Honest talk about puppy raising...

[House Cat]

I am waking up five and six times a night with a ten week old puppy who has an upset stomach of some kind. No parasites...just very loose stool.

She pinned my poor kitty down and the kitty did nothing but hiss. This scares me. I wanted the cat to lay down the law with her claws. I wanted the puppy to learn how frightening cats can be. Apparently, my cat is too much of a sweetheart. We have them completely separated now and will do a very slow introduction.

Her razor sharp German shepherd puppy teeth keep me from being able to snuggle her as much as I want and I’m afraid we aren’t bonding.

I didn’t expect to be this exhausted. I can’t train her the way I wanted because I’m so tired. I am basically crate training and potty training her but that is all I’m getting in.

Is this how it’s supposed to be? Is this normal puppy raising?

I’m calling a trainer tomorrow to come to the house. I wanted to know if other people feel this tired and overwhelmed too but maybe they just don’t talk about it?

 

[House Cat]

I should clarify that the cat and puppy were just in the room together and the puppy was playing. I wasn’t intentionally putting them into some kind of precarious situation together to try and get the cat to claw the puppy. The vet just recommended that i let things happen naturally and let the cat lay down the law if the puppy were to get too close

 

[lyra]

That's mostly how I remember it. To be honest, I think if there is a next time, I'd get an adult dog, lol. Puppies are like newborns and I find that so stressful! I find boys are easier than girls mostly, but girls are smarter than boys, mostly. We've always crated our puppies in our room at night. That seemed to help.

You should check with a vet about the loose stools. Don't take any chances. Good luck!

 

[House Cat]

That's mostly how I remember it. To be honest, I think if there is a next time, I'd get an adult dog, lol. Puppies are like newborns and I find that so stressful! I find boys are easier than girls mostly, but girls are smarter than boys, mostly. We've always crated our puppies in our room at night. That seemed to help.

You should check with a vet about the loose stools. Don't take any chances. Good luck!

We had her stool tested. The vet said it must be stomach upset. We were giving the puppy bully sticks for chewing but stopped today in case that is the culprit.

Thank you for sharing your experience with me. It helps me to feel less alone.

 

[kgizo]

When people say puppies are easy they usually mean the first 6-8 weeks when the mom does all of the work. After that, yes, they are exhausting. Fingers crossed the trainer can help with sleeping longer and bonding.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Some are easier than others. We actually returned one puppy who screamed the house down for 2 nights straight. I just could not deal with him. The breeder told us he went on to live with a family of noisy little boys who let him sleep with them but he was a barker even in adulthood.

Puppy raising is hard work. Exactly like a newborn! I cried about all of mine! Actually I did that with all my kids (fur and human). It's a rough adjustment period.

My 6 foot husband had to sleep in the crate for a few hours with our dog when she was a little girl to get her used to it. I remember the 2 hourly wake ups for toilet training and the 5am cold winter training sessions.

They grow up and settle down though. She's a placid, smiley and reliable 9 yo now.

 

[luv2sparkle]

I am a dog lover to the core, with a special affinity for GS, but I don't think I will ever have another dog.
I have raised 5 kids, 4 of them boys but if one more weiner dog pee or poops on a rug I am going to lose it. God bless you for taking on a puppy.
Kids and dogs, I think I have reached my limit.

I hope puppy raising gets easier really quickly for you, House Cat!

 

[monarch64]

I've raised two dogs from puppies and will never do it again, ever!

Your pup is *only* 10 weeks--that's just 2 weeks weaned from its mom, I assume? This too shall pass, but those first few weeks are HARD. Puppies are fun for like, half an hour when you get to meet one at a friend's house or something. Otherwise it's a shit ton of work and not a lot of fun til they're properly trained. Good news re bonding: German Shepards are very loyal to their owner/family; they are known for being particularly bonded to one person (that's why they make great police dogs) so don't feel like you aren't bonding because you don't necessarily "like" your puppy right now.

Good luck going forward! I'm sure the trainer will be a HUGE help and relief. Hang in there!

