Oh Wow.

Life with a puppy is one thing but when they hit their ‘juvenile’ time…totally a different time.  Molly is in this stage and still not house-broken  I was talking to a friend yesterday and she recommended we bring someone to our house to work with her.  I don’t know how much that’s going to cost but we need to invest in whatever will work.  She eats everything, she goes to the bathroom everywhere and she bites, in short, she’s a terror.  It’s hard to believe this is the same puppy we had a couple of weeks ago.  I’ve never had a puppy so this was a shock to me.  I can see why more parents say no to getting a puppy for their children and the ones who can’t say no end up bringing their pups to the shelter.  They’re very costly and a lot of work.  Mind you, we will not be bringing Molly to a shelter, but I can see why people do.  It’s an almost overnight change in behavior and not a welcome one.  We’re exceedingly grateful to be able to bring her to doggy day-care when we work now and it’s made life at the office much more palatable because we’re actually able to get things done!

We have 5 days off starting this Friday and I’m hoping to get my house put back in order and cleaned up again.  I bought like one of every cleaning product they had available at the store because I’m so desperate to have my home smell normal again 😉  I’m looking into outdoor kennel options that are easy to install in our backyard so she can go out at will between the porch and her run.

I share these things because they’re real.  No one should take getting a puppy lightly and it’s important to know what you’re getting into when you take that step.  I know all puppies are not the same but I’m imagining they all go through the same stages in one degree or another.  They count on you big-time, you’re their everything and you need to be prepared to do what it takes to help your puppy grow to be the companion you want to spend time with.

The Adventure Seems Endless

My last post was about our first trip with Molly.  We had a second weekend away, planned pre-Molly, and thankfully that went SO much better.  Molly still isn’t potty-trained, she seems hellbent against it in fact, but we were able to keep up with it and didn’t clog the hotel toilet this time

Molly had her 3rd and final puppy vaccines this past week and can you imagine she gained 10 lbs. in 2 weeks?!  She’s been to 2 puppy classes and we work on it at home when we have a chance.  We’ve been bringing her to the office with us since we first brought her home and it’s worked great until this past week.  We couldn’t get anything done at all because she was into everything.  Tomorrow, again thankfully, she will begin puppy day-care where we hope she can burn off some of that excess energy while we work.

Don’t get me wrong…she’s adorable and we love her very, very much but…this is not the fun part of the process and I’m looking forward to her learning better behavior.

Do you have any ideas to pass along???

The Adventure Begins #4

Last weekend we were in Franconia, New Hampshire and, thankfully, the visit went so much smoother than a couple of weeks prior when we were in Rockland, Maine.  That was Molly’s first ‘big’ trip and we all learned so much that weekend 😉

When you travel with a puppy…it’s adventurous for sure, lol.  We took Molly to Maine with us after we’d had her a couple of weeks since it had already been scheduled, she was 11 weeks old at the time.  Not potty trained.  I thought I had prepared for everything:  pee pads, cleaning solution, food, toys, travel crate, her bed, extra towels, etc.  What I hadn’t thought through was the fact that she would need to come everywhere we went because we couldn’t have her disturbing the other guests by barking.  Did I mention that she wasn’t quite used to the car yet??  Eating out…seriously?!  We had our first meal in the room, a pizza  We cleaned carpets, we played with her, we took walks with her and when it was bedtime we put her in her crate bed where she would whine until she fell to sleep.

After the first day I felt that we’d made a mistake by going on this weekend trip.  The next morning the B&B we were staying in provided an amazing breakfast and rather than leave her in the room we decided to go separately to the dining room for it.  When our hostess heard our plans she, angelically, told us that she would bring breakfast to us in the room so we could eat together!  What a blessing she was to us!  That was the first time during the trip I didn’t wonder why we’d bothered.

Later that same day we brought Molly to the marina park so she could run and play which she did enjoy but she still wouldn’t do her business outdoors, she waited for us to get back to the room before unloading her bladder and colon.  Thankful to have brought plenty of paper towels and cleaner we cleaned up after each mess as soon as they were made because I can appreciate the owner’s perspective towards people traveling with their pets.  We found a restaurant where the chef told us we could bring Molly inside as long as she behaved and that really made our day 🙂  Molly was delightful and everyone who saw her just lavished her with so much attention.  During our meal she played down under the table and didn’t beg or disturb any of the other diners.  We ended up eating there twice over the weekend because we were so thankful to find somewhere we could bring her in with us–not to mention that the food was excellent.

