February: Artemisia

We have been looking at getting a dog for 4 years. We always came up with logical reasons not to get one. But when you have hamsters, horses, chickens and cows, why not a dog? We had to be picky though. Andrew has significant allergies so we were looking for a hypoallergenic non-shedding creature. My other preference was something that stayed really small. When running the list of small dogs that met that criteria we kept coming back to the Maltese. Maltese stay between 4-6 pounds and are super cute, non-shedding, and loyal companions.


Whenever we picked up the nickel or looked in the classifieds, rarely were maltese dogs available and if they were they were too far or inconvenient. We almost got a chi-weeny dog (chihuahua/miniature doxin combo) on Christmas Eve because the puppies were available and in town but I just was unsure on the shedding and not as soft as a maltese.



Well, I was at the Grange Co-Op getting some hamster supplies and saw an add posted on the board. I called the number and was surprised to find the breader lived no more than 2 minutes from my house and she just had posted the add, meaning we had any pick of the 4 pups in litter. There was one boy who was chunky and pleasant, one that was not completely white, a runt in the bunch that was sooooo small Brian was afraid that one step of Ethans on her paw/leg/body would damage/crush her. Then we saw our little one.



She was very shy and pleasant. She was so calm and that was a big trait that I wanted. We took her home and then the name game began. Brian declared he would name her and basically that was the last "care" he has provided for the dog (I knew this was on me if I wanted a dog). He decided to give her the name Artemisia (Art-eh-mish-a) after a great aunt of his because he loved the name and knew I would never go for it with a child. We call her Mish for short.


We crate trained her and the kids helped with that. They knew she shouldn't be left alone at the beggining so they all slept with her each night for the first week.


Sophie and I give her her baths which are really no work but seem to be put last on my priority list until she is just stinky. This is her first bath picture.


We love our Artemisia!

She looks not much different than this picture. She weighs about 3 pounds and is just perfect....minus potty training. She is still a puppy so we are still working with her on the poop issue. But regardless, her poops are the size of tootsie rolls and firm so there is no mess left in my house.

She has been a welcome addition to our home and I haven't regretted our decision yet. My friend Sharon bought a Beagle about the same time and their dog Reggie lasted all of 7 days. We are going on 4 months now and quite happy.