 

[mjr1]

Puppies are a TON of exhasting work.....but it does get easier. Most important-crate train your puppy! The diarrhea may be related to a few different things-are you feeding what the breeder was feeding? Could this be an allergy? Has the puppy been wormed? Would the vet agree to probiotics added in? Those are the first questions. Have you talked to the breeder about it?
Excellent idea to get a trainer! Hopefully not only will they help with training but they might have insight into diet. Don't worry about bonding right now, that will come with time and training. Please use doggie day care if you have access to it(once your puppy is healthy). They come home exhausted.
I agree that "older" dogs are easier. My last 3 dogs have been rescues (I currently have 4 dogs...its crazy). I adopted a 15 year old lab (who is now 16+), a black lab mix (got her at age 3 and she is now 10) and my most recent, a 1 1/2 year old black mix of who knows what. She was on the run for 2-3 months before they caught her and my vet had her for a month before I adopted her. My rescues all were easier than a puppy! They were crate trained, housebroken and settled. I am taking the newest one to obediance starting next week.
Good luck-puppy phase doesn't last that long and in the long run having a dog is so worth the hassles of getting them house ready!

 

[SandyinAnaheim]

@House Cat I'm so sorry you're going through this!! As for the kitty situation, I would advise the exact same thing as your vet. Your cat, sweet as she may be, has 18 razor-sharp weapons and a bunch of teeth. That puppy IS NOT going to get the best of her! The puppy, bless her heart, has only the kitty to play with that is about her size and on her level. She is just doing with kitty exactly what she did with her puppy siblings. Puppies generally don't have the intent to kill housemates (Terriers are a different story). She just wants to play and the kitty will LET HER KNOW when it's time to stop.

Puppies are go, go, go because all they want to do is play. This phase, depending on the breed, can last 18-24 months. Dogs generally sleep 16-18 hours a day. They save up all their juice for you to get home and then it's non-stop PLAY TIME!!

Her teeth are probably continuing to come in and she WILL need things to chew on. I would recommend the Himalayan Yak sticks. They are tasty to dogs, but SUPER hard and take a long time to wear down. There are also naturally shed deer/elk antlers that are hard and some dogs like. Try to verify that you're not buying a synthetic though. You can also give raw beef knuckle bones or femur bones. Once they are cooked, they become brittle and dangerous, but raw bones are ok to give. And yes, they are grody at first with all the meat and sinew, etc. that's still on them, but she will eat that up right away and then she will have a clean bone to gnaw on for a while. If you fear that she may get sick from chewing an old dirty bone (which she won't), you can always put it in a zippy in the freezer overnight and then give it back to her the next day. Once her puppy teeth come in, the adult teeth will start coming in and there will be a few more months of chewing for relief of the soreness.

Bear in mind that the change of environment, in addition to the delicious bully sticks she's eating to keep her busy, are likely the source of the tummy upset. I'm sure you got some of her old food and phased her into the new and better food you've chosen? There's sometimes a delicate balancing act there to get that right, and can take a couple of weeks.

I could write you a book on tips here, but I won't bore everyone. I will finish this post by telling you that exercise is your best friend. A TIRED dog is a GOOD CALM dog. Walk her for an hour, or to the dog park, and let her wrestle with all the other dogs. Get her GOOD and TIRED, she will be calm and happy, and make Mommy's life much easier.

Yak Sticks: https://smile.amazon.com/Natural-La...TF8&qid=1546392479&sr=8-5&keywords=yak+sticks

Antlers: https://smile.amazon.com/Antler-Box...e=UTF8&qid=1546392554&sr=1-10&keywords=antler

** MUST WATCH ** Dr. Karen Becker on Housebreaking:

Dr. Karen Becker on Bones:

Dr. Becker is a WEALTH of information. I recommend her highly.

 

[rocks]

Yes, puppies are a lot of work...but the rewards are worth it. We have an Australian labradoodle (cobberdog). He is 12.5 years old and people think he is a 2 year old.

For the tummy problems, have you tried organic chicken and brown rice? Our breeder recommended feeding the chicken and rice combination for afew days to transition and avoid tummy upset. We also had issues with play biting. Our boy is totally alpha. He learned within a day or two using the crying technique. When he got too aggressive I had to back him into the corner to show alpha status (I'm the pack leader).

I was alone with him for the first few days (hubby was at a course). Picked him up at the airport ( Grammy and poppy and best friend and her mom in tow). We got home...I fed and bathed him...we cuddled. I put him in his crate and positioned the crate in our bedroom with a view of me in our bed. Got up every 4 hours to potty. No accidents. Your baby seems a bit more difficult. Stick with the program and hopefully it will work out.

