Things I Wish I Knew

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#KyloTheMountainDog officially hit double digits! 10 months old, that is. He celebrated on Thanksgiving with a long walk through the woods and some turkey giblets. Now that he is finally starting to exit his destructive puppy stage, I thought I'd reflect back on puppyhood and the things I wish I'd known at the time.

1. Buy some earplugs. You know how they say you're supposed to let a crying baby cry so it doesn't get used to being picked up instantly? Well, you should let a whining puppy whine, too. But man, one certain Bernese Mountain Dog whined LOUDLY and non-stop for the first month of his life with us. We didn't get a good night's sleep for weeks! I remember going to the grocery store and just sitting in the car in the parking lot and enjoying the peace and quiet for a few minutes. It was heaven! If only we had spent $2 on a pack of squishy orange earplugs, puppyhood may have been less exhausting!
2. Never underestimate what pups will use as a chew toy.** Read all about that here. Currently, the rug in our den seems to scream, "pick me!" but always having real chew toys readily available seems to help tremendously! We try to keep his favorites toys on rotation so he doesn't get bored playing with the same ones all the time. When we bring one back out, he gets so excited! He also really likes koozies.........whatever, dude.
3. Taking a puppy to a patio bar will mean you have to talk to strangers for hours! Great if you're single, not great if you're married and looking for a quiet, relaxing day with your spouse and no one else. Maybe consider renting said puppy out to your single friends at an hourly rate? Ha! Kidding. Kind of. 
4. Puppies like schedules.  My husband and I both work full time, so our schedules are pretty consistent Monday through Friday. After a few weeks of potty training, we started to notice a reoccurring trend.......we always had a case of "poopy puppy" on the weekends. Whenever we changed up our schedule in the slightest, the poor little guy got all thrown off (as did his digestive system.....yuck)! We did a lot of crate scrubbing, towel washing and bath giving....it was not fun. Once we started trying to replicate his weekday potty and sleep schedule on Saturdays and Sundays, it helped tremendously.
5. Don't worry, it gets better. When Kylo was a puppy, I caught myself saying "Chloe was never this bad!" all the time. However, I just read back on some old posts (here and here and here) and ya'll......she was definitely that bad! Maybe worse! Killing rabbits, pooping in the car and climbing out the car window while I was driving? Heavens! Knowing that she turned into the best dog in the universe gives me so much hope and reassurance for Kylo......even though he is already pretty great! 

In hind site, what would you have done differently with your pup? If you're looking for ideas on preparing your home/life for a puppy, check out puppyspot.com and their No Puppy Mill Promise.

Thanks for reading! 

xoxo,

Amanda

**We're anticipating the stuffed ornaments hung on the bottom of the Christmas tree to go missing soon....I expect to find them on someone's bed.