We've been looking for you for awhile now. We were hoping you'd be a little bit older, a lot more trained, and a little less expensive. But those stinkin' cute eyes tugged our heartstrings and caused us to make an "almost" impulse buy.
We drove an hour to find you. I think Keagan feared for his life as I drove, nervous and excited, Sunday evening to get you. Honestly, I didn't know if I was ready for you. But those eyes. Ugh...those puppy eyes. They captured us. We got to pick you up and bring you home and you didn't even pee in the car...until I parked it in front of our apartment complex. It was a heroic effort, puppy. It really was!
You actually had a pretty good night, considering how we tore you away from your comfortable home and set you on a pillow and blanket in our bathroom. You had a little accident, but that's to be expected, I suppose. I, on the other hand, did not have such a good night. I panicked, and worried I made a mistake, and didn't sleep more than 3 hours all night. I alternated between sleeping on the bathroom floor next to you, and right outside of the door where you could see me. That's the only way I could keep you happy.You poor, nervous, girl. I tried to google puppy advice to soothe me to sleep. It actually...kind of...worked.
We started a journal last night, trying to discover your habits and develop a routine with you. I think that was a good puppy-parent move. We have made a few mistakes- like not buying your crate until this morning (but I made it to the pet store and back without you destroying a single thing), stuffing a pillow in it that was was too fluffy (but you can't do without it) and still not naming you...because nothing suits you quite right yet. Oh, and I bought a food and water dish that's too big for your crate. Hmmph. We'll make more mistakes, but puppies forgive with enough petting and loving, right?
We have had some victories, though. I taught you how to climb the stairs that you were so afraid of. We've made it outside a few times without getting anything on the carpet today, and you crawled in your crate when I wasn't even looking. I dramatically thought that I was never going to get you to go in there, and that crate training was never even going to be an option. (Yes, we're crate training, but we're also keeping her active! It's the best of the options we considered for our lifestyle and hers). Now, you're peacefully sleeping in there, and I think you kind of like it. In fact, you won't even exit out the wide open door! I tried to nap beside you, because I'm tired and don't want to grab that toxic can of Mt. Dew in the fridge. I just couldn't do it, though. You've got my mind running a million miles an hour, but I think that's a good thing.
You're kind of a silly little thing. You like to dart around and chase the end of your tail. You can't go more than an hour without plopping yourself right in my lap. You don't really like to play, but maybe we haven't found the right toys for you yet. We're gonna get really good at walking, I hope. You did make it around the block today, just fine!
If you forgive me for my puppy-parent mistakes, I'll forgive you for turning our normally tidy apartment into this...
But we're going to work on it.
You scare me, a lot. I know next to nothing about actually training puppies. I just know about what I've read. We've got a lot to learn, you and I, but I think we're going to get along just fine. I really do. Sometimes, I think that I can't wait until you're older, but I know I'll miss the puppy days. And this blogging thing? Maybe it will be a good thing. You can sleep peacefully, as I relax by letting my thoughts flow through the fingers on my keyboard.
Your puppy is the cutest...I wish I could meet her in person!
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