Parenting sometimes begins with a puppy...

A year after John and I bought our first house we decided we were ready to get a puppy.  In all honesty, I think John assumed it would lessen my immediate desire to have children.  This did happen a tiny bit.   In fact after a several very long days of caring for a very needy GSP I questioned my ability to manage a household with children at all.  But then it got easier.

Before getting a dog, we researched breeds that we felt would suit our personality, lifestyle and home.  We wanted a dog who loved the outdoors and John insisted it be a dog that would fetch a ball…so we decided on a medium size dog, a German Short-haired Pointer.  Then for months I searched far and wide for a breeder expecting puppies at the beginning of summer, I couldn’t fathom house-training a puppy in the middle of an Ottawa winter.  We lucked out, well sort of.  We found a breeder but had to travel about 8hrs there and back in a car without air-conditioning and it was unusually warm for May 24. 

Like I said in a previous blog, I enjoy being in control, knowing what might happen and how best to deal if and when it does.  I borrowed a puppy training book from a friend and read it front to back.  Then I asked John how he planned on being part of the process.  I suggested he read the book, he didn’t think it was necessary. How  was I going to get him to understand that in order to train this puppy, we must have a united front.  So, I did something any organized, perhaps a little overbearing person might do.  I made cue cards that we would use when training him to go to the bathroom outside, or crate training for example.  I also asked that John and I attend puppy training classes together, which we did.

Nikel created a space for John and I to negotiate and discuss how we were going to care for and discipline our new family member.  We decided to crate train him from the beginning and John and I took turns sleeping outside on the floor.  We took him for walks, introduced him to others and john shared his love of soccer.  He tested our limits and reminded us of the true meaning of unconditional love.  We purchased pet insurance, got him healthy dog food and bought him lots of toys.

As time went on I learned that I was the tough one and realised that in the future, “wait until your father gets home” will likely be an empty threat.  Nikel has managed to convince John that he deserves to lick his cereal bowl, because he’s cute.  Get on the couch, again because he’s cute and he even found his way into our bed (to snuggle before bed and in the am on weekends).  So, Nikel isn’t just a dog.  He’s part of our family.  While Nikel takes up space in our house, he has created space for our future children.