The last wall of resistance came down when I saw her puppy picture. Her face just agreed with a long standing visual in my mind of what a dog should look like. I should have known we were asking for trouble given her terrier and chihuahua mix breed.
Having a family and a career was more than enough to occupy the time away from myself. I’m perfectly fine sitting with my own thoughts, focused on my own hobbies, and exercising. I did not have the desire of owning a pet.
The excuses made sense for a while. The kids were too young. The old carpet would get worse with pet accidents. Who would take care of the pet while we are on vacation? How much extra would it cost? The kids are growing up. The house has new flooring. We could always pay for a pet hotel. Just add the pet food to the grocery list.
The dog was free. I saw her picture. I said yes.
The amount of work for a young anxious puppy was unexpected. Too many accidents, constantly chasing her to remove things from her mouth, and the challenging walks on a leash. Embarrassing. We gave her away, only as a trial period, to our in-laws. They seemed happy to have her. My son and daughter on the other hand, missed her. My wife, despite the relief of not having to constantly clean up and chase the puppy, oddly missed her too. I was fine and felt like I’d gotten some normalcy in my schedule back.
We took her back in because we had found a doggy boot camp. She would be away for six weeks. However, a space for her would not open up for a few more weeks, so I dealt with it, I dealt with her. Working from home with young kids and a puppy was as chaotic as you might expect. The puppy chewed the power cord to my laptop. I was craving to be in the office for the first time in my career. Her boot camp spot opened up early, I gladly dropped her off.
I had my time back. Would the training work?
Four weeks in, we had our first planned meet up with the trainer and the puppy. We drove to the park on a Saturday morning. My son was anxious, concerned the puppy would not recognize him. We arrived a the park, walked around for a little bit, and found the trainer. He had left the puppy in his car to give us instructions and set expectations for the first meet up. After a few minutes of instructions, he brought her out of the car, and an instant ball of energy and excitement. For the next 20 minutes, the trainer pulled her along for a walk as we followed. Waiting for the puppy’s over excitement to dissipate. The puppy finally settled down enough. I stood in awe of his patience. The trainer was undeterred from his process, repeatedly reminding us that the puppy overexcitement and constant yelping was expected. The puppy had settled down.
“Do you want to walk her?” The trainer asked with a confident glance towards my daughter. My daughter instantly said yes. The same daughter that had stopped playing in the living room because the puppy was too disruptive. The daughter who didn’t know how to handle the nips and pawing, and eventually found herself evading the puppy. They walked well together. My son tried walking the puppy as well and seemed at ease. The adults are easier to train, and it’s the kids that need more guidance.
The puppy is going to be who they are, we just have to learn to read them and use the tools the trainer taught us. The parents have to guide the kids if we are going to have any luck with the puppy.
We had a few more meetups at the trainer's home, during weeks five and in the lead up to week six. We didn’t see Cookie at first. The trainer brought out his pincher and boxer mixes first. Big dogs, scary looking dogs, but perfectly trained so that my son and daughter had no issues feeding and walking them. Once Cookie was let out, they could do the same with her. Remove the anxiety from the kids, and it should help with the puppy.
We were told that terriers and terrier mixes are active in the morning and at night. They were bred to hunt small rodents, and need lots of activity during those times. That information helped me think more and act on the planning of my day.
It was time for Cookie to come home. My wife bought a better kennel for sleep time. Cookie started having less accidents. My 5:30am garage workouts became 5:30am dog walks. I would try to get back into the garage, but found myself frustrated with less time. Then I reversed the order and found some balance – workout first, then walk. The second walk happens sometime after work, or the kid's homework, or in-between dinner and bedtime. The point is Cookie needs a second walk. Cookie also needs some obstacles to navigate, a rope to play tug-of-war, some additional toys to chew, and some open space to expense additional energy – the zoomies. Cookie gets the zoomies.
I am managing better. The shift came when I switched my perspective to supporting the family. I adjusted my morning routine to walk Cookie in order for her to better acclimate to our home life. The training set my own expectations, provided tools and language to direct Cookie and my kids. Accidents still happen, and Cookie still chews on socks, sandals, shoes, toys, paper, napkins, plastics, etc. But Cookie is predictable and manageable.
My daughter does not hesitate to jump on Cookie and try to pry random items from her mouth. I remind her to give Cookie the appropriate command and send her to her kennel. I can put my hand on Cookie, and ask her to drop it. It works about 90% of the time. Every once in a while Cookie will pick up items like plastics and random trash. I’ve learned to pick her up and dig into Cookie’s mouth as needed. My kids see this, and they learn.
“Cookie, what do you have? Drop it, drop it.” Cookie looks back at me with surrendering eyes. I do like you dog, but I’ve made peace with you because you help my kids, and I’d hate to pay the veterinary bill if you got sick from eating the wrong thing.
Terrier mixes are great at alarming you to danger, strangers, and other unexpected things. So yes, they bark at everything. At any time of day or night.
Late one night in the back yard, I noticed a different tone to Cookie’s bark. I grabbed my flashlight and a stick. My sense of awareness and focus heightened. Then I smiled, and then tried my best to lure Cookie away from the possum. It was a small possum. Under the glare of my flashlight, the possum looked almost apologetic for having trespassed and causing a ruckus. The possum was quiet, it was Cookie causing the commotion. A small nuisance, and nothing to get into a fight over. With a little hesitation, Cookie eventually listened to my commands and came back inside. I thanked Cookie, gave her a treat for being a “good girl.” She did her job, and avoided a fight, which in my mind would always translate into “what would it have cost at the veterinarian?”.
Maybe at some point I’ll stop worrying about the dollars. But for now, I’ll focus on taking care of Cookie because it’s what the family wants. Yeah, she’s growing on me too. So I’ll do my part. I’m sure Cookie will do hers. If she would just stop chewing on my Nike sandals.
