by Deborah Moomaw

Created on: May 16, 2008

Life with a Puppy

Deciding to add a puppy to our family has been a blessing and a curse. Oh, he was so cute and adorable the day we brought him home. He played hard for about 15 minutes and then lay down and went to sleep right in the middle of the floor. My children lay down around him just to watch him as he slept. It was the sweetest scene.

Then reality set in. This cute adorable creature had to be house trained. Being only six weeks old his ability to hold his potty business was very limited. I had to get up in the middle of the night to take the puppy to potty. As I stumbled from bed to gather up the puppy and take him out I questioned the logic I used in deciding to get a puppy.

There were a few accidents along the way to house training success, but it did eventually happen. After only eight weeks I am proud to say our puppy is house trained. Consistency is the only successful technique to use for house training. When I got lazy the puppy got lazy and went potty on the floor. If I stayed alert to his needs he was successful every time.

It is impossible to keep an eye on a puppy constantly. Especially if you have small children like I do. Therefore a crate is the best solution. When you put the puppy in a crate they are safe and usually will not go potty in the crate because they see it as their wolf den. If they do go potty in the crate is means that the crate is to big. I found that I needed to buy a very small crate and limit the space that my puppy had to explore when I could not be with him. Soon he learned to bark in order to tell me that he had business to attend to.

In the early days of puppy ownership it was a lot like having a newborn baby. I did not go far from home so that the puppy did not have to spend a long time in the crate unattended. For longer trips the puppy had to be taken along. I even slept with the puppy close so that I could hear him in the middle of night. Puppies also need to be feed on a regular schedule just like a baby. I really felt like a brand new mommy all over again.

Owning and caring for a new puppy is not for the faint of heart. Be ready to clean up a few messy spots. Late night trips outside with a puppy that would rather play than go potty. Your shoes will be chewed and maybe even a cherished family heirloom or two. But your sweet puppy will leave his paw prints all over your heart and most likely your floor.

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