Random Thoughts on Getting a Puppy at my Age
Puppy Playpens, Bespoke Name Tags & Pure Joy
Random Thoughts on Getting a Puppy at my Age
We’ve had our puppy Finn for a full month now and we are still alive. Please clap.
For the record, it was my husband’s idea to get a puppy. A blank slate, he claimed. Yes, a blank slate with sharp teeth. And we love him.
Finn is adorable, playful and relatively calm about 23.5 hours of the day. But that one thirty-minute period can have the destructive reach of a Cat 5 hurricane.
I’m not going to compare a puppy to a newborn because #1: I did not give birth to Finn. And #2: my grandson is the same age and that would be insulting to my son and daughter-in-law who are doing a very fine job with Felix.
But it’s literally is a 24/7 job the first month. I missed appointments and cancelled plans to stay home with the puppy. I felt overwhelmed and couldn’t get a hold of my schedule. I lost my car keys. So in that sense, it is like new motherhood because your window of opportunity to leave the house just closes.
But then you remember he’s crate trained and eventually get to yoga. You can’t do that with a baby.
Yes, we are crate training and no, we feel no guilt about it. Sleep for all is our goal. He whined for about 10 seconds the first night and that has been the extent of his pushback. At 9 pm, he willing walks right into his cozy crate and now sleeps until morning.
I should get myself a crate.
And the puppy playpen has saved us. He’s right in the middle of things without being underfoot. He enjoys a morning nap in the playpen.
My body ached in places it hadn’t ached in twenty years, since the last time we had a genuine puppy. Up, down, stand, squat, bend, stretch. Wait, did I give birth to him?
Oh good, he’s discovered digging this week.
Our three previous puppies were German shepherds, so they spent their puppyhood by growing, herding and barking.
Finn is a Golden Retriever mixed with a Cavalier King Charles spaniel so he’s spending his puppyhood by charming people, staring at me with his big brown eyes and fetching anything that can be fetched.
I’m training him with a program called the Empowered Puppy based on positive reinforcement of behaviors versus punishment. It’s excellent.
And by positive reinforcement, I mean treats. Which is how I’d like to be trained.
Now if I could only train my husband to follow the same program instead of using the single “command “in various tones of voice. That commend being, “Finn.”
The Empowered Puppy advice for the first 24 hours at home with puppy was critical. Check out the Instagram here.
Nothing is sexier than running the puppy outside while yelling, “Potty! Potty! Potty!”
I ordered him a bespoke sunflower name tag from here.
I ordered him bespoke dog food from The Farmer’s Dog. Here’s the link with referral code for a free box if you want to try it.
Should I order this?
People love puppies. Finn is the most popular man in town.
Puppies are pure joy.
Cheers,
Lian Dolan
Bend, Oregon
Finn is so adorable! I’m glad you’re keeping us updated on his progress. Crate training is the best! We crate trained our dog, Scout, when we adopted her and eventually got to the point where she did great without it. However, she’s now 14, and we have to use the crate again to stop her from roaming and having accidents when we’re not here. No problem—she crates herself when she even “thinks” we are leaving or going to bed. She knows she’s about to get a treat—Clever girl!
Finn is adorable. What a brilliant combination! A Golden and a Cavalier. The needle-like teeth of a puppy are not fun. And neither is potty training. I’m guessing you thought your puppy days were a thing of the past! Just keep thinking this will all be behind you a year from now (maybe sooner?) Btw, I love the name of your grandson, it’s unique, but I’ll bet he is, too.