When my fiancé and I decided to get a puppy we had one essential criterion – she would have to be absolutely adorable. That’s exactly what we got when we brought home Cecil, a Shih-tzu Chihuahua mix. She looked like a tiny little hot dog bun with her poofy tan fur and ran around like a clumsy bunny. Her ability to be adorable came in handy when the reality of having a new puppy set in. Although I knew that having a puppy was always said to be good practice for having kids, I hadn’t thought about how similar it would be.

Sure, we didn’t have to teach Cecil about the birds and the bees but we did have to deal with an endless supply of sleepless nights. Each night was worse than the last, filled with ear piercing whining and the hope that my fiancé would be the one to get up and take her outside at midnight, 2:00, 4:00 and 6:00 am.

She also managed to wear our patience thin by being stubborn with house breaking and having a piranha-like hunger for pant legs.

Now that we have had her for about two months, I’m surprised that I have the energy to write this but I am still happy to have her.

Despite her annoying tendencies, which I can only attribute to her being a puppy, she’s also amazingly sweet. She loves to snuggle with us, loves other dogs, no matter what their size, and will go home with just about anybody who walks by.

She’s also great at making us laugh with her odd habits like crawling onto my dash board and curling up under the windshield during car rides. She might still chew up everything she can get her little paws on but she’s still as cute as the day we got her. Especially when she’s asleep!