Life As A (Puppy) Mom...

7 Weeks Old

Yesterday morning before the sun rose my nephew and I headed north to pick up the latest furry addition to my family. My hubby had planned to go with me, but having been given the option of collecting 6 more hours of over time was far more appealing. We drove through falling temperatures and blowing snow for two hours before we arrived at the appointed patch of glass where my puppy lived.

Her former mother looked like she was ready to cry when she handed me both a bag of food, and the tiniest puppy that I have ever seen. In turn with seat belts fastened, and engine turning this tiny little puppy cried, almost knowing that she was now stripped of the comfort of her real mom, having watched bother her brother and sister go the very day before.

On the way home we stopped at the pet store-needing a much smaller collar than I had originally purchased. My nephew wanted to add a bag of "designer diapers" to our purchases, but I convinced him that when he was called on to puppy sit that he would be much more appreciative of a potty trained pup than one who wore pink diapers with snow flakes on them.

Potty training started off badly. Bentley immediately urinated on my sisters rug despite being out on the lawn for almost 20 minutes with my nephew. Here at home she seems to not enjoy the potty pads, and would much rather be taken out on her leash even though she vocally dislikes her collar. Of course that only applies to her urination-we've come up with an alternative for her #2 needs--we've set up her potty pads in an old laundry basket that is made of plastic. When she begins to show the need to go to the bathroom we go outside, and 10 of 10 times she will urinate but when she fails to #2 she comes in and spends some time in the laundry basket. So far we have only had one accident for both #1 and #2 and they were her humans fault. She clearly exhibited want and need, and both times I missed those signs.

Sleeping and anxiety issues are also reminiscent of having a human baby-not that I have had that biological experience but have taken any one of my 5 nieces or nephews from ages 6 weeks on for any given number of days and those experiences were exhausting at that age. Much like them Bentley awoke at 2, and then again at 4 and like most babies decided that 4 a.m. was the perfect time to play.

As for her toys, she has decided that her big sisters-the cat are far more interesting and appropriate chew toys than her own. Of course she doesn't quite realize that the cat doesn't like her for various other reasons so for right now I'm letting them pick their battles and as long as the cat doesn't mind that her mouse now belongs to the dog...well then why should I?