Puppies: Not as Glamorous as They Sound

Puppy.

The word sounds so fun and carefree.

Puppy.  Puppies!  We got a puppy!

The first day or two was euphoric.  The puppy was really cuddly and would want sit right beside us. We walked him in the backyard.  We played chase.  The kids took turns walking him.  We drove places in the car with him.  We didn't go out to eat so we could spend more time with the puppy.  We bought cute dog harnesses and toys at PetSmart.

Then reality set in and I realized just how much work this puppy was going to be.

When the dog peed on BOTH children's beds that first weekend, I said, "Good thing he's cute!"  His snuggles made up for all the times he had "accidents" on the floor.  Actually, he seems to think he is supposed to go to the bathroom indoors, which is FINE if he pees on the pad, but not if he goes over and pees near Lane's toy kitchen.  Or on the throw blanket.  Or on the couch.  Or on my husband's backpack.  Or on the new bathroom rug.  You get the picture.



Although, having a puppy who will pee on anything, and will CHEW on anything, that you leave on the floor does make you pick up more often.   That benefit does not escape me.  Just now he picked up a wooden banana from the toy kitchen.  I was tempted to let him chew on it. It makes him so happy and it keeps him out of my way for a bit, since if he's chewing a toy he can't also be circling suspiciously in an area of the living room where he's not supposed to pee.  But then I thought maybe he'd ingest pieces of wood, so I took the toy away and cleaned up the rest of the toy food.

Now things have gotten serious.  The dog (notice I don't call him the "puppy") has tapeworms, threw up last night, and his tummy isn't doing so well poop-wise.  It also appears that *I* will have to be the one that takes the dog to all his vet appointments, because my husband has all these afternoon phone calls to make that are supposedly SUPER IMPORTANT.

Indeed, this is my third child: my dog.  I'm not a dog person, but I grimly accept that I am responsible for this human being- I mean, animal.

My husband had a dog when I met him ten years ago- basically, I horned in on their relationship and the dog and I were never close. My husband took her to most of the vet appointments.  I didn't feel close to Ruby because we never built a relationship.  I'll have to keep building my relationship with this new dog.

When I asked the vet yesterday if he thought it would be OK if I jogged with the dog in a jogging stroller, he (bless him) didn't laugh.  He said, "Ah, yes. I think it would be OK.  But I think it would be better for your and his relationship if you jogged WITH him, even if it's just for a half a mile or so."

Who knew it was all about the relationship... maybe dog people knew that.  He's sleeping at my feet right now.  If his tummy weren't upset I'd take him for a little walk... maybe I'll do that later!