As I said the other day, Sprite's body is now developing another type of bladder stone. Thank goodness, I noticed that something just wasn't right with her. (…)

(I think that I am a little off on my dates, but I should be learning how to use this blogging software soon!)
Our little Sprite is just as cute to us as the day we got her eleven years ago. (…)

A lot has happened since I last wrote. Not only is it a new year, but our Sprite has been through several medical emergencies. (…)

As I mentioned when I first started writing this blog about our Bichon Frise, she has been with our family for almost eleven years. Lately, Sprite's arthritis has been acting up. It is very difficult to watch as our sweet puppy (she is still a puppy to us!) starts the natural aging process. She no longer follows me upstairs every time I go up. As a matter of fact, she is now becoming very economical with her trips up and down the stairs. She determines the amount of time I am planning to stay upstairs by listening to the activity I am involved in, and then, apparently, based on the eleven years that she has been following me up the stairs, she decides if following me is worth the trip! In case she isn't sure how long I will remain upstairs, she ambles over to the bottom of the staircase, and lets out an almost inaudible "woof". She then remains at the bottom of the steps until I assure her that I plan on staying upstairs, or if "I'll be right back."
One of the factors that we took into account before deciding that the Bichon Frise was the breed we wanted for our family pet was the general activity level of the Bichon.  Bichon's score a possible seven (out of ten) on one dog breed author's profile scale. (…)

I had no idea that finding the right veterinarian was going to be a problem. I had planned on simply going to the first vet I found, and staying with him/her for all of Sprite's life. But, that was not the case! 
The first veterinarian I took Sprite to was the veterinarian who serviced the pet shop we bought her from. That turned out to be an awful experience! One of the stipulations of the pet store was that I take our new puppy to their veterinarian within the first week she was at home with us. 
Boy, was I surprised to hear about all of the problems she had! I asked the vet why he had signed a bill of good health for Sprite when we bought her, two days earlier! He didn't really have an answer to that question, just a list of many products I could buy to take care of her very bad ear infection and peculiar red spots on  her stomach area. He said he would need to run some tests on her to determine what the red spots were. (…)

I'm trying to remember back to when we brought Sprite home for the first time. My father's beloved, and very spoiled Cocker, was still visiting, which made Sprite's arrival a little hectic. (…)

Our quest had begun…. Unfortunately, we encountered a major road block while trying to come up with the ideal dog breed that would be a good addition to our family. Our son is allergic to almost everything! I asked our pediatrician about getting a dog, but his response was very negative. 
It was his opinion that since our son is allergic to cats, a dog's dander would make him react just the same. Dander?  Hmmmm….  What's that?!? I made a lot of library searches, and found out that it isn't the dog hair, but the dead skin that is stuck to the dog hair (dander) that makes people with allergies react. Since I wasn't very computer-oriented eleven years ago, finding a hypoallergenic dog breed meant having to look through many books about dogs.  
After doing a lot of research, I was able to determine that we had to get a dog that didn't shed, which meant that it wouldn't leave dog hairs all over the house with dander attached to them. (I don't think that is the actual scientific "formula", but it's what I understood!) We had to go with a breed that has to have its hair cut, rather than sheds it off. 
We had to be sure of getting the right dog, because we were making a long term commitment, not a temporary one. A friend of mine had told me about her neighbor getting a puppy for their family and then having to get rid of it after it was found that the son had an allergy of the dog. That wasn't a mistake we were going to make!

My husband and I thought that our family was complete. Our daughter was in the third grade, our son in the fifth, and we lived in a location that made it very attractive for family members to visit us. My parents visited us yearly, which was a great treat for all of us, except for the anxiety/trepidation that our daughter experienced. She was very frightened of dogs, and since my father's stroke, all of his visits included his loving side-kick Aspen, a devoted Cocker Spaniel. My daughter kept a constant eye on Aspen, trying desperately to enjoy his presence, but always wanting to know exactly where he was, and what he was up to. 
At my father's suggestion, we decided that we should add a puppy to our family, so that our daughter could get over her fears for all dogs, no matter how loving or docile their temperaments. Thus began our quest for the perfect dog to add to our family. We had several requirements to fill, and the  Bichon Frise temperament, along with its hypoallergenic qualities, are what convinced us that a Bichon Frise puppy was the dog breed for us. (…)