When a friend of mine heard we were getting a puppy she said
“they are just like having a baby”! I
struggled with the concept of this …. Human, dog, human, dog???? Needless to say, how right she is but in lot’s
of ways. Yes, when the puppy is awake I
get nothing done and when she’s asleep it’s a mad dash to be productive for all
of an hour if I'm lucky, yes we live in constant fear that small objects on the floor will
end up in her mouth, yes we are doing the ‘control crying’ method through the
night and are living on very little sleep and when the puppy wakes up at 6.30 so
do we … and yes, cuddles and snuggles are just the best and make it all worth
while. What I didn’t anticipate was the ‘subtle
competitiveness’ between a minority of ‘dog parents’. The odd few will burst with pride when telling me their puppy was house
trained within less than a week and it’s because their pup is exceptionally intelligent or that theirs could sit, come and stay within the first week
of being home due to being very clever. I’m the one saying, phah mine still pee’s and poo’s all over the place,hasn’t learnt her name yet and drags underwear all through the house. It
brings back memories of when my children were younger and the ‘odd’ few parents
would love to share how forward their children were and have a desperate need
to compare red books and what exceptional offspring they had. Whilst this conversation was happening my offspring were running around like loon’s, poking biscuits up their nose or acting
perfectly normal with a bright red bucket on their head leaving me thinking “I
must be really useless at this parenting thing”. The same feeling is creeping in now I’m a ‘puppy
parent’, I keep thinking how can they do it with ease and their puppy is so
well behaved whilst mine is biting her own tail and ... oooops, she’s just pee’d
down me? All I can do is hope our puppy
dog grows up to be full of spirit and personality and will no doubt resemble my children who are quirky and very individual.
♥
