Well, Cristian has the Costa Rican type of mind when it comes to dogs: They sleep and live outside on a chain, they will forever pee and destroy the house, they only get dog food.... In short, Costa Ricans treat their dogs like animals. And I have the German type of mind when it comes to dogs: They sleep inside, preferably in the bed, they will learn not to pee inside the house, even if it takes a long time, lots of patience and lots of cleaning up, a dog gets whatever food is good for it (including fresh meat, broccoli, carrots...). In short, we treat our dogs like we would treat our children. Do you see a problem here?
During the first few days, Cristian was always complaining that I would treat Nala like a baby. And yes, I was because she is one. I don’t want her to jump from high stones because the bones of puppies are not full developed yet and especially American Staffords tend to have hip problems later in life. So, I do carry her over high stones when we are hiking or I help her up and down the sofa.
The sofa: Cristian and I had both agreed that we don’t want Nala to be on the sofa and the first few days it worked fine because she hadn’t been able to jump very high. But now she is. Plus she loves to cuddle and likes to sleep on me and I do want to have a very strong bond to her. But I don’t always want to sit on the floor when I cuddle with her, so we started to allow her to be on the sofa with us.
The bed: We had both agreed that we don’t want her in the bed. And during the night, she does sleep on her blanket in front of our bedroom. BUT every morning, after she has peed, she is allowed to jump into bed with us and cuddle with us for as long as we continue to stay in bed. Mostly she licks our faces for a few seconds and falls asleep again. She is very smart and understands that at night she cannot come to bed with us. However, sometimes she still has to go pee at night and after we come back, she thinks it’s morning and jumps into our bed. But we are trying to teach her to only do that when we invite her.
Destroying the house: Although Nala chews A LOT, she, fortunately, does not chew the furniture (only occasionally the blanket on our sofa or bed). The only think she really loves to chew is toilet paper. So, whenever she gets hold of a role, the house looks like a snow-covered paradise.
Housebroken: I consider her housebroken now. Of course, I have to go out with her every two hours because a puppy bladder can’t hold on for a long time. But since I have returned to Nicaragua, she has not once peed into the house...yay!
Food: Well, she mostly gets dog food. But every week when we do our grocery shopping, we also buy a piece of fresh meat for her. Most modern dog books will tell you that it is the best if you cook yourself for your dog. They also tell you that dogs should not drink tap water and that they should only get bio products. SERIOUSLY, if I drink tap water and don’t buy bio products for myself, why should I do it for my dog??? There has to be a limit somewhere. And apart from the occasional rice, meat, egg or broccoli, I also don’t cook for her. I think she will be just fine with the dog food.
Conclusion: Who lost in the cultural fight about raising a dog? Of course, Cristian! Nala sleeps inside, sometimes in our bed, is allowed on the sofa to sleep on me like a baby, does not make lots of damage to the house, and has certain specialities on her menu! But I think by now Cristian has accepted the German way of treating a dog because he spoils her as well (especially when he feeds her).
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