practicing my patience

Puppies are something. :-)
Daisy really is a sweetie, but boy is she keeping me busy! Yesterday I had an appointment in the morning, but otherwise my whole day (as with the days before that) was spent running outside so Daisy could go to the bathroom two million times a day, playing with her, feeding her, and snuggling with her. The last part is my favorite... she's a good snuggler when she's in the mood.

We're crate training, so when I really need a break, I tuck her in there for a bit and hide upstairs with a snack and a drink. Actually that's what I'm doing at them moment, but its mostly because I need to hop in the shower... not because she was driving me crazy (yet). She's doing great with the crate, no accidents after the first night... she is quiet in it, minus a minute or two of whining when she first goes in. She's also been good with the housebreaking part of the crate training... with only one accident yesterday (::knock on wood!::). She is a smart girl, and for the most part its been good.

The only part that's been hard for me is when she gets antsy in the afternoon and will start whining for no reason. We'll have just come in from going to the bathroom, she'll just have had water, I'll be trying to play with her, and/or snuggle with her... and she'll just sit there, stare at me, and whine. That's frustrating to me, and those are the times I wish I spoke puppy so she could tell me what's wrong. That's when I normally need a break, because I get frustrated and want to have lots of patience for her. I definitely can't wait until she's a bit older... with a bigger bladder, and a set schedule (which we're working on). Hopefully then we'll have a little less whining!

I'll tell you the truth too... we won't ever do a puppy again. If we get another, it will be a young adult dog (from a shelter), that is already housebroken and past the age of the 20 minute bladder.

But, she is a beautiful puppy. And any frustration goes away at the end of the day when she falls asleep on my lap or chest. I'm sure the next few months will pass quickly too. Especially with all the stuff we have going on in the next few weeks! Before the end of March I have a trip up to my parents, two trips to Connecticut (one with Trav, one without), a trip to DC for work, and hmm... and I know there is more. In any case, I'm sure the time will fly and before I know it my cute, frustrating puppy will be a big, crazy dog that I can no longer pick up and throw on my lap. So I'm trying to remind myself of that and enjoy this time as much as possible.

Something I won't miss... this snow! We have so much right now. We went from nothing... and probably in the 50s on Monday, to cold and about 5" of snow today! I can't believe how quickly it piled up overnight, and it certainly makes going in and out dozens of times a day a lot wetter.

Okay... time to get back to my girl!