 

[lovedogs]

We just got an 8 week old puppy 1 week ago and yup, it's a ton of work. She pees on the floor at least 2x a day, and that's with crate training and constant monitoring.

We've now had 3 dogs we got at 8 weeks. All tons of work. One question I have is about where the puppy sleeps. Is it in a crate in your room? If so, I'd highly recommend moving him/her into a different room. That's what we did, and it's made a huge difference with the new puppy compared to the other two . With the other two I was awake 2-3 times a night to take them out. With this one, we just let her sleep in the crate. We started with like 6/7 hours, just to make sure she could physically hold it. Once we knew she could, it's a full night.

I'm sure she whines, but since I can't hear it I don't give in. Obviously it's different if your little one is sick.

A tired dog is a good dog. I try to do 3 training sessions a day (only like 5-10 min each), to occupy her puppy mind. I also walk her and throw toys when she's having puppy crazy time. If I feel like she is getting overly hyper, I have her take a nap in the crate, which helps her chill out.

But yeah, I'm freaking exhausted after this week, and I was off work so theoretically it should have been easy. Nope. Super hard.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

When mine was little whenever she was inside the house I would have her on leash with her leash clipped to a belt loop on my dress. I was attached to her so I would always remember to bring her out for a wee every hour.

Them were the days!

My first dog was a fully trained 1 yr old who had a super bladder and would hold on for dear life no matter what because he was obsessively clean. I vacuumed the house more often when he was alive just to make him happy. It was a rude shock to go from him to a grubby, happy go lucky pup! Even later on in life she was a grub so I would seperate their living spaces because he liked his stuff clean!

 

[Indylady]

Yep, been there! It’s hard work. I am not usually a crier but I shed some tears of exhaustion and frustration too! Nipping, chewing up shoes (sometimes a guests), surprise poops under the bed, missing the puppy pad by just a little (my dog would stand on the puppy pad and then pee/poop with his butt hanging just outside of the ps sometimes, ), tinkling on a chair that I put him on for just a second, eating anything he found including cat poop once (I screamed out loud when I leaned in to snuggle the pup and smelled/saw the cat poo in his mouth, I still can’t handle the memory) and chili peppers another time, and barking/whining till he got to sleep in my bed always on the most inopportune nights!

On the loose stools—any chance your pup is picking up unintended snacks in the house or on a walk? Mine would sometimes eat weeds or gross things outside and, of course, any crumb left that feel to the kitchen floor. I once gave him a little grilled meat on a paper plate, and he loved my cooking so much he ate half the plate too luckily it was a thin and light paper plate, and I never let him near one again.

It’ll get better! In the meantime, a trainer helps, along with the support of family and friends to take a bit of the load off. I had a super dog lover roommate that put in some unpaid and loving time training my dog because she loves dogs so much. Treats in your pocket for good behavior was really helpful, but a lot of it is just time and reinforcement over and over. Sending you love and dust for good puppy behavior and bonding!

 

[Dandi]

Puppies are hard work! Most of our pups have woken me more frequently overnight than either of the kids when they were newborns Thankfully it doesn't last too long, and they respond well and quickly to lots of positive reinforcement. Good luck, I hope it gets better very soon!

 

[Calliecake]

House Cat, We didn’t get a puppy until I was no longer working. There were many days I told my husband that puppies are much harder than babies. I kept her near me on a leashed or in a small room with me while she was being potty trained. Best advice the vet gave me.

The razor sharp teeth phase didn’t last longer than a few months if I’m remembering correctly.

Our maltipoo would act extremely wild every night between 8 and 10 PM as a puppy. I found this the most difficult thing about having a puppy. We would take her for a very long walk every night after dinner hoping that would tire her out. It did nothing. We tried to get her to play fetch with us to tire her out. Nothing worked. She would run thru the house, barking like she was possessed for well over an hour every night. This lasted until she was about 9 months old. It must be pretty common with puppies because when I told the vet she said “oh, the witching hour”. Is your dog doing this???

I hired a trainer to come to the house once a week and help me work with her when she was about 9 months old. He recommended a collar that would vibrate for a second if I pushed a button on a remote. It felt like the old pagers did when they went off. She hated it but this got her attention immediately. If she was doing something I didn’t want her to do, I would just tell her to sit. If the collar was on her and I said sit, she would stop what she was doing and sit immediately. I only had to push the button on two separate occasions.

