Okay, here it goes an update from the woman who will never
win Puppy Owner of the Year Award but also, the most honest! Bet you are wondering what life has been like
in my world with Tessie. Suffice it to say, a bitch of an adventure!
It hardly seems like there is a minute’s peace unless she is
napping. Those afternoon naps are the best time of the day to get things done,
until she hears movement, ouch, then she is up and ready to
rumble.
She had found her way in the walk-in closet which allowed
her to walk in but, once entering, the door has to be pushed back out to open.
Miss Smarty Pants doesn’t have that trick down yet. Note to self, great place
to put puppy on a time-out!
Why is it that our puppy prefers wrapping herself around the
base of the toilet to sleep rather than the comfy places in the house? Though
the bathrooms are cleaned religiously, it seems rather uncleanly to be sleeping
here. Every time I catch her, it is fight against her will power and mine to
pull her out from around it. The one good thing I will say about the struggle,
by the time I am done, the bottom of the bowl is extra shiny!
Puppies are so cute, to everyone else but their owner! When we take her somewhere, like to the vet’s,
she is so demure and innocent. She is cooed over and told she is one of the
best puppies they see. I brush off the compliments about the cutest knowing
full well that is said to every puppy owner. What her like kids grow up to be
teenagers, ugh!)
Some of my closer friends have had the privilege or rather
disadvantage of seeing Tessie in her
normal stage, hell on four paws, or rather
none! She prefers flying at you like a Frisbee
and has no breaking power because you are it, your body, wherever she hits! ‘
No’ means you want more of whatever she is doing wrong! Nipping is her way of saying hello and she
loves repeating greetings. She is the
hostess that has to be the center of attention and makes us look like first
time dog owners, which neither of us are!
We frequently get asked “Are you putting her in dog training?” Yes is
the answer and we have been in it before, numerous times, but have never had a Tessie before. Can I stop
here?
This puppy is not an eater. In fact, it is a wonder she puts
on weight. We switched dog foods, tried watering the food down. Cut back the
times she was fed to see if she got hungrier, pet her while she was eating, and
finally gave up. We suppose she will eat when she is hungry and she does, but
not nearly what the vet said she should eat. But she grows and eats some.
And like the other day, finds other things on the ground she
prefers to dog food, like other dog’s poop. Unfortunately, I did not pull the
lead hard enough to get her away before it hit her mouth. So here I am, with
Miss Tessie, her pretty pink lead with hearts on it, my puppy just having been
brushed all pretty walking through the front yard with a large turd half in her
mouth and half hanging out. As she is chewing I am trying to retain my composure.
As I battle internally telling myself yes, I must do the unthinkable, I remember
I have baby carrots in my pocket. I had brought them out to give her not
realizing someone else left her something disgusting to munch on.
So I bent over, with carrot in hand and yelled at her to
drop it, spit it out as if she would understand
and waved that damn carrot as
if it were the best damn thing on earth to no avail. She was not letting go of
that turd, no way no how. I was not getting out of this easy! I saw she was chewing it which made my
stomach turn and thought I saw her start swallowing part of it and pull the
other part in her mouth. Okay, I told myself, just go for it so I stuck my
finger in her mouth and flicked it out yelling all the while thinking hell, I
will take a bite from her but darn is she is chomping on someone else’s dirty
deed. I flipped that turd as high and hard as I could and silently wished death
on the person who did not pick up after their dog! Thank you very much!
Playing on the floor with Tessie requires the utmost
attention. One evening, as I was messing around with her, she was climbing up
my back. She was getting abit rough and I held her off. I should have known to
stop the play right there. I learned a
second too late, puppies don’t have brakes on play time and sometimes go too
far. My ear let me know, as she bit it. I held my hand to it, and when I pulled
it away, it was full of blood. Yelling for my husband, I couldn’t help but
wonder if I lost part of my ear flap. Lucky for her I didn’t or I would have
had to retaliate! Puppy’s mouths are
danger zones sometimes.
Drama seems to abound with Tessie. Even when I am leaving
her and putting her in her zipper cage. I zip one way and out pops her head the
other. Having a smart puppy makes the owner feel stupid. I
swear she is
laughing half the time saying “Gotcha!” Even throwing in a treat in the back of
it, she grabs it much quicker than you can zip it up or says, “Hell with the
treat, I am coming out” and heads for the door regardless leaving me with an
empty crate looking at a dog treat left behind.
When I finally get her in the darn thing, she creates a racket to let me
know how ticked off she is. And darn if I don’t feel guilty. How do puppies do that? Give you
that puppy face and make you fall in love with them all over again like the
first time you saw them and they said “Take me home!”
Well suffice it to say, as many times as I say “You love
her, you can have her” I think I will hang on to her awhile longer. We seem to
be getting a grove going now but sure have our bumps along the way. She is a lover at times and those cuddles
make all the other things fade at the end of the day from memory. And then, the sun comes up……. Tessie’s awake!
