One thing about having a new puppy at home is that I have little to no time to waste on Facebook crawling, clearing my GoogleReader, and sleep!
While it is a huge amount of work, it is well worth it, and here are several of the lessons Appa has taught the kids and us these last 2 weeks.
Kids
1) always put your shoes away: it wasn’t enough that mom asked you to do it, or that you couldn’t find them when you are looking for them, now if you don’t put them away the puppy eats them
2) watch where you walk!: since we’re still house training and sorting out the “poop” spot, the kids need to watch their step
3) don’t run in the house: before mom would yell at us if we ran in the house to get outside!, now if we run in the house Appa will jump on us and try to playfully bite us (he thinks we are one of his 10 siblings)
4) don’t yell in the house: ditto above, when we get excited the little teeth come out! (don’t worry mom and dad are training him)
5) put your toys away: much like your shoes, Appa will chew on your toys when you leave them out. no one wants to go looking on the other end for the pieces that are missing!
6) MOST IMPORTANT LESSON OF ALL: love him, and tell him what a good boy he is every day.
Mom and Dad’s lessons
1) Never take your eyes off the puppy, the second you do he is going to do something that is NOT good.
2) All the puppy wants is love, give him lots of it. (just like the kids!)
3) Never take your eye off the puppy, the second you do he is going to do something that is NOT good.
4) Be patient. He will eventually learn the couch is not his bed, and your right shoe is not his toy.
5) Never take your eye off the puppy, the second you do he is goign to do something that is NOT good.
6) Watch out for wet spots and brown spots. (eww)
7) Never take your eye off the puppy, the second you do he is going to do something that is NOT good.
Appa is a great puppy, I mean just look at him! He loves people. So much so that every time someone is walking ACROSS the street he wants them to stop and say hello. Such the social butterfly! We are working hard on training him right now, which is WAY more work then I thought it would be (especially since I have to do so much of it!). But like raising the kids it’s a lot of labor at first and then you fall into routines and get used to each other.
He is also a little stinker. But then you look at him, and <sigh>.
Kelly
PS I was the only one in the family in the anti-puppy camp. Guess who changed my mind?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
MY puppy is about 9 months old, and I swear he is part billy goat, he has chewed up a ton of stuff. It was tough with the house training but that pasted quickly. Now we just deal with him destroying anything that he thinks is a great treat. Even though its been an added expense, it is worth it.
It is mostly worth it.
I only say that because today was a tough day, he had to spend a lot of time on his leash in the house since every time he was off he found something I didn’t know was chewable! (like the cabinet trim in our kitchen!)
What an adorable little puppy!! Awww!!
I had a little kitten, and she was definitely a handful! She liked to play with the blinds when I liked to sleep. But what fun times. Just like kids, they grow up so fast – sigh. Enjoy him while he’s so young and energetic – it will all be good laughs as a memory in a blink of an eye!