Saturday, October 8, 2016

Emerging from the Puppy Void ;)

So I'm figuring out that having a new puppy is a lot like having a new baby. Actually, as my friend Patti pointed out, it's kind of like having a baby AND a toddler at the same time, because you deal with sleepless nights and potty training all at once. Plus, you can't go anywhere for extended periods of time unless you have someone to watch the puppy.

I'm also having flashbacks to my early days of motherhood. Sleeping when the puppy sleeps, even if I'd rather be doing the dishes or laundry; taking a super quick shower while he dozes; doing tons of online research about feeding and training; wearing pajamas for three days in a row and praying I don't get pulled over in my fuzzy pink cheetah print pj pants. All I can say is I'm so glad we didn't try to have a puppy AND toddlers all at once! I don't think I would have survived! ;)

As you guys can probably imagine (especially those of you who've had puppies before), my life has been a bit chaotic lately. My house is a mess, I'm way behind on my writing and illustrations, and I feel like I'm stumbling along, just barely coherent enough to get by from my lack of sleep. Blogging has been a bit of an impossibility.

That being said, I've lived through my first "solo" week with Teddy (with Hubby back to a full work week). And while I'm still learning how to adjust our schedule to take care of Teddy while getting the girls to school on time, getting to the gym, and having some semblance of sanity, things are looking up. I've started crate training him for nighttime and short periods during the day. Our yard still has too many hazards for a young puppy for him to be left there alone for extended periods of time. He does love running around and playing, though...and eating the rotten peaches from our peach tree, which has been an ongoing battle of wills. ;) (Don't worry, I'm working on getting them all cleaned up, but there are a LOT of them.)

I'm making sure he gets lots of good exercise during the day, which helps him sleep fairly well. (Seven hours in a row last night...whoo hoo!!) We're also spending lots of time with him as a family. He's been great for the girls.

I have a few small posts in the works, but I thought for today I'd just fill this post with "puppy spam" since that's been my life lately. And I hope you'll all be patient with me as I continue to work through this new transitional period in our family. :}

Here's Teddy on the day we adopted him, on our way home in the car.

Here he is in his new little bed. :) 


It's amazing how much he's grown already since this first day.

He loves sleeping in his bed...

...but he usually ends up like this, with his head on the ground. ;D Sometimes only his little hind end and back legs are in the bed. 

Middle Gal watching him sleep.

Sleeping with his tongue out.

Oldest Gal with Teddy.

By the way, don't be fooled by all of these sleeping pictures. He can be calm and lazy, but in the afternoons and early evenings, he turns into "psycho puppy" and runs around like crazy!! ;)

Sleeping with his piggy.

This was after his first introduction to rain. We'd taken him outside to go potty, and then a fairly heavy rainstorm hit. The girls held him and held their umbrellas over him to keep him dry, but he was NOT a fan of all of that water. ;) 

Teddy loves riding in the car, especially when he has a comfy lap to sleep on. :)

I took this picture just this morning. He was waiting to see if I would take the empty flower pot away from him. I did after he bit a hole in it. I didn't want him eating plastic. ;)

Little Gal with Teddy.

Those sweet eyes! :) You can already see such a difference in him.

***

That's all for now. I'm working on a post about Ladies Retreat, a random toy post, and a Fan Mail Friday post, as I got some wonderful treats in the mail from my bloggy friend Treesa. (Thanks so much!!) Hopefully it won't be too long before you hear from me again, but if it is, know that I'm busy playing with my girls and cuddling my puppy. ;)

14 comments:

Karina said...

Oh, Hannah, your new furry family member is simply adorable!!! I loved seeing these pictures of him! I hope you all get settled into a new "routine" with him soon! =)

Anna Catherine said...

My dog Snickers (an Aussie Shepherd) eats flowerpots, too. We have a small backyard nursery and he usually chews up a few pots every day, unfortunately. We invested in some rawhide treats to keep him busy during the day. It seems to help dogs that chew on everything! Snickers' aunt Lulu (an English shepherd, she's my grandfather's dog) also is a chewer but doesn't get into much thanks to rawhide treats. Dogs of all sizes can have them, too! Snickers' other aunt Sugar is a Chihuahua and she loves them. Teddy is a very cute dog. What breed is he? ☺

Caroline said...

He's such a cutie! I know what you mean about puppies being a lot of work. I've always been a cat person and my first dog was well a dog. She was fully grown when we got her. Recently my dad found an emaciated puppy that had been dumped in the middle of nowhere and we took him in. He's so much work. I don't see how you can take care of three girls and a puppy! Good luck with him.

BlackKitty said...

Sorry you are so swamped with Teddy! He's awfully cute though and looks like he'll grow into a wonderful dog. I'm not a fan of dogs but I can't imagine someone could abandon this little guy. I'm glad you've found each other.

Annie said...

He's so cute, and the girls seem to really like him. I'm glad everything is going well! :)

Tasha said...

Teddy is so, so cute! And oh my word yes, a puppy is sooo much work! One of the perks of an outside only dog - no house training! Which is working great for us, especially with an almost 1-year-old baby crawling around. But I miss my inside snuggle times for sure. So wishing I could snuggle with Teddy:)

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Treesa said...

Dear Hannah,
Glad to hear you got your goodies. My family have always been cat people, but I can still appreciate some cute 'puppy dog eyes' and Teddy is adorable. Best of luck with this new chapter of your life.
Signed, Treesa

SwanburneGirl said...

AHHHHHHHHH TEDDY IS SO CUTE 10/10 PUP PETTABLE AS HECK
sorry i just really love dogs lol
congrats on your new family member! has he entered the "landshark" stage (aka the "i will bite you and your hair and your important papers and your library books and my own tail" stage) yet? if not- you are in for a wild ride, my friend. ;)

also: to the person who left the link to the new hearts for hearts dolls, THANK YOU! my mom and i have been planning to get some for my little cousins as christmas presents ever since we heard they were relaunching :D

Farrah said...

He is so precious!!!! :)

Unknown said...

The cutest puppy ever! Having a puppy is such a crazy time by to do that with kids?! Your superwoman haha. I miss having a puppy lol they're so fun, you mentioned that your crate training him, do you plan to make that a permanent thin for him for when he's older?or will you probably stop? We crate trained our little Gracie at first but once she totally learned to potty outside and was a little older we stopped using the crate. I don't know if that was a good thing or not haha but I love having her sleep with me and I'm sure my parents enjoy it too. ;)

Miri said...

He's adorable! WE got a dog a month ag, and we love her! I hope all is going well, he's certainly a cutie.

Anonymous said...

SO CUTE. SO CUTE.

Hannah Prewett (beastsbelle) said...

Thanks so very much for all of your comments, everyone! :) I'm glad you enjoyed hearing about Teddy. He's a lot of work, but definitely worth it. :)