PUPPY UPDATE

So- if you remember seeing in this post a few weeks back, I bought a puppy. We have literally been talking about getting a dog for almost 5 years, but it just didn't seem like the timing was ever perfect time. Really though- is there ever a "perfect" time to get a dog, or have kids, or buy a house- or do anything that involves real decision making?

Anyways, I was "dog-shopping" one day online, and found a cute little lady dog on our local Humane Society's website. I decided that I needed to at least go look (i.e. buy her and love her forever and ever). Well, by the time that I got there, she was already adopted- but I didn't let the trip go to waste- I browsed (and played A LOT with) the kittens, looked at the "exotic" pets (i.e. birds and rats), and then looped through the dogs.

The last little pup at the very end of the hallway had just arrived that morning from a shelter in Mississippi, and he was pooped, but I could tell he had to be mine! How could I not take that little face home!?!

I woke him up, took him for a walk around the grounds- and as they say... The rest is history!

It has had its ups and downs for sure. It is a lot of work- I wake up an hour early everyday to feed him, play with him, let him out to "use the restroom" 2-3 times- and in the afternoon, I do it all again PLUS I walk him.

Having a relatively free lifestyle beforehand- where we could come and go whenever we pleased, and there was no time constraints to our trips out and about for errands- it has made us change our routine a lot- but I think it is for the better!

Also, training- he had been in the kennel his whole life, so it was basically like adopting a brand new dog but in an adult puppy body. My Mr. and I have a difference in opinion when it comes to how to train him (too many small arguments have occurred on how to punish him when he is being bad, that by the time we get around to actually following through with whatever we agreed on- he is done and on to the next naughty activity, and we start all over again), and because of that, we are going to bring him to puppy classes- so we can all be on the same page as a family- AWWWWW!

sorry- it is a little blurry, but trying to get him to pose- not an easy task...

he loves playing with his ball!

and going for car rides!

he is basically my shadow- wherever I go, he follows...

I think he is smiling in this picture!

How have you handled a new puppy/pet?

Any tips for training?

Anything that we NEED to get for him- toys, treats, essentials- that you would recommend?