If you have had a puppy before, this is not for you. If you have never had a puppy, like me. If you grew up a bit afraid of dogs as a kid, like me. If you have 3 kids or more 6 and under, like me. If you think you want a puppy, like me- then this post is for you.
First of all our 4 year old is petrified of dogs, so much so she'd rather sit in the car when we visit family for the holidays then go in where they have 2 dogs. She gets hysterical and it is tearful and loud.
Growing up I was scared of dogs, but not like my girl.
Since our oldest is 6 and our young 2 it seemed the time was right for a puppy. I have been searching the past year and doing lots of research on breeds and prices, etc.
I had come to the conclusion that I wanted a Sheltie- Shetland Sheepdog for these reasons:
- easy to train- (extremely intelligent).
- can be kid friendly
- looks like a collie (my favorite dog).
- small size (ours will be a house dog).
However, they are very expensive with documents. So I spent the last year keeping an eye out for ones that would be available without documents in our price range.
One month ago that moment came- and our visit to the dog family went well. I was very impressed with the Mother dog's personality- she was sweet, quiet, not too loud or barky (shelties are very vocal) and she was good with the kids.
We reserved our puppy and one week ago we brought her home.
Never having had a dog before I was totally unprepared for some of the things that come along with having a puppy and so I want to share those with you:
- Your puppy will wake up early, every day and need to go out. As in early I mean BEFORE 6.a.m. After that she will want to eat and her day will start, no more sleeping for you.
- Your puppy will bark at you and growl and nip- she isn't angry. She may want to play, she may want something to chew, she may want to go outside (and I am still learning what else she may want).
- Your puppy may not be able to stop going potty mid-stream and keep right on going while you carry her to the "right" spot.
- Your puppy may not like going potty outside after having learned to go on the potty pad and it may take a while before she accepts that idea.
- Your puppy will get VERY distracted when you take her outside and may forget she even needed to go potty.
- Your puppy will jump on you- what will you do?
- Your puppy will ignore you like your kids do while you are beginning to train her.
- Your puppy will have crazy moments every day where she bounces off the walls and needs to get out her growling and puppy crazies with a good squeaky toy. (She is normal and not aggressive by the way)
- Your 2 year old may not like having a puppy smell him and might kick at her until he learns to respect her (NEVER leave your kids and puppy alone).
That is what I have learned one week into having a puppy and even though it is harder then I expected and I feel extremely sleep deprived because I am NOT a morning person it is also great to have a little furry puppy to go on a walk with- despite her wanting to stop and sit when she doesn't want to go.
Having my niece here has made a huge difference, she is a great helper and has also showed me that getting a puppy when your kids are 6 and under isn't the best time, and it would have been better to wait until my oldest was about 10.
So, if you think you want a puppy, KNOW that it will be a ton of hard work by YOU, unless your kids are older and can help train and teach her.
So without further adieu, I now present to you Lassie (named by our kids)
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