When I first got my puppy Rip, I wrote a post about the stress of having a new puppy. To say I was overwhelmed was an understatement. I felt completely isolated and there was definitely a lot of crying involved from being so overwhelmed with training and just making sure he stayed safe and out of trouble.

But, I am happy to report things have gotten a lot better since the beginning. Last Saturday, Rip turned four months old and while he is definitely still a handful, things are a lot easier now. Before, leaving the house used to feel impossible because I would worry about him the whole time I was gone. All I could think about was him having to go out while I was gone and I was always just a nervous wreck.

I couldn’t just bring him with me. When he was really young, I had to actually get him used to the car. Turns out dogs don’t instinctually love cars LOL. I had to slowly work my way up to him being able to do longer rides. It was hard at first due to his tiny bladder and car sickness. But, things are a lot easier now that he is more comfortable in the car!

While things are definitely much better than they were, there are still days that are way harder than others. On days when he doesn’t want to nap and I can’t get anything done or any time to myself, it’s definitely hard. On days when training doesn’t go well, I get frustrated and negative self-talk comes in telling me I’m not cut out for this. On days when he won’t stop chewing furniture, I go a bit crazy.

I think the biggest issue right now is he’s not fully vaccinated yet so I can’t actually take him out of the car on his rides just for his own safety. I can’t wait to be able to just take him with me on walks in nature. It’s hard feeling like him and I are confined to the house. He should be ready to go to public places soon though and I’m sure it’ll help a lot!

But, at the end of the day, things are getting better and he is definitely on his way to be being a nice, polite doggo. He might be a bit fresh now, but I mean look at him, how could I not love him!?

Last week, I became an aunt. This week, I became a dog mom to an 8 week old German Shepherd puppy! While becoming a dog mom is extremely exciting, it comes with a lot of responsibility…and stress. There’s creating a structured schedule, house training, and crate training, just to name a few. It is a lot, but even more when there is a blizzard. We happened to get him the night before Winter Storm Bobby. Due to my boyfriend being a lineman, I was pretty much on my own for the first night/day. I’ve never had a dog before, only cats, so this was extremely stressful for me.

I did all kinds of research and the breeder gave us lots of information and tips, but, I was still so nervous and worried about screwing it up. My only experience has been with adult German Shepherds who have already been house trained. My anxiety was through the roof, but I had to step up to train and take care of the pup because I didn’t have a choice but to do it on my own.

The first night, I only got 4 hours of sleep. That made the first day of training immensely hard because I honestly felt like dog poop. My anxiety was through the roof due to lack of sleep. I was being extremely hard on myself because while he was going to the bathroom outside, he was still having accidents in the house. I knew this was normal and to be expected, especially in the beginning, but that didn’t stop me from telling myself it was my fault.

Not only was I trying to train a puppy, but I was also trying to keep up with shoveling the snow outside on my own and we easily got 2 feet of snow where we are. I had to shovel the backyard consistently for our tiny puppy to be able to go to the bathroom comfortably, and I had to keep up with the driveway so my boyfriend could make it into the driveway when he got home (which, there’s no way of knowing what time that could be).

There was one point during the first day where I just completely broke down. I was crying just feeling like a complete failure and texting my boyfriend about how frustrated I was with myself. Even though he was at work, he took the time to remind me to take a break, relax, and that things will be okay. Even when he’s not here, he is still my biggest support system. By now, he knows that I can be really hard on myself, and he has had dogs his whole life so he knows how this whole process can be.

After that, I took some time to compose myself while the puppy took a nap. I reminded myself that puppies have accidents, and it’s not my fault and it’s not his fault either. He is a puppy. After he woke up from his nap, I immediately took him out and he went, I was so happy! I started taking him out as soon as he woke up and anytime he went to the door. We didn’t have anymore accidents that day! I finally felt less defeated and I’m sure he was happy to be able to go outside to relieve himself instead of having accidents.

While having a puppy is a lot of work and it can be really stressful, it is so worth it to put in the time and effort to properly train them and get them adjusted to their new home. The first month is probably the hardest as he adjusts to his new home and gets house broken. Once he gets house broken, I know it will get easier.

He is worth the stress. I mean, look at that face!