people I know who have small dogs are constantly having to get something fixed, or taking them to the vet. We take Kimber to the vet to get her meds, get her yearly physical (shots, etc.) and never have to go back. Nothing is ever wrong with her. I don't know what the problem with small dogs is, and I'm sure that one day we MAY have hip dysplasia problems (which small dogs have too!) but there's no sign of them now. 

2/17/12

The one thing that I don't necessarily like about my Kimber is that she sheds.. A LOT. But, it's because she's a GSD. We knew that when we got her, and I mentally prepared myself for it. Now that I'm knee deep into to - it's not that bad. A small price to pay for the best dog I've ever owned. 

Does anyone else own a dog? Small? Big? Thoughts? I always wanted a dog that I could just carry around in a bag or pick  up with one arm, but ever since getting Kimber I will forever be a big dog advocate! How do you feel about it? 

Insta-dump and Liebster 3!

Hello world! As you all know by now, I have a new phone. An iPhone to be exact. Since the acquisition of my new phone, I have been completely OBSESSED with Instagram. The cameras on these things are incredible! How did I ever live without this thing?! Anyways, I found a link-up that lets me take all of my Instagram posts and annoy everyone with them on my blog! Everyone wins!!

I even made a cute little collage so ya'll can keep up. :)

Follow me on Instagram!

1. This was the very first photograph that I took with me new phone. I told Hubs to make it a good one. You see what happened.

2. This is my sweet baby boy Maverick. That's his spot. He's a little like Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory.

3. This is my Kimber girl. I broke that sweater and I was going to throw it away. I think I'm gonna give it to her. Hubs was not a fan.

4. And here she is again in her every day form. Lovely isn't it? She's silly.

5. I went a month between fill-ins. I was DYING for a nail job. I finally got one. I feel so much more put-together now. Funny how that works, huh?

6. This is the most amazing picture I've taken of Maverick yet. Look at his little legs crossed!

7. Since getting my phone and learning about the camera on the other side of the phone, I've been a selfie-taking-fool! We went to trivia last night and had to take a selfie before leaving.

8. I realized the previous picture wasn't a good view of my jewelry/shirt combo so I went old-school-mirror-selfie. That's the jewelry I bought at Belk this weekend. You can read about the good deal I got here.

9. I was just about to get ready for bed when I noticed that my hair looked great. I couldn't let the moment go unnoticed, so naturally I took a picture.


Liebster Award Take 3, ya'll!

NOWWW, something else exciting happened! Yesterday I checked my comments and got nominated again for the Liebster! Since I've already shared 11 things about me and nominated 11 others for the award, I'm just gonna answer the questions that Sarah @ Definitely Sarah B. asked! Go check out her blog! It's super adorable! Here's the questions that she asked:

1.  How long have you been blogging & why? 
I've only been blogging since October. I love the blogging community and love that we can all share our thoughts and opinions freely without consequence!

2.  What's one thing you couldn't live without?
One thing and not person, right? The one thing I couldn't live without would probably be my iPhone. I went all of that time without it, and now I don't know what I'd do without it. You can do everything on those things!

3.  Favorite Sports Team?
This is like the hardest question on here for me. I LOVE sports. SO MUCH. Can I do this per sport? Please? KThanks.
Baseball: Atlanta Braves; NFL: Atlanta Falcons; NCAA Football: Georgia Bulldogs; NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson and the 48 Team

4.  Are you a shoe person? If so how many would you say you own?
I am most definitely the epitome of a show person. I have at least 60 pairs of shoes (last time I counted). Every time I go shopping I almost always come home with a pair of shoes or a purse. No kidding.

5.  Your favorite Shampoo brand?
Funny you should ask! I'm actually looking to expand my shampoo/conditioner usage. Right now I'm using L'Oreal EverPure. I'm thinking I want a little change. Nothing against L'Oreal. It's been great, I just like to change it up every once in a while. If anyone has any new suggestions, I'm all ears!

6.  What are you scared of?
Wind. Not breezes, not light gusts, but like full on WIND. Like more than 15 miles/hr. I've had an emotionally exhausting couple of days. Thank you, Mother Nature.

7.  Morning Person or Night Owl?
Both. Seriously. But, if I had to pick one - Morning person. I like sleeping too much to put it off at night for shenanigans. Oh, it's 9:30? Bedtime! I swear I'm an old lady at heart.

8.  Sweet Tea or Coke?
Sweet Tea. ALL DAY ERR DAY.

9.  If you could do anything for a living what would you do?
Ad designer. As a matter of fact, I just designed an ad for the company I work for! I just love being creative.  Anything where I can just have "arts and crafts" every day is fine with me!

10. If you could be front row to any concert of all time, who would you see?
Oh wow. Okay I'm gonna go with... Elvis. How AWESOME would it be to see him live? And not fat Elvis - pelvis-shaking Elvis!

11. Do you collect anything?
Shoes and purses. See #4. I think it's almost on the border of hoarding at this point. I just love them so much!

Kimber Lu is 2!

Two years ago my sweet baby girl Kimber Lu was born! She has been an absolute joy to have in our lives. Today, she was even so excited that it was her birthday, that I managed to get 2 good pictures of her! You've seen one already if we're friends on FaBo. Here's the other: 

Obviously I had to spice it up a little bit. She deserves the best. :)

They say that 1 dog year is like 7 in human years. Kimber would be a good example. She never had a problem going to bed at night in her kennel and now all of a sudden she doesn't want to go in. She constantly wants to go outside when she doesn't even have to pee (she never did this before, she loved to be inside!). I'm having flashbacks to my teenage years and I think she takes after me! What in the world is it going to be like when I have ACTUAL children running around? Lord help me! Thankfully this phase should wear off pretty soon. Maybe we will try sleeping at night without a kennel. Who knows. Until then, she's still my sweet little baby girl and I still love her to pieces. Happy Birthday, Kimber Lu!