Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Ten days of puppy

Day One: Puppy Bliss

Mark and I drove to pick up our sweet baby Nolan. On the drive home, we kept commenting about how calm Nolan was being and that he was sure to be a perfect car dog! When we got Nolan back to the apartment, he was still subdued and somewhat playful in the grass. Pictures were in abundance. That night, we were in for a rude awakening as Nolan stayed up pretty much the entire night whimpering and missing his momma. We'd been told to expect little sleep the first couple of nights, but running Nolan up and down four flights of stairs (did I mention we have a 4th floor apartment?) six times in one night is exhausting.

Day one
Day Two: Sleep Deprived

I woke up to Nolan in the bed between Mark and myself. The poor pup whined so much during the night that we had to keep him on the bed so we could at least half sleep and half keep from rolling over our little buddy. That day we still kept running Nolan up and down the stairs about once every hour or two. We were afraid to leave the house at all. That night didn't bode much better for us as we made even more trips outside during the night and he somehow ended up in our bed once again.

Days Three to Six: Running Around Like Crazy

Mark and I were warned that the first day leaving Nolan alone would be a tough one. Since we both work close to the apartment, we made multiple trips home the first four days we had to be gone. After leaving for work at 8:15, Mark would come home at 10:30, I would return again at 12:30 and he would come back one more time at 2:30 to check in on our nugget. We did a lot of research in these few days and found out we should not be taking Nolan outside where other dogs have been. Since he isn't able to complete his parvo shots for a few more weeks, we were instructed to keep him inside no matter what. I made a trip to Petsmart after work ASAP and picked up puppy pads that were recommended to us, eliminating the frequent nightly/daily trips outside. 

PS, somewhere in this four day span our apartment sent out flyers throughout our apartment building letting us know they were going to prompt our fire alarm for four hours for testing measures. Since Nolan is still growing and that noise would hurt any dog's ears, we had to take shifts watching Nolan at Mark's dad's house throughout the workday. Let's just say I learned quickly while taking Nolan back home after the alarm testing that he is not quite the car dog we thought way back on day one and he will jump on your lap while driving, creating mass mayhem in the car.

Days Seven to Nine: The Acrobatic Days

Friday morning at 3 a.m. I left for New York City for the weekend, leaving Mark and Nolan alone for a little boys weekend. While I was gone, Nolan managed to get worms (twice), have an ear infection and leap off the couch, fracturing his little paw. And I was worried about the bachelor party weekend... it looks like this was the really crazy weekend.

Day Eight
Day Ten: Attitudinal

The Nolan I left on Friday was not the Nolan I came home to Sunday night. This Nolan was worm free and ready to conquer the world (or at least the apartment). He'd gained weight and confidence since I'd been gone. I woke up Monday morning at 6 a.m. to a crying baby and a lot of biting. Throughout the day, I realized he is becoming more confident and curious as all puppies do. He is doing great at home during the day and learning to use the potty pads, but we are having to teach him that biting is not alright and will not be accepted. Pretty soon he is going to weigh as much as I do and it will be a lot harder to train him at that point.

These past ten days have been more exciting and challenging than I ever would have expected. Mark and I can no longer meet for lunch at all during the week and have not been able to eat out or go on a date since we got our new puppy child. Sleep is difficult as we are constantly having to wake up and take Nolan to the potty pads when he starts whining to get out of his crate. I've never had more pee or poo on me in my life.

With that being said, I love our little buddy more than the world and would not trade him for anything. I know the puppy phase is never easy and it's not a whole lot different than I expected. I knew I'd become attached to little Nolan despite difficulty he brings. 


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