I also took her to a dog day care about once a week for a few hours where she played with a few small dogs when she was a puppy. This was recommended by her vet.

All dogs have their own personality. Ours is stubborn and doesn’t have a timid bone in her body. She has been this way since she was 8 weeks old. She is also the sweetest most loving little dog and means the world to me.

I apologize for writing a novel.

 

[lovedogs]

lol @Calliecake I call that "zoomies". And yes, the puppy teeth fall out around 6-ish months, and are replaced by adult teeth. The adult teeth aren't razor sharp, thank goodness.

Having them on a leash attached to you is one of the first things our trainer said to do. That, or make sure you are literally watching them at all times (or that they are in a crate when you can't).

 

[Bron357]

Puppy are hard work. After years of adopting rescue greyhounds (easiest dogs in the world) I got my dream dog - a Saluki (see photo).
A puppy nightmare!
Rule no 1 - do not start anything now (sleeping on your bed, sitting on lounges, feeding food from the table, allowing into the kitchen etc) that you do not want to do for the next 15 years.
Rule no 2. - crate training and do not leave the puppy and cat alone together.
Rule no 3 - puppy classes. These are better than private trainers for 2 reasons 1. You realize you aren’t alone with your “despair” and 2. Puppies need socializing early on - especially the more protective breeds. Check with your vet or local pet store as to where some are being held (after all immunizations are given).
Relax. Get some heavy duty dog toys (Kong etc) for the chewing and start now actively discouraging the nipping.
A firm No and replace your hand with a toy. Never strike your dog, punishment must be verbal and immediate followed by a replacement permitted activity. You can also never punish a dog for soiling inside and if you leave anything chewable within chewing range, you only have yourself to blame.
Arya is now 3, I survived, she survived (I was tempted on more than one occasion to return her to the breeder as I was at my wits end).
Salukis, like German Shepherd dogs are smart, willful and will get into mischief. You have to direct their energy into better habits.
You will survive the next few months and then you can start proper training and really enjoying your new fur baby, you might consider fly ball or agility or even advanced obedience. You can’t leave a smart dog home alone (inside or out) if you haven’t given them plenty of exercise and mental stimulation.

 

[Bron357]

Another two things we use are baby gates to restrict movement through the house (nothing quite like a Saluki doing a 30 km/hr sprint down your hallway! ) and pet fencing inside. Again to restrict her access to the rest of the family room.

 

[mrs-b]

I got an 8 week old early last March, a 5 month old in late March, and I hope to get another 8 week old in July this year. Yes - we're suckers for punishment.

They are a HUGE amount of work and my husband and I are still exhausted, and anticipate being so for...oh...around the next 10 years or thereabouts? All my dogs have always been early risers - and they each grow to around the 65 lb mark, so when we had three of them a few years back, that was roughly 200 lb of dog to control.

Exercising dogs is great - but not at 10 weeks. Training is a different matter, and socialization classes are a must. But until your dog has had all his shots, he can't go out in public places and walk on the ground for fear of contracting all kinds of stuff. So keep your exercise to rolling balls down the hall of your house and teaching behaviors, like sit, stand, leave it, come and so on. And socialization classes will save your sanity.

My main tip would be not to expect too much of your puppy at this point. He was taken away from his home and all the family he knows - who he probably slept on / with / under - and the absence of touch for him is VERY hard. Crates are good, but put it in your room at this age, and let it be close to you. We put our puppies' crates on a chair next to our bed, so when they cry, we can reach out a hand, put our fingers through the bars, and let them nibble or suck. As they get older, we slowly move the crate towards the door till it's outside our room - but that wouldn't be till about 3 months of age at the least. When they're older, we also let our dogs sleep in our room on a bed in the corner, if they're obedient enough to do so. I cannot and will not sleep wth a dog on my bed; I'm far too light a sleeper. But I'm happy to let a dog sleep in my room if I've taught him or her to sleep on their own bed and not jump. Not jumping is a massively important thing to teach a dog, and it will change your experience of your dog forever, going forward.

Are you home during the day? If not, consider another dog. Loneliness is the source of a huge number of issues, and as people, we need to try to imagine what it would be like living all our lives with creatures who didn't look, sound, smell, behave, or communicate like us. Adding a somewhat older dog will also model behavior for your puppy and reassure him a lot, which will cut stress behaviors.

