What No One Tells you About Getting a Puppy!

Look at this precious face! He is just so adorable. He looks like all he does is lay around, on the couch of course! And he never gets into any trouble at all! Wrong!!!!! I love larger dogs, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into with this one!

You see, growing up we had dogs, but my mom would not let us keep them in the house. They were outside dogs who we just never truly bonded with. After I graduated from college and was in my first apartment, I looked into getting a dog. My apartment complex had a weight limit, so no large dogs were allowed. I looked and looked and ended up my first Shih-Tzu, Legend. He was the cutest thing ever! I raised him from 8 weeks old and had him for 17 years. He was a good friend to have around.

Next came London. He was found walking up and down a busy street, bony and thin and looking for his next meal. He is not much of a walking dog, he has a little bit of a joint problem in his legs and he just struggles with walking in general because of it. I started thinking about how great it would be to have a larger dog to go walking with. How much company that would be and how it would just be something fun to have in my life.

One day I am on Facebook and a friend of my mom posts a pic of a puppy someone had dumped on the side of the road and I fell in love. The rest you can say is history, the pup came to live with me. He was so little and looked so innocent, but little did I know.

You see no one tells you that the reason why puppies and young dogs get into stuff is that they are bored. Yes, dogs get bored as people do. As they age, they do lay around a lot more, but they need to be stimulated and like to have fun just like we do. No dog wants to spend every hour of every day locked in a cage doing nothing or even in a fenced-in backyard. No, dogs want you to play with them. They might be able to preoccupy themselves with a fun chew toy for a while, but you are what they want. When they are bored, they destroy and boy do they destroy.

That whole chewing thing is a nightmare. No one tells you how nothing is safe. You take them outside, anything they can fit in their mouths and chew on is fair game. Same for inside the house. You turn your back or one second and your favorite pair of heels are destroyed. One day my dog must have been bored and I had just gotten some Christmas presents in the mail. I went to run a couple of errands and when I returned, they were completely destroyed. I was so angry! I was screaming!!! I opened up my back door and he just went outside and I closed the door and left him out there for a couple of hours while I cooled down. When you have babies, you baby proof your house, same for puppies!

Potty training a dog is my worst nightmare. You don’t just put the pee pads down and they notice them. You have to find ways to let them know that is where they need to go. You also need to come up with a schedule to take them out so that they learn to go outside when they do their business as they age. Thank God I work from home! I was able to do this, but it was still hard. At night, there were many accidents and even during the days when I was tied up with work and could not get up right away. I spent a whole lot of money on paper towels in those early stages cleaning up. I used to joke that I could not afford the good paper towels, I had to get the Sparkle bargain brand I was using so many.

The last thing no one told me was that I had a best friend. You see, my little dogs were company and I loved them to death, still do, I still have London. A big dog is different. You bond with them differently. Maybe it is because I feel as if they are trying to protect me. Maybe it is because I have a walking buddy. Maybe it is because he just sits at my feet while I work from home like he thinks I am the best thing ever.

You see, dogs are the best. They are loyal and they truly are women’s best friend! I always say that I won’t date anyone who does not like dogs and I sure as heck won’t date anyone my dog does not like. They can sense bad people, I swear! They are the best protectors ever. I would not trade my big, slobbery Winston for anything in the world. If you have never had a dog, read this blog. You can even ask questions. However, just know that in spite of all of the negatives, having a dog is the best experience ever!