It was only a weekend trip so the night before we were going to leave I made sure to go around the room again, cleaning up anything that didn’t look pristine so we could get an early start the next day.  While I was doing this Molly was playing around under the bed. Later, as we were watching television, I could smell a stench but didn’t see where it might be to clean it up…David finally found it-under the bed.  Two distinct BIG poops under the bed  Of course they weren’t reachable without moving the bed and when we did move it my husband had to crawl the rest of the way under to reach the spots.  I was holding Molly back because she tries to ‘help’ whenever we’re cleaning.  Mu husband brought the dirty paper towels into the bathroom and, I thought, put them in the wastebasket.  We went to bed right after that since that had taken a fair amount of time and it was already later than we normally tuck in.

Sometime during the night I had to get up to use the facilities and when I walked into the bathroom I nearly choked to death–the smell was horrible!  Without turning on the light I did my business and went back to sleep.  The next morning when I went in to use the bathroom I could see that rather than putting the dirty paper towels into the wastebasket my husband had put them all in the toilet!  The toilet was completely clogged and un-flushable.  How do we explain this to the B&B?  I went in search of a plunger and David cleaned it out but the whole room just stunk, AC on, fan going full blast and all the windows opened didn’t even seem to touch the stench of the room.  I was mortified when the manager came by to bring us something but she was so sweet about it and told me that she knew the drill because she too, had raised her dog from a pup.  That made me feel better but still…I’m sure they wouldn’t look forward to seeing us again anytime soon 😉

I don’t know who was more thankful to be home after that trip, lol.

The Adventure Begins #3

I’m having a tough time keeping this current, lol!  There’s so much I want to share about being first-time puppy ‘parents’.  The last post I talked about the expense of having a new puppy but now I want to share about the day we brought her home and maybe I can get a little into the first week….

David’s (my husband) birthday was the actual day we went to pick up Molly!  He always gets the funnest birthday presents 🙂  We couldn’t have been more excited and got up early that day so we wouldn’t be late picking her up.

When we were at the breeders they went over Molly’s schedule and stressed that it wouldn’t be good for her digestive system if we changed her brand of food too quickly, we weren’t planning on changing it so no worries there.  I’d already purchased the vitamins she’d been on for her joints so we were set there.  I brought a retractable leash but was told that she’d never been on a leash at all so that probably wasn’t a great idea and they gave us a different one to start off with.  She also had never worn a collar but she was so good about letting me out it on her.  We signed the paperwork, paid the remaining balance and headed to the car.  She seemed up for it but since she’d never been on a leash before we ended up picking her up to bring her to the car.  I’d brought the cat carrier since the big crate we’d purchased for the house was too heavy to bring and popped her into it for the ride home…she’d never been in a car before either so that was traumatic for us all as she cried the entire way, 2 hours, to the house.  She was great once we brought her in the house and it soon became evident that she was not in the slightest potty-trained.  I knew that would be the case though and from my reading understood that she was too young to even try to train since her bladder wasn’t fully formed.  No mind, and I really didn’t mind, running around behind her cleaning up and doing all the extra loads of laundry.  One look at that cute face and you couldn’t help but feel lucky to have that to contend with!

The first week was tough, I’m not going to lie or sugarcoat it.  Molly was new to the crate and being away from her pack so when we put her in it for the night she cried and cried. The first week it was nightly for 45 minutes to an hour and then she’d calm down and sleep for a few hours before waking us up at 4:30 or 5:00 a.m.  We were walking zombies, lol!  Since she wasn’t potty-trained her crate would be a disaster in the mornings so I had laundry to deal with first thing quickly followed by a puppy bath time.  By the time we were done I was generally more wet that her but she was clean and smelled great 🙂  It took her almost a full week to get into the routine of eating, she was more of a finicky eater so I got into the habit of leaving her food down so she could graze at her leisure.

