Parenting the Puppy

When my husband and I first got our puppy, Zoe, she was 7 and a half weeks old. A mere marshmallow, really.

Our time was consumed with feeding her and taking her out to go potty forty five million times a day... And cleaning up her accidents... And trying to keep her out of trouble... And we can't forget the most obvious thing: cuddling her like there was no tomorrow.

I began to realize right from the start that there are quite a few similarities to child rearing. The longer we have Zoe, the more I realize that I may as well have a kid with fur. Now, things have morphed from seeing that her basic needs are met each day (food, water, shelter, etc) to seeing that her needs are met PLUS keeping her from turning into a complete terror. 

Trust me. She may not LOOK like a terror, but she is.

Babies need only the necessities at first and not discipline because trying to teach a newborn not to touch the stove is unnecessary and a waste of time. Right?!? The newborn babe is not going to be tempted to touch the stove on a regular basis. A wise parent realizes that and saves their breath until their kid is old enough to, first of all, reach the stove, and secondly, understand consequences.

Well, Zoe has reached that point where she's old enough to 'reach the stove' and I'm beginning to realize how difficult it is to teach and enforce simple rules. She's just like a little kid. I'm serious.

"Zoe, stop getting stuff out of the garbage and shredding it under the table."

"Zoe, leave the plant alone."

"Zoe, did you seriously just poop on the floor? We were JUST outside."

"Zoe, stop trying to eat my sandwich."

"Zoe, you're driving me insane."

"Zoe, get back here."

"Drop the ball."

"No."

"Stop it."

"No."

"No."

"No."

It goes on forever. It never stops. Unless she's sleeping, of course. Then there's some peace. I love her to death, but I am now beginning to have an entirely new appreciation for parents of both well-behaved kids AND well-behaved dogs. It's a full time job to keep them out of trouble and to get them to listen to you. 

I've been trying to follow through and make her obey commands that she has a bad habit of ignoring the past few days, and let me tell ya, 'tis been a joy. Not really. It's been getting better (for the most part) because she's beginning to learn that when I say something, I expect her to do it. But in some ways, I struggle because I realize she doesn't understand consequences. She can't reason out a decision in her mind like a toddler could. But, by golly, even if it kills me, I'll have a well-behaved dog that listens when a command is given.

Whew.

It's just a lot of work. Just like parenting. Not like I know firsthand, of course, but I'm not stupid. So, uh, wish me luck.