With another month under our belts, I wish I could say that I've become a seasoned puppy raiser. Although I have considered myself a fast learner in some arenas, in the puppy raising department, not only would I still call myself a newbie, in some instances, I might even call myself a dunderhead.
Here are 11 things that I have learned in the past 9 months, some of which are just silly observations, and others for which I could knock myself in the head like in a V8 commercial.
1. Making an oncoming person pass you on your right: Usually, people pass each other on the left. But for the dog distracted, even a mere 15 inch difference in proximity can make a huge difference in Cabana's behavior.
2. Back paw toenails grow way slower than front paw toenails. I finally realized this after cutting Cabana's quick a couple times, always on the back paws.
3. Having the pup play with a toy that "requires supervision": This doesn't mean that I can just sit back and watch while Cabana rips a toy to shreds (I honestly thought this was what supervision meant in the beginning--doh!). It means either I play with the toy with her (as in tug-of-war) or I remove the toy from her when she starts ripping pieces off.
4. Not all toys are created equal: Some toys, even approved toys on the GDB list, don't hold up to Cabana's aggressive chewing. We've had a few $10 toys (namely, Wubbas which I believe are no longer on the approved list and Nylabone dinos) get demolished within an hour. I might as well have given Cabana the ten dollar bill and watched her shred it to pieces.
5. Cabana finds nothing more interesting to sniff than her own collar when removed from her neck.
6. Humans eat some pretty weird things (Rocky Mountain oysters, shiitake mushrooms, caviar), so why should we be so surprised that dogs like to eat cat poop (aka kitty bon bons)?
7. It's only fair to give a pup time to catch up on their "pee-mail" at local shrubbery hot spots.
8. Crazy Glue is not the strongest, stickiest substance ever created. It's dog hair, especially those stuck in the back seat of your vehicle. Vacuums don't have the power to suck them up--it's almost like you have to remove each one individually.
9. Water tastes best when drunk mid-air, whether coming out of a faucet or a hose.
10. Nothing makes you feel worse than hearing that yelp when you accidentally step on your pup's paws or tail.
11. The majority of puppy raisers seem to be female (with occasional exceptions like Mitch). Or is it that male puppy raisers just don't blog? What's with that?!?
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