By the second week Molly was going into her crate at night and not crying, we made sure to wear her out before putting her in for the night.  She still wakes up but now it’s between 5:30-6:00.  We weren’t allowed to give her treats or introduce anything new to her diet for the first week so it was fun to finally be able to do that, she loves her treats!  She still slept quite a lot, apparently puppies sleep up to 18 hours a day.  We brought her in to the office, still do, every day and over time she’s gotten more used to being in the car.  She’s too young to leave at home alone for hours a day and the people who come in to our office all just love her.  The delivery men all bring her treats when they come in and she loves them all dearly!

As usual there is so much more to share but that’s all I can do in one setting, lol!  She’s getting bigger by the second though and I want to share these moments.

Christmas. Sometimes it’s Hard but we can Still Celebrate and Create New Memories

I thought this would be the year I could feel good about celebrating Christmas again.  Both my parents passed away within the past 7 years and I’ve had a tough time celebrating major holidays since then.   They were both like little kids when it came time for Christmas, my Mom decorated her house more heavily than the Griswold’s, seriously, every nook and cranny had some decoration in it.  My Dad would sing along with Elvis’s “Blue Christmas” complete with the special sideburn sunglasses my sister bought him.  He’d do anything to make us laugh!  We weren’t the “Walton’s” but there are plenty of good memories of times past.  I miss them.

This week we’ve had my husband’s youngest daughter, Jila, visiting us and that has been a real blessing.  We got a tree, basically just for her.  David and I were alright to forego having one.  The two of them went out and picked it out.  When they came home, we set it up and the two of them got the decorations out and were about to start decorating when Jila decided to put on some Christmas music….  I definitely wasn’t ready for that, the memories and sadness just flooded over me.  I didn’t want them to be upset so I watched from a distance but didn’t really participate much beyond that   I finished writing out the cards so we could actually mail them before Christmas for a change and waited for them to complete their project.  The tree is beautiful, they did a wonderful job and once the music was turned off I felt a little less stressed and could appreciate it more.

I have to bring Jila back to her Mom’s house tomorrow so we’re celebrating with her tonight.  She prefers handmade gifts, gifts of the heart and for the life of me I couldn’t think of what to do but today I saw a video of someone making a photo candle and I knew that she would love to have one of her and her Dad  🙂  I’ve made one and gotten her a couple of smaller gifts to open.  To us, my husband and I both, she has been our gift, her visit.  She brought us out of ourselves and we are celebrating Christmas with her.  It’s another precious memory to store in our hearts.

Being Grateful

We’re having a very nice visit with Jila, my husband’s youngest daughter.  The two of them are out on a hike right now and I’m happy that they take full advantage of their times together.  On their way home they’re stopping off to get our Christmas tree and then, after dinner tonight, we’ll all work to get it decorated.  Our time with her is joyful and I feel blessed to be able to build on our relationship.  In the past it hasn’t always been so smooth and I’m sure there will probably be times in the future too that aren’t either so I’m truly grateful for these times.  It can be tough when you have blended families so it’s important to make the most of it when you have the opportunity.  I know that when I was younger I was a living terror to my step-mother but through the years we’ve been able to develop a loving relationship.  My Dad passed away 3 years ago and we’re still close.

Jila leaves on Thursday morning, I’m actually driving her to her Mom’s so they can celebrate Christmas together while her Dad has to go back to work.  I find it a little hard to stay in the present because I’m already sad she’s leaving so soon but I know that we’re creating memories that will last long after the visit and for that I’m grateful.

The photo is about 5 years old but it’s of Jila and her Dad 🙂

A Big Week Ahead for us All…

This Tuesday we will elect the next #President of the United States.  I don’t know a single person who isn’t dreading this.  I’ve never experienced an #election like it, the hostility on both sides has been surreal and extraordinarily unprofessional.  Imagine if we were to go in for a job interview with these same outlooks and actions!  We wouldn’t even be considered as a candidate for the job, yet…with the most important position the U.S. has to offer here we go.  There can only be one winner.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if they BOTH won and had to share and learn how to work with each other?!  Like we teach our kids.  That’s a whole other blog for a different day.  What DOES this teach our kids?  The loudest one wins?!  If you get caught in something try to lie your way out of it?

Wednesday will, in all likelihood, be a solemn day for at least half of the country.  Keep your chin up “We the People”.  Do good.  Be the example for others.