I Knew Exactly How to Raise a Puppy Until I Had One

To all the pet moms and pet dads out there, Happy National Pet Parent Day. Celebrated on the last Sunday in April, this national day was created to celebrate the bond between a pet and his/her owner. Being a crazy dog mom, I’m proud to admit that being a pet parent is one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had so far, but it is not always easy. As we’ve added a second puppy to our home I’ve been thinking more and more about the trials Zach and I faced in pet parenting.

Raising a puppy is hard and don’t let anyone tell you differently! I think anyone who wants to add a pet to their home wants to be a good parent to that pet, including Zach and I. Before we brought our Navy home, I spent countless hours researching how to raise a puppy. I watched what seemed like every puppy training video available on YouTube, communicated with trainers, and solicited advice from friends who’ve raised a pup of their own. I seriously thought I had it all figured out. I thought I knew everything there was to know about raising a puppy. Then Navy came home. I realized very quickly that while the advice from expert trainers and experienced pet parents were helpful, not all their tips and tricks were going to work with Navy.

Every puppy is different, just like everyone’s living situation is different. In theory, the advice given to us could have worked for other puppies, but not our fearful, yet stubborn, cardigan corgi puppy. Of course taking a puppy outside immediately after eating, waking from rest, and playing sounds like a great idea, unless you live on the 7th floor of a high-rise apartment and the closest patch of grass is a block away. And yes, table scraps were never something we’d want to give Navy, but when she would not touch her kibble, we found ourselves sneaking some chicken or steak into her bowl.

I never planned to yell at Navy or Duke, and I never wanted to. This is definitely not something I’m proud of, but yes, I’ve raised my voice and yelled at Navy and Duke. After coming home from a long day of work and seeing your favorite pair of shoes chewed up, your passport ripped and destroyed (two days before you had to fly out of the country), or yet another rug ruined with a poop accidents… it is REALLY hard not to want to scream.

Sure, we planned to take Navy and Duke on long walks every day to get them exercise and tire them out, because “a good puppy is a tired puppy.” However, what if your puppy doesn’t know how, or WANT to walk on a leash? Navy was the worst at walking on leash. It took us months to get her to walk more than a few steps on leash. Yes, we tried harnesses, we tried luring her with treats, and we even carried her favorite toy outside with us on walks. Nothing worked. In time Navy became comfortable enough to walk on a leash, but boy those first two months were stressful!

Yes, we were also the pet parents who said we would never let the dog sleep in bed with us. Hahaha, well… Navy sleeps in bed with us. And quite honestly, now that we have a king sized bed, I welcome the third body! She keeps my feet warm and she never fails to let me sleep through an alarm. 😉

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If I am being completely honest with you, I would like to think that I give pretty good advice. However, I am the first to admit I do not always take my own advice! While advice from other pet parents is great, we should all remind ourselves that we cannot solely base our pet parenting on someone else’s experiences. Even though I have plans for how I want to raise Duke, they may not pan out exactly how I want them to, and that is okay. All we can do is take a deep breath, savor the short time we have with our dogs in their puppy stages, and take each day as it comes!

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