Pupdate

Time, man. The past two months with Louie have flown by. We're having so much fun seeing his little personality come out. He's very spunky, to say the least. Now that we've settled into a routine and having a dog is the new normal I wanted to share a little "pupdate" ha ha, see what I did there?

What's going well:

Potty training! I know, I'm as shocked as you are. I can't remember if I shared on here that he used to love to poop on the stairs in our apartment building, and I'm proud to say he's stopped doing that. Sure, he still has an accident every few weeks, but it's usually our fault for missing his signals or waiting too long to take him out. I'll be honest, I cried a few times the first week we had him because of potty training. When he was being difficult and wouldn't go outside, but would then immediately poop as soon as we got to the stairs I would angry cry. Those were dark days😂

Training in general. For the most part. He still has a lot to work on (barking), but he can sit, lay down, roll over, shake, walk pretty well on a leash, and kind of stay. He's quite bad at "come" though. On Sunday Louie graduated from puppy school at PetsMart, which was adorable. I wouldn't say the training there was the greatest, but it was really nice just to have someone to pose our questions to and give us some guidance.

The best part:

How cute he is and how much he loves us. Honestly I just want to squeeze him all day everyday. He's my little shadow and loooves snuggles. It can be kind of annoying that he always wants to be with us, but our apartment is so small it's not like there's anywhere else to be! But back to how cute he is. I know I'm biased, but I'm always so happy when people stop me to ask what kind of dog he is and tell me he's cute #prouddogmom There is also no better feeling than seeing his little tail wag and butt shake with pure joy when you let him out of his kennel or come in the door at the end of the day.

The worst part:

Feeling guilty when we have to leave him in his crate. It's not very often that he's in there for extended periods of time, because we're homebodies, but we always feel so guilty when it does happen. Like last night when we were at Beyoncé we felt bad that he was all alone at home, even though he was out of his crate all day with Mark. Overall I'm really happy we crate trained him though because he's so good in there at night and he's not destroying our things while we're at work :)

What I would say to someone who wants to get a puppy:

Do it! But not lightly. Know that it's a lot of work. Training in general requires a lot of discipline and time and potty training requires vigilance and constant attention. Those first few weeks you really can't leave them unattended. I also would probably not want to get a puppy without the help of a significant other or roommate. It's a lot to undertake by yourself. It's so nice to have someone to alternate with waking up at night or taking the dog out. Unfortunately, I feel like I wasn't able to fully enjoy the first few weeks because I was so stressed out and overwhelmed, but that's just my personality. So don't be like me! Just know it's going to be hectic and enjoy it anyway.

Another thing to keep in mind is that no matter how much you plan puppies have a mind of their own and your plans will not go accordingly :) you'll definitely be flying by the seat of your pants from time to time. This was hard for me to come to terms with. However, I would suggest you have a plan for the big things before you take the little guy home, like whether you're crate training and what your commands will be for things like jumping or barking. 

If you've ever had a puppy then you know they are no walk in the park. It's probably all you will think/stress about for the first few weeks but I wouldn't change anything. I had my moments of doubt that first day when I was in way over my head, but they quickly subsided (thankfully). He really brings us a lot of joy and laughs, and I love how he makes us feel like a little family.

Phew, that was a long one. Let me know if there's anything else you want to know! Would love to hear your puppies stories too.

xo Catherine 

ps - you can find the first Louie post here.