Puppies are hard.
It’s been 5 ½ years since I had a puppy in the house full time, and I am amazed at all the things I forgot about having a puppy. Like having to plan when I’m going to take a shower, so the puppy is at least safe, but also preferably quiet (it makes me crazy to be able to hear a distressed/unhappy puppy or child or spouse while I am trying to get ready for the day!). Or having to plan a quick trip to the store to grab a needed item. Or getting the rest of the dogs who are happy and content with their pre-puppy schedule and routine on to the guess-what-we-have-a-puppy schedule and routine.
But then there’s the part where I want to do this puppy thing RIGHT. Not half-assed. Not wrong. But right. And that keeps me awake at night (which is apparently okay with my puppy who thinks sleep is stupid and for dogs other than her).
So I fight paralysis and squirrels – making decisions, planning and doing activities, leaving the house, taking care of what I need to take care of – because I am not sure what makes sense in our new normal as well as being the RIGHT thing to do. Kendra, my wise second-born, gave me a necklace and earrings about a year ago. It is little glass squirrels and ducks. I have the earrings hanging by my desk and the necklace on my van’s rearview mirror. The artist said she made it because not only are her ducks not in a row, but there are also squirrels. Wow. Do I feel this sometimes. Especially now. So, I look at those pieces and try to remember there must be other people out there who feel this way too and therefore I am not alone.
Anyway, I digress. Puppies are hard. But so are senior dogs. Honestly, I have cleaned up after them far more in the days since bringing home puppy than I have cleaned up after the puppy. Partially because the new normal is still trying to find its balance and also because I am tired and stressed and neither of them ever has handled that very well.
We’ll figure it out. We always do. In the meantime, I push through and know that I will someday remember this time fondly and will miss my puppy’s puppyhood.
Dogs are hard.