Our youngest wasn't fully house trained till he was at least 6 months. FORGET puppy wee pads etc. If you want your dog to toilet outside, take him regularly outside. Remember, dogs eat...then poop. They drink...then wee. The time between those activities is way shorter than for people, so toilet your dog straight after eating or drinking. Once the toileting is worked out, things become way easier.

As for having an upset tummy, most likely he's stressed. But there's a thousand other possibilities, most common of which could be giardia, so get him tested for that if he hasn't been already. Also, check his skin for redness and his ears for odor; these are signs of allergy. Our youngest has allergies, so he's on Hill's Prescription Diet dog food; costs a motza, but it helps a lot. A lot of puppies grow out of allergies, but this can take a year, two, or more.

Compassion is key with puppies. He only has one mommy now, and you're it. Gentle hands, quiet voices, low lights, and cut down on passing him around till he's more robust; picking puppies up continually can bruise their fragile little ribs or hurt their bellies. Plenty of sleep. And lots and lots of reassurance; it can be a big, scary world when you're 12" tall and 15 lbs.

And one last tip re the teeth - wear heavy, synthetic gloves. We use snow gloves, so their teeth can't puncture them. Alternately, sit them on your lap holding them with one hand and holding a treat in the other - something that takes time to eat like a chicken neck etc. Or, hold a toy in the other hand. Anything with which you can distract their mouths so you can pet them without risk. One simple tick, sit them on your lap facing away from you. They can see the world and you can stroke their back. By 12 months this phase will be over - hang in there!

 

[SandyinAnaheim]

Great advice from many here, especially @mrs-b.

 

[paperunicorn]

Another two things we use are baby gates to restrict movement through the house (nothing quite like a Saluki doing a 30 km/hr sprint down your hallway! ) and pet fencing inside. Again to restrict her access to the rest of the family room.

Oh gosh, I love sighthounds - someday I want to have a borzoi, my personal dream dog, but I'm definitely probably going to start out with a silken windhound instead, since they are smaller and bred more to be companion dogs than proper "working dogs." Arya is beautiful, though

OP, we had my parents' dog, a 2-3 year old rescue, live with us in our previous living situation for 3 months to see if we could feasibly have a dog in our apartment. The answer was a resounding NO. I was up at night with him walking him at 3am because he would get anxious and bark, he would bark every time we left, every time someone walked past... what a nightmare. And he wasn't even a puppy!

I think baby animals are cute because they have to be, otherwise we'd never put up with them. We have ... a number of cats greater than 1 and less than 10, lol, and I got 3 of them as kittens. My first kitten was A NIGHTMARE. So destructive, so crazy, so much biting. Even the other two, who were relatively well behaved for kittens, had their moments. Babies. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

Good luck! I'm sure the time will pass quickly and soon you will have a lovely young dog with whom you share a special bond.

 

[Bron357]

Oh gosh, I love sighthounds - someday I want to have a borzoi, my personal dream dog, but I'm definitely probably going to start out with a silken windhound instead, since they are smaller and bred more to be companion dogs than proper "working dogs." Arya is beautiful, though

OP, we had my parents' dog, a 2-3 year old rescue, live with us in our previous living situation for 3 months to see if we could feasibly have a dog in our apartment. The answer was a resounding NO. I was up at night with him walking him at 3am because he would get anxious and bark, he would bark every time we left, every time someone walked past... what a nightmare. And he wasn't even a puppy!

I think baby animals are cute because they have to be, otherwise we'd never put up with them. We have ... a number of cats greater than 1 and less than 10, lol, and I got 3 of them as kittens. My first kitten was A NIGHTMARE. So destructive, so crazy, so much biting. Even the other two, who were relatively well behaved for kittens, had their moments. Babies. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

Good luck! I'm sure the time will pass quickly and soon you will have a lovely young dog with whom you share a special bond.

Borzoi are beautiful dogs, not as crazy as Salukis . The Silken Windhounds are very beautiful and sweet (Whippets are lovely too), not a recognized “breed” as such but a few people on the various FB groups have them. Borzois are a big dog btw, my other dream dog is an Irish Wolfhound - they are HUGE.

