The Long Awaited Puppy!

On January 17, 2020 I get an email, text and then a call from Brad who says "I think this could be the one!"  I looked at the pictures and the puppies were pretty cute and had a lot of qualities we had been looking for.  To make a long story short, we decided to go "see" the puppies to just check them out.  I knew it was kind of like going into a candy shop and not coming out with some candy, nearly impossible.  BUT, for some reason, I arranged it and went anyway.  We picked a puppy and planned to get him the next day which gave us a night to sleep on it.  I woke up in the morning with cold feet.  I was thinking of all the reasons why we shouldn't do this right now.  Calla is already at a very busy age, the older kids were busy enough, maybe the money wasn't best spent right now, I'm currently taking a class at BYUI and Brad and I are doing a special eating plan right.  I expressed my concerns to Brad and the kids and thought maybe we should back out.  I was met with pleads and promises of doing this or that and waking up in the night with the puppy.

My life now revolves around what appears to be a cute little loving puppy.  Who actually has a dark side.  Simply put, I thoroughly underestimated just how hard it is to take care of a puppy and work at training him so he will one day be a dog we enjoy in addition to my other responsibilities.  After some ankle biting, peeing on the floor right before we try to take him out, then trying to keep Calla from stepping in it, discovering worms in his poop and standing out in the rain while he finds the right spot to go to the bathroom and looking into the house to see Calla watching us and holding a red permanent marker; I feel a little less into the idea of having a puppy.  My chapped and bleeding hands from puppy biting and regular hand washing between, puppy, baby and meal prepping are feeling the reality of what we got ourselves into.  I felt kind of like the song in Annie called "Dumb Dog" yesterday.   

I was only barely able to look at my homework in the last couple days and am now sitting in my driveway while the puppy is sleeping in his crate and Calla is still happily strapped in her car seat after getting back from taking Holly to the orthodontist typing this post.  On my good days I feel a kind of high that I'm able to do it accompanied by loads of exhaustion but on the bad days...  I threaten to find him a new home and vent venomously about him to my family along with expressing frustration about their arguing and complaining about whose turn it is to have puppy duty who has tons of energy at all the wrong times. 

It has all made me think of an analogy.  Puppies are like Satan.  They look cute and make you want to have them but once you get to cuddling up with one, they sink their razor teeth into you until you have regret.  Maybe that's a little extreme but don't put it past me using it as an analogy in a Family Home Evening one day.  For now, I'm currently looking for an emotional support group for first time puppy owners and taking one day at a time.