 

[paperunicorn]

Borzoi are beautiful dogs, not as crazy as Salukis . The Silken Windhounds are very beautiful and sweet (Whippets are lovely too), not a recognized “breed” as such but a few people on the various FB groups have them. Borzois are a big dog btw, my other dream dog is an Irish Wolfhound - they are HUGE.

Irish wolfhounds are so sweet! I have known a couple. So gentle! There is a family with a borzoi in our neighborhood, and I have seen them walking a couple of times, she's such a beautiful and elegant dog. Definitely huge, but my partner wants a big dog, so it works out in that aspect -- he wants a Samoyed, because he had one growing up.

We have a Silken breeder/shower about an hour from us, and their dogs are so, so sweet and chilled out. They just had their third litter of puppies, and every time they post pictures I have to remind myself I REALLY don't need a puppy right now.

 

[House Cat]

I am so grateful to all of you for contributing to this thread. You all have restored my sanity! I really thought there was something wrong with me or my puppy!

With a better perspective and a better state of mind, things have been going much better in our home. Last night we had her sleep in her crate and my husband and I swapped wake up times. This helped immensely!

I am going to follow the advice on this thread. I will also refer back to it often when I am feeling overwhelmed. Thank you again!!

 

[Stephan]

I guess I'm lucky. My 2 dogs were 8 weeks old when I adopted them.
They never peed in the house. They tried the first day but I was watching so I immediately brought them outside and it never happened again. One of my puppies had loose stools, I used Nifuroxazide mixed with yoghourt and the problem went away.

 

[TooPatient]

My only puppy was a last minute rescue from being dumped. She was probably about 6 weeks old. Fleas. Parasites. Worms. She had to be kept separate from our other dog. Out to potty every two hours (on leash in front yard so other dog didn't come in contact with residue) and even that left accidents on the floor that had to be cleaned and bleached. This was exhausting enough then I got a stomach flu and still had to do the outside and bleaching...

She chewed THROUGH a wall one night. Tore up potty pads. You name it...

She did great with the cats probably because she started at about half their size. (1/4 the size of our big kitty)

Rescue adults only for me! Puppies are LOTS of work!

ETA: Can laugh now, but I worked hard at teaching her to potty outside. I took her out, said "go potty" and she got a treat when I she poytied. I had her sitting on our bed one evening and DH was going to take her outside so he walked in and said "go potty".… Yes, she squatted on the bed and pottied on demand and wanted her treat....

 

[Wewechew]

I've had several puppies over the course of my life and about 10 years ago I decided any future dogs I got would be adults. Well, a year and a half ago I decided my Chihuahua needed a friend his size around the same time I was having baby fever (human baby fever). My husband let me get a Chihuahua puppy since that was the lesser of the two evils between human and dog baby. It was a hard year and it cured my human baby fever. Good news is about five months ago we started to see the light at the end of the tunnel and she is the sweetest of the four dogs we have.

It does get easier!

 

[OboeGal]

Borzoi are beautiful dogs, not as crazy as Salukis . The Silken Windhounds are very beautiful and sweet (Whippets are lovely too), not a recognized “breed” as such but a few people on the various FB groups have them. Borzois are a big dog btw, my other dream dog is an Irish Wolfhound - they are HUGE.

You just listed numbers 2 through 5 on my dream dog list! Collies will always be number 1, but I also adore Salukis. Borzois, Silken Windhounds, and Irish Wolfhounds (and let's add Scottish Deerhounds to that list as well)! In fact, one of the reasons I adore collies is the modern rough collie is the result of mixing the smaller, stockier, more traditional border collie-ish type of herding dog with Borzois. (I believe that happened back in the later 1800s or very early 1900s.) We're preparing to add a second dog in 2019 to join my girl that's my avatar, and I'm trying to talk hubby into it being a sighthound, but he's not totally on board yet.....

 

[Calliecake]

@House Cat, Talk to your vet about Prescription Diet ZD food.

Keep reminding yourself the puppy stage doesn’t last forever. The bundle of energy she is now will change to a more mellow dog. My dog is almost 8 and I wish she were younger. I hate the thought of her getting older. I would gladly go thru her puppy stage for another year again if I could get added years with her.

@TooPatient , Our neighbors had a puppy that chewed the woodwork and a part of the wall one afternoon while she was at work. I was gardening that afternoon when she took the puppy for a walk. She sat down and said thank God my husband loves this little guy.

@lovedogs , Zoomies is a great name for it. LOL